International Affairs is an interdisciplinary major in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities. The Program is designed to prepare undergraduate students with the academic knowledge, cross-cultural awareness, and skills needed to thrive and lead in world society, while also promoting global citizenship and social responsibility.
The International Affairs Program was conceived and developed at Northeastern University in 1995 as an interdisciplinary program that builds on the strengths of various departments and disciplines. The program demands that students study politics, history, economics, sociology, anthropology, at least one foreign language, and that students live, study, and/or work abroad for a significant amount of time (usually a minimum of four months).
With only a few majors in 1996 and 1997, the program now boasts over 600 majors and minors. Students have the option to pursue combined majors – examples include International Affairs and Sociology, Cultural Anthropology, Political Science, Economics, Human Services and more. Students also retain the option of pursuing any minors or second majors that fit into their interests.
The goals of the Program are:
- To educate students through a diverse faculty, representing various academic disciplines, theoretical frameworks, and methodologies;
- To provide students with options for academic and professional concentrations, such as diplomacy, international business, economic development, democratization, global gender issues, human rights, global health policy, and environmental studies;
- To connect coursework with experiential education opportunities such as cooperative education, internships, study abroad, Dialogue of Civilizations programs, and student activities; and
- To expose our students to international and global initiatives occurring at Northeastern University, in Boston, nationally, and across the globe.