主要的
学生s must apply and be accepted into the IS Program in order to become an IS major. Once accepted into the program, majors should use the 主修课程计划 to plan their curriculum.
There are five components to the IS major:
- Taking the IS major core courses
- Selecting a concentration
- Learning a language (or two)
- 出国留学
- Completing a senior seminar or thesis
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The application will ask you to choose one of our four concentrations; to list your primary thematic and/or geographic interests, and the languages you speak and/or intend to study; and to write two short essays, one about an urgent global issue and one about why you want to be an IS major.
The responses you give on your IS major application are the most important factor we use to admit students into the major, but your grades and the courses taken your first semester play a role as well. To prepare for your application, we encourage students to read about the IS major requirements and talk with current IS majors; you might consider starting with our Peer Advisors, or with members of the International Studies 学生 Association. Be sure you understand the major’s requirements for coursework and language proficiency.
We encourage freshmen to enroll in a first-semester class or two that takes up international issues and/or is taught by an IS faculty member. Your application will ask you to list a faculty member who can give you a reference, so we encourage you to get to know a faculty member, rather than simply list the professor who gave you the best grade of the semester. There are no specific courses you need to have taken to apply for the IS major, but there are some introductory courses you will need to complete it that also count for the University Core requirements, and others that will give you a good foundation for our program. Some examples of courses we recommend for first-year students:
- A full year of language study
- A comparative politics course in the 政治 science department (this will count toward your IS major);
- Principles of 经济学 (this will count toward your IS major);
- An interdisciplinary "Complex Problems" or "Enduring Questions" course in the BC Core that has a strong international dimension; some recent examples include "Geographies of Imperialism"; "Planet in Peril"; "Violence and Representation in the African Diaspora"; "Beyond Price: Markets, 文化, Values"; "Making the Modern World"; "Environmental Migrations."
- Other courses that inspire you!
Remember that the IS major is just one part of your University experience; we understand that your first semester may not put primary focus on IS-related courses, but taking some of the above will help you determine if you are interested in these topics and if you're ready to flourish in the rigorous academic program we offer.
最后期限
- BC students who wish to become IS majors should submit an application by February 20 of their freshman year. Those who are not immediately accepted my be placed on a small wait list, in the event that spaces open up in the summer before sophomore year.
- Transfer students who are rising sophomores should contact the IS Program as soon as you are accepted to BC, and complete the same application as the BC students. On average each year we accept two or three transfer students into our program out of about 100 total new majors.
- Late applications may be accepted at the discretion of the director and associate director when space allows. Please submit your late application using the regular form, but let us know (via isp@love365cn.com) that you've filed a late application. 请注意 that it is rare for new majors to be accepted after the first week of their sophomore year.
核心课程
到底在哪里？? Foundations in 全球 历史
INTL 2202 + discussion section
3 credits; fall semester of sophomore year
到底在哪里？? Foundations in 全球 Culture and Political Geography
INTL 2204 + Geography studio/lab
3 credits; fall semester of sophomore year
Introduction to International Relations
INTL 2501 + discussion section
4 credits; spring semester of sophomore year
One designated Comparative Politics course
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3 credits; any semester
Principles of 经济学
ECON 1101 + discussion section
4 credits; any semester
学生s with a score of 5 on both Microeconomics and Macroeconomics AP exams may skip ECON 1101, but they are required to take another 经济学 elective (ECON 2xxx) in its place. 学生s with a score of 5 on either AP Microeconomics or Macroeconmics, 但不是两者都有, are required to complete the IS core Economic requirement through Principles of 经济学 (ECON 1101).
An approved 经济学 elective
ECON 2xxx or, with proper Econonmics pre-requisites, ECON 3xxx
3 credits; any semester after Principles of 经济学. If you'd like to apply a 3000-level Econ course to this IS major requirement, please confirm with 教授. (靠
Ethics, Religion, and International Politics
INTL 5563 + discussion section
4 credits; usually taken after studying abroad
浓度
IS majors focus their interests in one of four interdisciplinary concentrations, in which they will take two foundations courses and four electives from an approved list.
