2025-2026 Academic Catalog
Welcome to Virginia Tech! We are excited that you are here planning your time as a Hokie.
Welcome to Virginia Tech! We are excited that you are here planning your time as a Hokie.
The International Studies Program offers five (5) majors, leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies (BAIS). The majors of the BAIS degree are:
Students pursuing these majors are prepared to continue their studies in graduate or law school or immediately apply their skills and knowledge in various professional settings because of the broad applicability of the range of intellectual perspectives and theoretical traditions they are trained in, the global cultural learning to which they are exposed, the competencies they develop in research, writing, and analytical thinking, and the proficiencies they gain in critical foreign languages. Rooted in a strong liberal arts curriculum, the International Studies Program prepares students to enter careers in government service (Department of State, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, the intelligence community), Foreign Service, think tanks, teaching, journalism, international governmental and non-governmental organizations, and global companies based in Virginia, nationally, and internationally.
Students may choose to pursue one of the five majors offered by the International Studies Program. In this case, no course can double count within or between International Studies-related majors with the exception of IS 1004 Nations and Nationalities,IS 1034 Introduction to International Studies and Political Science IS 2004 Research and Writing in International Studies, IS 2054 Introduction to World Politics, IS 2064 The Global Economy and World Politics, IS 2084 The Evolution of World Order, IS 3115 Selected World Problems, and IS 3116 Selected World Problems .
All students who wish to obtain a major offered by the International Studies Program must complete:
The International Studies (IS) major is the broadest and most interdisciplinary major of the BAIS degree that offers students the opportunity to learn about foreign cultures, religions, languages, economics, and history. The curriculum is highly interdisciplinary in orientation and is designed to introduce students to a wide range of perspectives in understanding international politics, foreign cultures, and global processes. Whether or not students pursue careers directly related to world affairs, the understandings gained in this major provide students with a broad perspective on the world and the United States' place in it. In addition to major requirements in international studies and political science, students pursuing this major complete a wide range of courses in economics, geography, foreign languages, history, religion and culture, sociology, and other disciplines.
The International Relations (IREL) major focuses on the analysis of the political, societal, cultural, ethical, and normative aspects of international relations, as well as offering students a rigorous international and comparative perspective on the contemporary global system. It emphasizes a solid grounding in the methods of analysis used in the social sciences and the field of international relations to help students think critically about international phenomena and analyze the choices and challenges that arise in this arena. It seeks to foster creative thinking about complex global problems and produce competitive graduates and enlightened citizens who possess the necessary knowledge and skills that allow them not only to successfully pursue careers in their chosen field but, most importantly, serve their communities and the nation.
The National Security and Foreign Affairs (NSFA) major offers students expertise and understanding of the broad range of threats to national and global security in the 21st century and equips them with the necessary knowledge and skills that allow them to successfully pursue careers in diplomacy and international organizations. The National Security and Foreign Affairs (NSFA) major analyzes the role of diplomacy in the management of world affairs and examines in-depth U.S. grand strategy and foreign policy; the current and future global geopolitical environment that affect the U.S. and its interests; the ends, ways, and means that impact the use of military force; the role and impact of economic power on world affairs; the informational issues that contribute to the holistic implementation of strategy, and counterterrorism and homeland security. It is designed to connect theory and practice thereby providing a hands-on, practical approach to the field that equips students with the tools to analyze threats that challenge U.S. security both at home and abroad.
The Environment, Development, and Global Economy (EDGE) major is a successor to the former International Public Policy major. EDGE is designed to help students analyze the choices and challenges that arise in the global economic system and equip them with a better understanding of how states and societies can pursue their economic goals in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner. It emphasizes the role of international organizations in the global economy and in development, as well as help students think critically about globalization and its impact on both developed and developing countries, sustainable development, and the fight against global poverty. Its purpose is to relate theory to practice and provide students with a breadth of knowledge and training in the various facets of sustainable international development and the sub-fields of governance and political economy, environment and development, and international public health. It seeks to prepare students for a fast-growing number and variety of careers in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of development programs, working for governments, international organizations, NGOs, and private companies.
