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

Students must complete the Oakland University General Education Requirements, General College of Arts and Sciences requirements , College of Arts and Sciences 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).

A student cannot declare a major and a minor in the same discipline (e.g. a BS in Accounting with a minor in Accounting).

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: Foundations, Explorations, and Integration. For details, refer to the General Education Requirements section of the catalog.

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

This concentration 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 43 credits, plus a foreign language corequisite of up to 8 credits. Credit toward the major will only be allowed for courses completed with a grade of C or higher.

1. Core courses

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 (choose one)

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)

Upper-Level OU courses not listed below can be used towards Group 3 requirements with permission of the faculty advisor.

4. Foreign language corequisite

Students must complete an introductory two-semester sequence of a single modern foreign language or demonstrate equivalent competency at the first year level in a single modern foreign language.

Note

Students using this catalog to meet international relations with a concentration 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.