Resources
Course Offerings
Major Requirments
Advising
Checklist (PDF)
Overseas Term
Independent Study
Careers/Internships
Faculty
Frieda Fuchs (PSCI)
Katherine Holt (HIST)
Kent Kille (PSCI)
Matthew Krain (PSCI)
Jeffrey Lantis (PSCI)
Amyaz Moledina (ECON)
Peter Pozefsky (HIST)
Greg Shaya (HIST)
James Warner (ECON)
IR News
wIRed!, the IR Program Newsletter
Current Events
IR Majors (As of 4/23/07)
Ted Hickey (2008)
What is the International Relations Major Like?
The field of international relations explores the behavior of governments, international institutions,
multinational corporations, non-governmental organizations, and sub-national groups. International
relations scholars investigate the rich complexity of relationships between these actors -- political,
economic, historical, geographic, and cultural -- that characterize today’s world. In addition, we seek
to understand the enormous tide of recent changes in the international system that have made this
discipline more intellectually challenging and more relevant to our daily lives than ever before.
THE MAJOR
At The College of Wooster, the major in International Relations (IR) adopts a global focus and an
interdisciplinary approach. The IR major program consists of courses in Political Science, History,
and Economics. At the time they declare a major, students select one of these three departments as
their home department. Students are also required to take one foreign language course beyond the
first four beginning and intermediate courses and participate in an Overseas Term.
The coursework must include Introduction to International Relations and Theories of International
Relations in Political Science, and Principles of Economics and either Intermediate Macro Economic
Theory or Intermediate Micro Economic Theory in Economics. In order to assure that students
receive a thorough background in the complexities of international relations, majors also select
courses in three areas of study:
• Specialized International Relations: two courses, one from Political Science and one from
History. Choices include Problems of the Global Community, United States Foreign Policy,
Comparative Foreign Policy, The United Nations System, Nationalism and Interdependence and
International Security in Political Science and Twentieth Century Europe, The Fall of the Soviet
Union and Rise of the New Russia and The United States and China in History.
• The Global Economy: two courses in addition to the two required economics courses. Students
may study International Trade, International Finance, or Economic Development in Economics,
and International Political Economy in Political Science.
• Comparative Political and Economic Systems: one course selected from Political Science
offerings including Politics of Western Europe, Government and Politics of Africa, The Politics of
Developing Countries and Peace Studies.
INDEPENDENT STUDY
Like all Wooster students, IR majors complete independent research guided by faculty mentors in
their home department. After completing the methods coursework required by the home department,
and, in most cases, the Overseas Term, each student researches and then writes a senior thesis on a
topic of particular interest. Recent projects have included: The European Union and the Limits of
Cooperation, The Reversal of Development in Argentina, Intervention in Genocide, Economic
Satisfaction Public Opinion and War Proneness, States vs. Terrorists, Analysis of the Deterioration
of U.S.-Cuban Relations, Globalization and Political Violence in Italy, and The Impact of Women's
Leadership at the United Nations.OVERSEAS TERM
The International Relations faculty recognize that student understanding of the complexities of the
field of international relations is enhanced by exposure to politics, people, languages, and cultures
different from their own. IR majors, therefore, complete a term of overseas study from a long list of
Wooster endorsed programs. The overseas experience should be at least one semester or term in
length.
The International Programs Office has information on all approved overseas opportunities, and the
Director assists students in selecting programs and making arrangements for such study. These
overseas opportunities permit IR majors to travel virtually anywhere in the world -- from Kenya,
Spain, Australia, and Nicaragua, to the Czech Republic, France, and China.
WOOSTER’S INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
The College of Wooster has long believed that international students are valuable assets to the
College community. These students come to Wooster from countries that literally span the globe.
This year, for example, we have students from numerous countries including Bangladesh, Brazil,
China, Ethiopia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, India, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Myanmar, Nepal,
Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Paraguay, Romania, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Tanzania,
United Kingdom, and Zimbabwe.
Visible manifestations of the lively international community on campus include the International
Students Association, which regularly sponsors programs to celebrate regions of the world
represented on campus and presents lectures, panel discussions, dance exhibitions, music events, and
even dinners which serve traditional food of the areas highlighted. In addition, select international
students represent their home countries in campus and community presentations through the
Ambassadors Program. The Model United Nations program allows Wooster students to compete in
national role-playing simulation competitions, where they act as diplomats representing countries
engaged in international negotiations on major global issues. And IR majors may continue to
practice Chinese, French, German, Russian or Spanish by living in one of the language suites located
in Luce Hall.
GRADUATES
Graduates of the International Relations program at Wooster have chosen a wide variety of career
paths. A number of recent graduates have entered directly into careers with international agencies,
businesses, or non-governmental organizations. Some have chosen professional degree programs in
international business or journalism, while others have gone on to law school for the study of
international and environmental law. Recent graduates have taken positions in the Peace Corps, at
multinational corporations, in the State Department, at various relief agencies, advocacy groups or
other types of non-governmental organizations, and even at the United Nations.
FACULTY
The International Relations Curriculum Committee consists of faculty from Economics (Amyaz
Moledina and James Warner), History (Katherine Holt, Peter Pozefsky, and Greg Shaya) and
Political Science (Frieda Fuchs, Kent Kille, Matthew Krain, and Jeffrey Lantis).
MORE INFORMATION
Visit our website, at http://www.wooster.edu/ir, or contact Kent Kille, Chair of the International
Relations Program, at ir@wooster.edu, or at extension 2456.
Andrew Wrenn (IR Webmaster)
Peter James (Campus Webmaster)
