International Relations, B.A., Specialization in Foreign Affairs and Diplomacy

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Students must complete the Oakland University General Education Requirements, General College of Arts and Sciences Requirements, College of Arts and Sciences College Exploratory Requirement, Major Requirements, and an appropriate number of free elective classes to meet the overall credit requirement for the degree (in most cases a minimum of 124; some degrees may require a greater number).

As a general rule, no more than eight credits of coursework used to satisfy one major, minor or concentration may be applied toward another, but exceptions to this rule may be allowed with the written approval of the program coordinators.

Schedule of Classes

Specific offerings for each semester may be found in the Schedule of Classes.

General Education Requirements

In order to graduate on-schedule without taking additional courses, it is highly recommended that students meet with an Undergraduate Academic Adviser concerning the selection of all of their general education courses.

Each candidate for an Oakland University baccalaureate will need to satisfactorily complete approved courses in each of the following areas: Foundation, Exploration, Integration, Writing, U.S. Diversity and Capstone. For details, refer to the General Education Requirements section of the catalog.

Requirements for the liberal arts major in international relations with a specialization in foreign affairs and diplomacy

This specialization is designed for students interested in pursuing careers in foreign service/international affairs or graduate study in diplomacy and foreign policy. Students will study topics covering foreign policy decision-making, domestic and international determinants of foreign policy behavior, and cross-cultural understanding and communication.

The major requires a minimum of 47 credits, plus a foreign language corequisite of up to 16 credits. Credit toward the major will only be allowed for courses completed with a grade of C or higher.

1. Core courses

ECN 2020 - Principles of Global Macroeconomics (4)
PS 1400 - Comparative Politics (4)
PS 1600 - Issues in World Politics (4)
PS 2500 - The Research Process in Political Science (4)
PS 2550 - Data Analysis in Political Science (4)
PS 3040 - International Politics: Theory and Practice (4)

Plus a capstone course selected from:

2. Political science electives (choose three)

PS 3610 - United States Foreign Policy (4)
PS 3615 - Comparative Foreign Policy (4)
PS 3630 - International Organizations (4)
PS 3640 - International Political Economy (4)
PS 3755 - International Negotiation and Bargaining (4)

3. Economics, history, and philosophy electives (choose two)

4. Foreign language corequisite

Students must complete two years of a single modern foreign language or demonstrate equivalent competency at the second year level in a single modern foreign language.

Note

Students using this catalog to meet international relations with a specialization in foreign affairs and diplomacy major requirements may also use any course subsequently approved as satisfying requirements in the political science and economics, history and philosophy electives categories and published in a later catalog.