Semester Requirements

http://www.rit.edu/cla/sociology/internationalstudies

Program overview

Cutting-edge education. The impact of global change is dramatic and far-reaching, altering the dynamics of everyday life on a planetary scale. Our undergraduate curriculum in International and Global Studies educates a new generation of experts who can assess and analyze salient issues of worldwide transformation, including consumer capitalism, media culture, forms of communication, economic development, gender and health, migration, border wars, political violence, sustainable futures, and human security. Graduates from our four-year program are prepared for careers that demand an understanding of global cultural, social, economic, and political processes.

Interdisciplinary by design. Our degree program offers an exciting range of courses from anthropology, economics, fine arts, history, international business, modern language and culture studies, political science, public policy, and sociology. This disciplinary diversity delivers awareness of research advancements in global issues and world problems across fields, preparing students for flexibility of perspective and team-leadership in future careers.

Global vision. While many International Studies programs examine world regions in isolation, our program focuses on the dynamic interplay of inter‐national and supra‐national processes, an approach that features an integrated analysis of globalization via the dynamics of cultural, technological, media, business, monetary, diplomatic, and information exchange. Through the holistic and humanistic analysis of globalization, our majors consider the consequences of global processes for human rights, ethnic conflict, health, environmental sustainability, economic justice, violence and human security, and the predicaments of democracy and civil society.

Building intercultural competencies

Field specializations.  The program offers ten specialization options, as students build their portfolio of skills. Students may choose a regional focus, including Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East or Indigenous Studies. Or, they may choose a topical focus such as sustainable futures, global justice, peace, and conflict studies, international business, or transnational gender studies.

Modern language skills.  Our language curriculum, with a state-of-the-art technology lab, provides critical intercultural communication skills necessary for success in any career. At RIT, students can study Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. We offer language certification if students are proficient in a language other than English, including ASL.

International experience.  Our program encourages all students to participate in an international experience, including study abroad or internship. RIT provides study abroad programs to any part of the world, and students can also study at one of RIT's global campuses in Croatia, Kosovo, and Dubai. Many students have interned at the New York State Division of Human Rights and the United Nations Association in Rochester.

Distinction

Faculty engagement. Our majors flourish under the mentorship of faculty-scholars, who have distinguished records of research in Latin America, the Caribbean, China, Japan, Korea, West and North Africa, the Middle East, Native North America, and Europe. A number of our faculty have teaching experience abroad, collaborate with transnational teams on issues of human trafficking, genocide, political violence, environmental sustainability, and global justice, and many have achieved international recognition through prestigious grants, fellowships, and publications.

Academic excellence. Students have diverse opportunities to build exceptional résumés. A large number of our students are members of the university Honors Program and Sigma Iota Rho (the National Honor Society for International Studies). Our students win prestigious scholarship and writing awards, and research and travel grants. They participate in innovative research through classes, advanced study, and collaboration on faculty projects, leading to opportunities for conference presentations.

Student diversity. Our majors are a lively group. Many are leaders of student clubs, such as the Model United Nations, the ‘Wells’ (clean water) Project, and Critical Media Watch. Our students are highly diverse in terms of gender, ethnicity, religion, and nationality. Student and faculty diversity enriches classroom learning through the exchange of ideas, networking, and intercultural friendships.

Enhanced Career Opportunities

Building on our university’s technology core curriculum, the specializations allow our majors to passionately develop the expertise for successful career options in government, diplomatic or security service, international business, and not-for-profit initiatives. The major also successfully prepares students for competitive graduate programs in fields like international law, international development, global education, administration, public policy, and the social sciences.

International and global studies, BS degree, typical course sequence (semesters), effective fall 2013

Please see New General Education Curriculum–Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) for more information.

(WI) Refers to a writing intensive course within the major.

* Please see Wellness Education Requirement for more information.

† Modern language: Students without prior proficiency in a foreign language should take the beginning level language sequence as prerequisite(s) for the intermediate level in the LAS electives.

‡ After the first year, students are required to complete an international experience by choosing either a study abroad experience or an internship or co-op. The requirement may be completed during the summer or during the academic year.