The International Affairs major at UNH explores global issues through disciplines such as political science, history, economics, and sociology. Students gain knowledge, practical skills, and experience to address key topics such as war, diplomacy, climate change, human rights, migration and many others. Concentration areas include global development and environment; international security; global ethnic, race, and diversity studies; global health and education; regional or transnational studies. Faculty expertise spans regions like Latin America, the Middle East, and South Asia. All students study abroad or complete an international capstone experience.
What is international affairs?
International affairs is the study of global issues through the disciplines of political science, history, economics, geography, sociology, and anthropology. Students acquire the substantive knowledge, practical skills, and real-world experience to address critical issues in international affairs, including: war and diplomacy; trade; climate change and biodiversity; human rights; women’s rights; refugees and migration; inequality and poverty. This major provides students with theoretical approaches grounded in the study of real places and peoples. Students concentrate in one of the following areas: global development and environment; international security; global ethnic, race, and diversity studies; global health and education; regional or transnational studies.
Why study international affairs at UNH?
International Affairs faculty at UNH have expertise in crime and migration in Latin America; international security and foreign policy; gender and the military; environment and politics in the Middle East and South America; ethnic conflict in South Asia; the United Nations system; energy and environmental history; and the rise of China. All international affairs students study abroad or complete an internship with an international focus. Study abroad locations have included Costa Rica, Australia, South Africa, Egypt, Switzerland, and China. Students pursue additional foreign language training or economics and quantitative reasoning, which adds tools to their skillset for studying international affairs.
Potential Career Areas
- Foreign Policy Analyst
- Human rights & non-governmental organizations
- International consulting firms
- USAID, International Rescue Committee, or other aid organizations
- US State Dept/Government agencies
- Researcher (think tanks)
- International business
- Journalism
- Peace Corps or other service organizations
Curriculum & Requirements
International affairs is the focused study of global issues, drawing on approaches from political science, history, economics, anthropology and related fields. Students acquire the substantive knowledge, practical skills, and real-world experience to address critical issues in international affairs, such as war and diplomacy, climate change and biodiversity, human rights and women’s rights, refugees and migration, and inequality and poverty.
Students can focus their studies in one of the following thematic tracks: global development and environment; international security; global ethnic, race, and diversity studies; global health and education; regional or transnational studies in the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, or Asia. The major in IA thus provides students theoretical approaches grounded in the empirical study of places and peoples.
Sample Degree Plan
This sample degree plan serves as a general guide; students collaborate with their academic advisor to develop a personalized degree plan to meet their academic goals and program requirements.
First Year | ||
---|---|---|
Fall | Credits | |
ENGL 401 | First-Year Writing | 4 |
Language 401 | 4 | |
IA 401 | International Perspectives | 4 |
Discovery Course | 4 | |
First Year Seminar | 1 | |
Credits | 17 | |
Spring | ||
Language 402 | 4 | |
Introductory Course from a discipline | 4 | |
Discovery Course | 4 | |
Discovery Course | 4 | |
Credits | 16 | |
Second Year | ||
Fall | ||
Option A or B Course | 4 | |
IA 501 | Global Issues in International Affairs | 4 |
IA Elective 1 | 4 | |
Elective 1 | 4 | |
Credits | 16 | |
Spring | ||
Option A or B Course | 4 | |
IA Elective 2 | 4 | |
Discovery Course | 4 | |
Discovery Course | 4 | |
Credits | 16 | |
Third Year | ||
Fall | ||
IA Elective 3 | 4 | |
Elective 1 | 4 | |
Elective 1 | 4 | |
Discovery Course | 4 | |
Credits | 16 | |
Spring | ||
IA 701 | Exploring International Challenges and Opportunities | 4 |
Discovery Course | 4 | |
Elective 1 | 4 | |
Elective 1 | 4 | |
Credits | 16 | |
Fourth Year | ||
Fall | ||
IA Capstone 2 | 4 | |
Discovery Course | 4 | |
Elective 1 | 4 | |
Elective 1 | 4 | |
Credits | 16 | |
Spring | ||
Elective 1 | 4 | |
Elective 1 | 4 | |
Elective 1 | 4 | |
Discovery Course | 4 | |
Credits | 16 | |
Total Credits | 129 |
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Electives can be courses towards a minor, second major, or other experiences to supplement the primary major and should be selected in consultation with an advisor.
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IA Capstone can be an internship, study abroad, or an addition 700-level course, depending on the student's interests and timeline, and are selected in consultation with an advisor. The exact timing of an IA Capstone often varies depending on these factors.
Degree Requirements
All Major, Option and Elective Requirements as indicated.
*Major GPA requirements as indicated.
Major Requirements
All majors must complete 40 hours of IA core courses and departmentally approved IA electives, with a grade of C or better and a grade point average of 2.5 or better.
International Affairs majors may use two major-required courses to satisfy two Discovery Program category requirements.