The European & Transatlantic Studies (EUTS) major has been designed in response to the growing need for a new generation of scholars and analysts to address issues pertaining to Europe and the relations between the European Union and the United States (transatlantic relations). The purpose of the European & Transatlantic Studies program is to provide its students with the knowledge, skills and competencies necessary to enable them to pursue successful careers both in the public and private sector. Students pursuing a major in European & Transatlantic Studies will examine the historical, political, security, geostrategic, economic (trade, finance, and business), and societal (ethnic, cultural, and religious) aspects of European and transatlantic affairs. They will also gain competence in at least one foreign language. The study of Europe includes the following sub-regions: Western, Central & Eastern Europe; Russia and Eurasia; the Balkans and the Mediterranean region (North Africa & the Middle East), and the broader transatlantic space (relations between Europe, Africa, North America, and Central & Latin America).
Please see http://liberalarts.vt.edu/academics/majors-and-minors/international-studies-major.html for more information.
The curriculum is designed to provide foundational and development courses, major-specific study, and a capstone experience. Students are introduced to concepts early in the undergraduate career, and the curriculum allows them to build knowledge and skills as they work on increasingly complex tasks. They also develop skills in written, spoken, and visual communication across their studies in the major. At the foundational level, students in every major are required to take the same introductory courses. Then students move into major-relevant specialized courses, and finally join together in the senior year to work on a capstone experience.
The International Studies Program offers eight (8) minors, open to all majors at Virginia Tech.
For the 18-hour minor, students enroll in three required courses and choose other three courses from the minor elective list. Please see http://liberalarts.vt.edu/academics/majors-and-minors/international-studies-major.html for details.
The minor in Global Engagement (GLBE) offers a "hands on" – "minds on" approach to the understanding of global affairs. Adopting an experiential learning approach, this minor seeks to encourage and reward Virginia Tech students who wish to explore and study the "international" through a variety of educational tools, such as study abroad, in-class simulations, participation in various international organizations models (e.s., Model UN, Model NATO, Model OAS), field studies, undergraduate research, internships and externships, and educational programs and engagement opportunities offered by U.S. national federal agencies and other organizations, such as the Department of State (e.s., Diplomacy Lab and Foreign Policy Classroom), the Council of Foreign Relations, and the U.S. Institute for Peace.
The minor in International Studies (IS) offers students an interdisciplinary approach to the study of global affairs. The purpose of the program is threefold: first, to supplement the knowledge and skills that students have acquired through their major field of study with knowledge about the global political and economic system and the global forces and processes that shape our daily lives; second, to further students' critical and analytical skills; and third, to create knowledgeable and enlightened citizens and global leaders.
The minor in International Relations (IREL) is designed to offer students a rigorous international and comparative perspective on the contemporary global system. It focuses on the changing political and cultural relations within the international system in the modern era, exploring how global, regional, and domestic factors influence relations between actors on the world stage. Students are equipped with both the foundational skills and specific knowledge necessary to analyze the choices and challenges that arise in this arena. The program seeks to provide a hands-on, practical approach to the field that would equip students with the analytic tools, language expertise, and cross-cultural understanding necessary to pursue successful careers in government, Foreign Service, and international organizations.
The minor in National Security and Foreign Affairs (NSFA) analyzes the role of diplomacy in the management of world affairs and provides a hands-on, practical approach to security analysis that would equip students with the tools to analyze threats that challenge US security both at home and abroad. The program seeks to supplement the knowledge and skills that students have acquired through their major field of study with expertise and understanding of the broad range of threats to national and global security in the 21st century, as well as to equip students with the necessary knowledge and skills that would allow them to successfully pursue careers in diplomacy and international organizations.