Cooperation and Conflict
This concentration considers fundamental theoretical and empirical questions about the study of cooperation and conflict in international affairs, including the causes of world wars, 革命, and 恐怖主义; the consequences of international and domestic actors’ attempts at reconciliation; the role of arms control, 情报, international institutions, 全球治理, and grand strategy; and sources of state and individual security and insecurity. 每场战争都是独一无二的, every 和平 different, and students will have ample opportunity to study historic and contemporary cases from around the world. 同时, students will approach war, 和平, and security as general social phenomena and examine shared features and dynamics across cases and theoretical perspectives.
Ethics and Social Justice
This concentration considers 宗教 and secular frameworks for relating ethics to contemporary international affairs, as well as specific areas of international politics where ethical questions are likely to arise, including sovereignty, 恐怖主义, 调解, 人权, 经济正义, and the use of force in war or humanitarian interventions. 学生s will have the opportunity to explore the role of religion and motivations of social justice in the interaction between state and non-state actors.
全球文化
This concentration considers two dimensions of culture-making and community in a globally connected world. In the “文化 at Work” cluster, students examine professional 文化 production, engaging with critical inquiry into culture as both a complex meaning-making activity and as commodities central to the global economy. In the “文化 and Social Movements” cluster, students examine how communities and projects for change form through cultivating and deploying shared social, 文化, 宗教, 政治, and economic resources. 全球文化 concentrators may elect to complete a 1-credit elective internship either in the creation of a 文化 product or in grassroots mobilization and other participatory approaches to issues of global importance and 文化 representation.
请注意: 主要的s and minors who concentrate in 全球文化 should take only those electives that are pre-approved for their cluster ("文化 at Work" or "文化 and Social Movements"). 学生s can seek approval to count other courses—including courses from the other cluster—as electives by sending a course abstract and/or syllabus to the Director of 本科 Studies (教授. (靠) before the first week of that class (and ideally during registration period).
Political Economy and Development Studies
This concentration considers the interplay between politics and economics in determining interactions among states, 市场, 和社会, both in the developed and developing world. 学生s will gain an understanding of the economic, 政治, and moral stakes in international public policy issues and develop the ability to analyze policy choices. A central focus of the concentration is improvement in human well-being, 特别是, though not exclusively, in the context of developing countries, including those in Africa, 亚洲, the Pacific and Latin America. 学生s choose a cluster within the concentration that emphasizes either 政治 economy (PE) or development studies (DS).
请注意: 主要的s and minors who concentrate in Political Economy and Development Studies can take electives approved for EITHER the PE or DS cluster and count them for their own cluster. 学生s can seek approval to count other courses as electives by sending a course abstract and/or syllabus to the Director of 本科 Studies (教授. (靠) before the first week of that class (and ideally during registration period).
语言要求
All students completing the IS major, regardless of school (MCAS, CSOM, Lynch, etc.) must demonstrate advanced proficiency in one modern foreign language or intermediate proficiency in two modern foreign languages. This is a more strenuous requirement than the MCAS minimum, and it must be met by all majors.
Advanced proficiency can be demonstrated in several ways:
- Successful completion (with a passing letter grade) of the second semester of the third-year sequence of a modern foreign language (e.g. Spanish or French CCRII, or Third Year Russian part II.)
异常: Arabic and Chinese courses have 2x the credits as others, so the IS Program considers advanced proficiency to be reached after the Intermediate I course is completed.
- Successful completion (with a passing letter grade) of one semester of a modern foreign language course beyond the advanced level, taught in that language (e.g. French courses in the 3000 level or above)
- Earning a 5 on an AP exam, or a 700+ on an SAT subject test, in a modern foreign language;
- demonstrating advanced proficiency to a faculty member in one of BC’s language departments. (That faculty member must certify a student's advanced language proficiency in an email to Ms. 帕特里夏·乔伊斯 in the IS Program office.)
