The purpose of this course is to provide a basic knowledge of the field of international relations. Among the topics to be addressed are key theoretical concepts, themes and controversies in the field such as: important state and non-state actors in international politics, security, economic relations between states, levels of analysis, and schools of thought.

Paid work experience in a field related to international and global studies (at least 160 hours of work, completed over at least four weeks). Students will apply the accumulated knowledge, theory, and methods of the discipline to problem solving outside of the classroom.

Within the past three decades, planetary computerization, burgeoning media industries, and other global processes have significantly altered the ways in which we experience our local and global worlds. Global reconfigurations of time and space change our consciousness, sense of self and others, and the material realities in which we live and work. This course provides the conceptual tools to assess emerging global processes, interactions and flows of people, ideas and things that challenge historical patterns of international studies and relations. The course will introduce you to international and global processes in areas such as global cultural economies, global cities, new forms of democracy and civil society, global religions, sexualities, health, and environments, increased competition for resources, political conflict, war and terrorism. Beyond understanding the causes and consequences of global change, this course will introduce you to ethical dilemmas in global justice movements, and in transferring ideas and technologies in new global contexts.

This upper division seminar constitutes the final core requirement in the international and global studies degree program. Students will enroll in this course in their final year of study. The capstone seminar will further develop and sharpen the student's understanding of globalization and international processes. The course uses a problem-solving focus to provide a detailed analysis of one or more contemporary issues in the field of international and global studies, culminating in a written senior thesis and project presentation.