International Relations Major

1. Government Core (2 courses)

These courses should be taken in the first or second year:

• GOVT060 CM - Introduction to Comparative Government
• GOVT070 CM - Introduction to International Politics

2. Foreign Policy (1 course)

This course should be taken in the first or second year.

One course in foreign policy selected from:

• GOVT149 CM - Foreign Relations of the United States
• GOVT150 CM - U.S. National Security Policy
• an alternative foreign relations course with approval of the International Relations Committee

3. Quantitative Skills (1 course)

One course selected from:

• ECON101 CM - Intermediate Microeconomics
• ECON102 CM - Intermediate Macroeconomics
• GOVT054 CM - Research Methods for International Relations
• GOVT055 CM - Empirical Methods
• ECON120 CM - Statistics
• ECON125 CM - Econometrics
• PSYC109 CM - Statistics for Psychological Science
• CSCI036 CM - Foundations of Data Science
• CSCI145 CM - Introduction to Data Mining
• an alternative quantitative skills or IR Methods course with approval of the International Relations program director

4. International Political Economy (1 course)

One international political economy course selected from:

• ECON141 CM - International Economics
• GOVT139 CM - Development, Power, and Globalization
• GOVT143C CM - International Political Economy of Money and Finance
• an alternative international economics or international political economy course with approval of the International Relations program director

5. Electives Requirement (5 courses)

Upper division courses will fulfill the IR electives requirement if they focus on international dynamics or on political dynamics within a given country or region and are beyond the introductory level.

IR electives may be selected from any relevant discipline at any of the Claremont Colleges in consultation with a faculty advisor and with the approval of the International Relations program director.

Language courses beyond the 4th semester of a European or classical language, the 5th semester of Korean or Arabic, or the 6th semester of Chinese or Japanese, with a thematic focus on politics or political dynamics may be counted as IR electives.

The following CMC courses are pre-approved as IR electives:

• GOVT118 CM - The Processes of Environmental Policymaking
• GOVT129A CM - Ethics and International Relations
• GOVT131 CM - Political History of the Middle East 1973-present
• GOVT132E CM - Politics and Economics of Natural Resource Policy in Developing Countries
• GOVT133 CM - India in Asia: Democracy and Development in India, China, and Pakistan
• GOVT133E CM - Democratic Politics and the Military in Latin America
• GOVT134 CM - Mexican Government and Politics
• GOVT134E CM - Democratization, Violence and Change: Mexico’s Political Transformation
• GOVT136C CM - International Relations of South Asia: Security, Economics, and Culture
• GOVT138 CM - Religion, Politics, and Change in Latin America
• GOVT138C CM - Latin American Politics and Policy
• GOVT139 CM - Development, Power, and Globalization *
• GOVT140 CM - International Politics of Nuclear Weapons
• GOVT141 CM - The Politics and Craft of International Journalism
• GOVT141B CM - East Asian Political Economy
• GOVT142 CM - International Political Feature Writing
• GOVT142C CM - Democratic Transitions in the Middle East and Beyond
• GOVT142E CM - Chinese Politics
• GOVT143C CM - International Political Economy of Money and Finance **
• GOVT144B CM - Comparing Social Movements Across the World
• GOVT144D CM - Democracy and Dictatorship
• GOVT145 CM - The Social and Global Pandemics: Perspectives on Public Health in US and Around the World
• GOVT145E CM - Security Studies
• GOVT146A CM - Middle Eastern Politics I (1918-1967)
• GOVT147 CM - Technology and International Politics
• GOVT148 CM - Development in Practice
• GOVT150 CM - U.S. National Security Policy
• GOVT151 CM - Maps and Politics
• GOVT151C CM - Nations, Nationalism, and State-Building in the Middle East
• GOVT152 CM - The Politics of Global Migration, Security and Borders
• GOVT154 CM - Policymaking in International Organizations
• GOVT154E CM - International Organizations and Global Governance
• GOVT155 CM - Social and Political Change in Africa
• GOVT156C CM - War
• GOVT156E CM - War II: Film
• GOVT172 CM - Political Philosophy and Foreign Policy
• GOVT173C CM - Russian Politics
• GOVT178 CM - International Law
• GOVT196 CM - International Human Rights

• * This course counts as an elective only if the student has taken GOVT 143C CM  or ECON 141 CM .

  ** This course counts as an elective only if the student has taken GOVT 139 CM  or ECON 141 CM , otherwise it fulfills the International Political Economy requirement.

6. Foreign Language Competency

All IR majors must demonstrate proficiency in a modern language other than English either through testing out of the requirement or through completion of the 4th semester at the college level. Language courses may be used to fulfill general education requirements in both foreign language (3rd semester) and foreign literature (equivalent to the 4th semester of a European or classical language, the 5th semester of Korean or Arabic, or the 6th semester of Chinese or Japanese); they may not be counted as electives for the international relations major.

7. Study Abroad

With the exception of international students, all IR majors, including dual majors, must study abroad for at least 1 semester in a program including foreign language study. Other foreign experiences may be substituted with the approval of the International Relations program director.

Students studying abroad may count up to 2 courses per semester abroad as IR electives.

Notes:

• The general education requirements GOVT 020 CM  and ECON 050 CM  are prerequisites to all subsequent government and economics courses, so should be taken in the first year.

Dual Major

The dual major in international relations requires a minimum of 8 courses. Dual majors in international relations may waive 2 elective course requirements from the full major. Dual majors’ 3 elective courses must be chosen in consultation with a faculty advisor and approved by the International Relations program director.

Honors in International Relations

To receive honors in International Relations, a student must:

• Have attained at least a 3.8 GPA in the major by graduation
• Complete a 2-semester, 2-credit international relations thesis *
• Defend the thesis to IR faculty
• Earn an A or A- on the thesis

* Under exceptional circumstances, an especially meritorious 1-semester thesis can be nominated by the reader to be read by a committee of IR faculty who will determine if the thesis should be given honors.

Learning Goals

The learning goals of the international relations program are:

1. To understand theories of international relations, comparative politics, and other fields relevant to other nations and international interactions, and use them to analyze significant international problems.
2. To communicate effectively orally and in writing.

Student Learning Outcomes

The student learning outcomes of the international relations program are:

1. Students will be able to demonstrate thorough knowledge of, as well as the ability to apply and critically assess, theories in the discipline.
2. Students will be able to develop a hypothesis from one or more of these theories and be able to substantiate their arguments with logic, normative insights, and quantitative evidence when appropriate.
3. Students will be able to express themselves effectively orally and in writing.

The faculty of the program has set up assessment methods.