The minor in Global Development and Political Economy (GDPE) is a unique interdisciplinary minor that exposes students to the study of the global political economy, global economic processes, and challenges of sustainable development. It is designed for students who wish to develop the analytical and leadership skills necessary to formulate and advocate policy on key international issues of social and environmental sustainability, the critical analysis of global processes, and issues of global equity and justice. It seeks to provide students with a detailed and systematic understanding of how political institutions, processes, and public policies operate in world affairs. The program brings together the academic study of international relations with theoretical description and analysis of global social and economic processes and formal methods of social and economic analysis. The program seeks to prepare students for a fast-growing number and variety of careers in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of development programs, employment with governments, international organizations, NGOs, and private companies.
The minor in European Studies (EUST) seeks to provide students with knowledge, skills and competencies pertaining to European affairs to enable them to pursue successful careers both in the public and private sectors. It focuses on the study of the historical, political, security, geostrategic, economic (trade, finance, and business), and societal (ethnic, cultural, and religious) aspects of European affairs. The study of Europe includes the following sub-regions: Western, Central & Eastern Europe; Russia and Eurasia; the Balkans and the Mediterranean region (North Africa & the Middle East). This minor also focuses on the study of the relations between the European Union and the various world regions, s well as its relations with major great powers (e.s., the United States, Russia, and China) and international organizations (e.s., the United Nations, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the IMF/World Bank).
The experiential learning minor in European Engagement (EURE) offers a "hands on" – "minds on" approach to the understanding of European affairs. It seeks to encourage and reward Virginia Tech students who wish to explore and study European affairs through a variety of educational tools, such as study abroad, in-class simulations, participation in various European organizations models (e.s., Model NATO, Model European Council, etc.), field studies, undergraduate research, internships and externships, and educational programs and engagement opportunities offered by the European Union and its Diplomatic Delegation in Washington DC, as well as by NATO and the Atlantic Council of the United States.
The minor in Transatlantic Studies equips students with knowledge about the political, economic, security, religious, and cultural ties binding European states and the states in the Americas (especially North America) together. Whether individual European countries, individual EU Members States or the European Union as a whole are all seen as the United States’ strategic allies or competitors, it is important for students interested in pursuing careers in the Federal Government (especially at the Department of State, the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community), as well as in the private sector (banking, multinational companies, consulting firms, etc.) to learn about the issues that bound Europe and the United States together.
University policy requires that students demonstrate their progress toward the degree by meeting minimum requirements.
To proceed satisfactorily toward a degree, students who pursue the majors in Environment, Development, and Global Economy (EDGE – formerly the major in International Public Policy), International Relations (IREL), International Studies (IS), and National Security & Foreign Affairs (NSFA) must complete IS 1004 Nations and Nationalities, IS 1034 Introduction to International Studies and Political Science, IS 2004 Research and Writing in International Studies, IS 2054 Introduction to World Politics, IS 2064 The Global Economy and World Politics, IS 2084 The Evolution of World Order and Foreign language 2105 & 2106 by the end of the semester in which 60 hours have been attempted; must maintain an overall GPA of at least 2.0 and must maintain an in-major GPA of 2.0.
To proceed satisfactorily toward a degree, students who pursue the major in European & Transatlantic Studies (EUTS) must complete IS 1004 Nations and Nationalities, IS 1024 Comp Gov & Politics, IS 1034 Introduction to International Studies and Political Science, IS 1104 , IS 2004 Research and Writing in International Studies, HIST 1026 Introduction to European History, IS 2084 The Evolution of World Order, HIST 2114 Topics and Critical Issues in European History and Foreign Language 2105 & 2106 by the end of the semester in which 60 hours have been attempted; must maintain an overall GPA of at least 2.0 and must maintain an in major GPA of 2.0.
Students who fall below the standard for either the overall GPA or the in-major GPA will have one semester to regain the required GPA standards. A student who fails to make satisfactory progress toward degree after that semester will be disallowed from continuing in the major.
Director of International Studies: Dr. Besnik Pula
First-year and incoming transfer student advisor: Jennifer Hanratty
Sophomore, junior, and senior student advisor: Phoebe Peterson
For a full list of faculty, please see the Department of Political Science.
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