Note: Language courses that count in any way toward your IS major or minor language proficiency requirements must be taken for a grade, and cannot be taken pass/fail. (Such courses taken pass/fail through Spring 2020 will be honored.)
Intermediate proficiency can be demonstrated in several ways:
- Successful completion (with a passing letter grade) of the second semester of the intermediate-level sequence of a modern foreign language course.
- Earning the following minimum scores on an AP language exam or SAT Subject Test:
Chinese (AP4/SAT650) French (AP3/SAT550)
German (AP4/SAT600) Italian (AP3/SAT550)
Japanese (AP4/SAT650) Korean (AP4/SAT650)
Modern Hebrew (AP4/SAT650) Spanish (AP3/550)
- Demonstrating intermediate proficiency to a faculty member in one of BC’s language departments. (That faculty member must certify a student's intermediate language proficiency in an email to Ms. 帕特里夏·乔伊斯 [patricia.joyce@love365cn.com] in the IS Program office.)
Note: Language courses that count in any way toward your IS major or minor language proficiency requirements must be taken for a grade, and cannot be taken pass/fail. (Such courses taken pass/fail through Spring 2020 will be honored.)
Note: Language instruction courses beyond Intermediate II, 比如CCR, may not be used as IS electives; but subject courses taught in a foreign language may be used as electives where applicable, if approved by the DUS/Director.
Also note: Effective after the end of the spring 2020 semester, language courses that count in any way toward your IS major or minor language proficiency requirements must be taken for a grade, and cannot be taken pass/fail. Pass/Fail arrangements with faculty made before summer 2020 will be honored.
If your situation is not covered by the above rules, please contact 教授. Hiroshi基本上, Director of 本科 Studies in the IS Program.
Senior Seminar/论文
Seniors complete their IS major by choosing either to take a one-semester senior research seminar or to write a year-long senior thesis with a faculty member.
IS majors are expected to study abroad for a semester, but are not required to do so. Nearly 90% of our majors study abroad for a summer, semester, or year. Those who do not—either because they are international students at BC, 或者经济方面, 个人, or athletic reasons—can take advantage of other opportunities to engage with international students, use their language skills, and meet people and groups from around the world (through the 全球 Engagement Portal or 全球对话，例如).
Frequently Asked Questions
Enrollment in the major is by competitive application, submitted in mid-February of freshman year. Transfer students who enter BC in their sophomore year may apply during the summer before they enter BC.
How do I apply to be an IS major?
Enrollment in the IS minor is open to all students who file a course plan, which outlines how they will meet the minor's requirements, before the end of the Drop/Add period in October of their junior year. We also welcome declarations of the IS minor in freshman or sophomore year. We encourage prospective IS minors to read about the minor requirements and visit with a Peer Advisor or faculty advisor to help the craft their course plan. When completed, the course plan should be submitted to Ms. 帕特里夏·乔伊斯 in Gasson 104.
How do I enroll in the IS minor?
Increased investment from the University has allowed the IS Program to expand to its current maximum of 105 students per year. Over a six-year period, the number of students accepted has risen from 88 students in the class of 2016 to 95 in the class of 2019, to 105 in the class of 2022. At present that corresponds to a major cohort of about 280 students in total (across three class years).
How many people are accepted into the major?
Yes. Both IS majors and IS minors have a language proficiency requirement, but they differ:
All IS majors, regardless of their school (MCAS, CSOM, LSOE, CSON), must demonstrate advanced proficiency in one modern foreign language or intermediate proficiency in two modern foreign languages by the time of their graduation. Advanced proficiency will be met by taking at least two courses beyond the intermediate level of a modern foreign language.
All IS minors, regardless of school (MCAS, CSOM, LSOE, CSON), must demonstrate intermediate-level proficiency in one modern foreign language.
Is there a language proficiency requirement?