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
Core Courses | ||
IA 401 | International Perspectives | 4 |
IA 501 | Global Issues in International Affairs | 4 |
IA 701 | Exploring International Challenges and Opportunities | 4 |
Select one introductory course from the following: | 4 | |
ANTH 411 | Global Perspectives on the Human Condition: An Introduction to Anthropology | |
EDUC 402 | Introduction to Educational Studies: Social Change and Education in Local and Global Contexts | |
GEOG 401 | World Regions: Europe and the Americas | |
GEOG 402 | World Regions: Asia and Africa | |
HIST 421 | World History to the 16th Century | |
HIST 422 | World History in the Modern Era | |
POLT 403 | United States in World Affairs | |
Select one of the following options: | 8 | |
Option A: | ||
Two courses in a world language 1 | ||
Option B: | ||
One course in Quantitative Reasoning and one course in Economics from the below | ||
Quantitative Reasoning courses | ||
NR 525 | Statistical Methods and Applications | |
MATH 439 | Statistical Discovery for Everyone | |
POLT 595 | Smart Politics | |
PSYC 402 | Statistics in Psychology | |
SOC 402 | Statistics | |
Economics courses | ||
ECON 401 | Principles of Economics (Macro) | |
ECON 402 | Principles of Economics (Micro) | |
NR 411 | Environmental and Resource Economics Perspectives | |
Electives | ||
Select three courses in a specific regional or thematic track from the below elective course list. 2 | 12 | |
Capstone | ||
Select one of the following: | variable | |
Study Abroad | ||
Internship with International Dimension | ||
600/700 level course from one of the thematic tracks | ||
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ELECTIVE COURSES AND THEMATIC TRACKS | ||
Regional and Transnational Studies Track | ||
Select three courses in a COLA interdisciplinary area studies minor from the following: | ||
-Africana Studies Minor | ||
-Asian Studies Minor | ||
-Latin American, Latinx and Caribbean Studies Minor | ||
-Middle Eastern Studies Minor | ||
Global Development and Environment Track | ||
Select three courses from the following: | ||
CMN 670 | From Silicon Valley to Foxconn: Global Digital Capitalism | |
EDUC 520 | Education, Poverty, and Development | |
ENGL 736 | Environmental Theory | |
GEOG 550 | Sub-Saharan Africa: Environmental Politics and Development | |
GEOG 560 | Natural Hazards and Human Disasters | |
HIST 609 | Special Topics in American Legal History | |
HIST 690 | Seminar: Historical Expl | |
HIST 797 | Colloquium | |
POLT 546 | Wealth and Politics in Asia | |
POLT 549 | The Politics of Markets | |
POLT 550 | Comparative Government and Society | |
POLT 556 | Politics in China | |
POLT 751 | Comparative Environmental Politics and Policy | |
POLT 762 | International Political Economy | |
SOC 693 | Global Change and Social Sustainability | |
Global Ethnic, Race, and Diversity Studies Track | ||
Select three courses from the following: | ||
ANTH 500 | Peoples and Cultures of the World | |
ANTH 513 | Ethnographic Methods | |
CLAS 550B | Identities and Difference in the Ancient World: Slaves and Masters | |
CMN 620W | Global Media, Culture, and Power | |
CMN 596 | Special Topics in Media Studies | |
CMN 772 | Seminar in Media Theory | |
EDUC 550 | Language and Linguistic Diversity in Schools | |
EDUC 525 | Teaching Race | |
ENGL 581 | Reading the Postcolonial Experience | |
HIST 483 | History of World Religions | |
HIST 588 | History of Modern Africa: 1870 to the Present | |
POLT 440A | Honors/Global Justice | |
POLT 551 | Ethnicity ,Violence, Democracy | |
International Security Track | ||
Select three courses from the following: | ||
HIST 498 | Explorations of Historical Perspectives | |
HIST 537 | Espionage and History | |
HIST 609 | Special Topics in American Legal History | |
HIST 620 | Foreign Relations of the United States | |
HUMA 525 | Humanities and the Law | |
POLT 545 | People and Politics in Asia | |
POLT 559 | Comparative Politics of the Middle East | |
POLT 560 | World Politics | |
POLT 562 | Strategy and National Security Policy | |
POLT 566 | International Security in Asia | |
POLT 568 | International Security | |
POLT 569 | The Rise of China | |
POLT 592 | Selected Topics in International Politics | |
POLT 740 | States and Societies in the Middle East | |
POLT 742 | Beyond Bollywood: Politics of India & South Asia | |
POLT 760 | Theories of International Relations | |
POLT 778 | International Organization | |
POLT 797E | Seminar in International Politics | |
Global Health and Education Track | ||
Select three courses from the following: | ||
ANTH 685 | Gender, Sexuality and HIV/AIDS in Africa | |
EDUC 520 | Education, Poverty, and Development | |
EDUC 525 | Teaching Race | |
EDUC 550 | Language and Linguistic Diversity in Schools | |
EDUC 605 | Educational Perspectives in Critical Times | |
HIST 437H | Honors/The Mad Among Us: A Global History of Mental Disorder | |
HIST 440E | Honors/Drugs and Addiction in World History | |
HIST 498 | Explorations of Historical Perspectives | |
POLT 548 | Drug Wars |
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International Affairs Language Requirement
Students must take a minimum of two language courses and reach level 504 (intermediate II) in the language of their choosing. Students who have reached level 504 with one language course must substitute another course (from the approved list) in order to fulfill the required 40 credit hours for the major. Language study may be pursued at UNH; through study abroad in the summer, J-term, or academic year; or through transfer credits from other institutions with the permission of an IA advisor. Native speakers of a language other than English may fulfill this requirement with alternative classes by permission - please discuss with an IA advisor.- 2
We highly recommend that students select all three elective courses within the same track to develop a more focused and cohesive area of study. However, students with diverse interests in international affairs may choose electives from different tracks to broaden their academic experience.
Program Learning Outcomes
- Apply different disciplinary approaches to the study of international affairs, including key themes and theoretical frameworks employed in these disciplines;
- Use critical thinking skills to analyze and discuss important global issues;
- Engage with cultural diversity and complexity through the international experience;
- Demonstrate familiarity with different types of data and sources and their appropriate use in analyzing selected topics in international affairs;
- Demonstrate competence in research design. Students will develop inquiry-based research questions, conduct a literature review, employ appropriate methods and data collection, and interpret their findings accurately.