Because the international relations program is an honors major, it is expected that students will maintain a G.P.A. of 3.65 or better throughout their time as a major and complete an honors thesis in their senior year. As the program is demanding, the number of students who can be admitted is limited to 25 to 30 per year. Therefore, interested students need to submit a formal application by October 15 of their sophomore year.

Criteria for admission include a strong academic record at NYU (G.P.A. of 3.65 or better); progress toward or completion of the foreign language requirement; and commitment to the field. Commitment to the field can be demonstrated by a research paper, summer job, or other work in international relations that shows an ongoing interest in the topic. By the time of application, students should also have finished at least two of the required core courses.

Majors must complete a set of classes in six areas. They must complete four core courses and four courses on the international relations environment. Students admitted prior to Fall 2006 are required to complete three IR environment courses and a course in a seventh area, the IR elective course. Students must also demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language, take two courses in a regional specialization, and complete a semester in a study abroad program. Finally, students must complete the two-course senior honors sequence. In the junior or senior year, students are also encouraged, but not required, to take an internship at one of the many international institutions or agencies located in New York City. Students can only receive academic credit for internships in their junior or senior year. They can pursue internship possibilities through the Program in Metropolitan Studies and the NYU Office of Career Services.

A. Core (four courses)

Majors must complete all of the following courses:
V31.0001 Economic Principles I *
V31.0002 Economic Principles II *
V53.0700 International Politics

In addition majors must complete, one of the recommended two courses in social science research methods:
V53.0800 Quantitative Methods in Political Science
V31.0018 Introductory Statistics (Economics)

The following courses will also fulfill the requirement. However, we strongly recommend the above statistics courses:
V93.0302 Statistics for Social Research (Sociology)
V89.0009 Statistical Reasoning for the Behavioral Sciences

* For GSP students: We will accept Y08.1001 (Economics I) and Y08.1002 (Economics II).

B. The International Relations Environment (three courses)

Majors admitted prior to Fall 2006 must complete three IR courses:  Any three from the following list are satisfactory; or students can seek approval from the program director if they wish to take IR courses not on this list.  Majors admitted to the program in Fall 2006 and after are required to complete four IR Environment courses to be chosen from the list below.  IR Environment courses must be taken at NYU or NYU affiliated sites.  Courses taken toward the IR Environment at NYU study abroad sites must be equivalent to the courses listed below and formally approved by the Department of Politics or the Department of Economics to count toward those majors (thus given a V53 or V31 course number).  Please note that the list below is subject to change.  Please refer to the IR website for the most recent additions to this list.  Courses listed below may not be offered every semester.

V53.0710 U.S. Foreign Policy
V31.0238 International Economics
V53.0712 National Security
V53.0720 Diplomacy and Negotiation
V53.0730 International Organization
V53.0736 Business and American Foreign Policy
V53.0740 International Law
V53.0741 War, Peace, and World Order
V53.0742 Terrorism
V53.0760 International Politics of the Middle East
V53.0770 International Relations of Asia
V53.0775 International Political Economy
V53.0780 Inter-American Relations
V53.0795 Undergraduate Field Seminar: International Relations
V31.0330 International Finance
V31.0335 International Trade
V31.0336 International Finance Theory
V53.0844 Games, Strategy, Politics
V53.0511 Immigration and Politics of Western Europe
V31.0323 Economic Development
V31.0324 Topics in Global Economy
V31.0370 Topics: Growth and Development
V53.0715 American Primacy
V53.0994 Globalization, Governance and Development
V52.9801 European Union and Central Europe in Transition

C. Regional Specialization (two 4-point courses)

Majors must complete two 4-point courses focusing on a particular world region. These courses should normally be taken during the term abroad.  Whether taken at NYU or abroad, both courses must be approved in advance by the director of the program or the undergraduate adviser to the IR program.

D. International Relations Elective (one 4-point course)

Students admitted to the major prior to Fall 2006 must complete one required 4-point course in this area.  The course may be chosen from the remaining courses in the International Relations Environment, above, or from offerings in a variety of disciplines, including economics, history, politics, sociology, or area studies. It must be approved in advance by the director of the program or the undergraduate adviser for the IR program.

E. Foreign Language (two 4-point courses, beyond the intermediate level)

Students may satisfy this requirement by completing two courses beyond the intermediate level. The language should in most cases be related to the regional specialization and the study abroad site (but not, for example, if the site is London).  Students wishing to qualify for exemption from the foreign language requirement must obtain proof of fluency from the appropriate language department.  If students are unable to obtain proof of fluency they will be required to fulfill the language requirement through coursework beyond the intermediate level.

F. Senior Honors (two courses)

The major constitutes an honors track with emphasis on quantitative methods and techniques, and students must complete the requirements for departmental honors by taking the senior seminar and writing a thesis.

International Relations Senior Sequence
Senior Seminar
V52.0990  Prerequisite: permission of the director of the international relations major.  Students must maintain a 3.65 average to be eligible for this seminar.
This course is the first half of the international relations major’s two-semester capstone experience. It is designed to equip students with the skills required to write an excellent international relations thesis (V52.0991) in the spring semester. The class is meant to be a bridge between the major’s required class in research methods and the substantive classes in the major. Students learn how to develop explanations for international phenomena, derive testable hypotheses, and develop research designs capable of testing them.   This class is only offered in the fall semester and must be taken in the fall semester of the senior year.

Senior Thesis
V52.0991  Prerequisite: permission of the director of the international relations major.
One term of individual research culminating in the production of a senior thesis of the student’s own choice under the supervision of an appropriate member of the faculty.  This class is only offered in the spring semester and must be taken in the spring semester of the senior year.

G. Study Abroad (one semester)

Students are required to spend a semester at one of the six NYU programs abroad or at one of the 18 universities around the world with which NYU has an exchange agreement. Permission to study at any other site, or to fulfill this in any other manner, must be petitioned in advance in the Office of the Associate Dean for Students, after approval by the IR program.    Students should plan to take courses counting toward the regional specialization and the language skills requirement while abroad.  In most cases, study abroad sites do not offer courses that count toward the Core Requirements and the IR Environment requirement.  Permission to study abroad for an entire year may only occur in exceptional cases and is subject to the approval of the program director.  Permission to study abroad for a full year and remain an IR major is granted infrequently.  Due to the year-long Senior Honors sequence, students will not be able to study abroad in their senior year.


H. Internship (optional)

In the junior or senior year, students are encouraged, but not required, to take an internship, whether for academic credit or not for credit, at one of the many international institutions or agencies located in New York City. They can pursue internship possibilities through the Metropolitan Studies Program or the NYU Office of Career Services or internships posted through the Politics Department website. Students may only receive academic credit for internships taken in the Junior or Senior year.  Internships do not count toward the IR Major.  Internship credit applies as general CAS credit.

I. Transfer Students

We cannot consider applications to the IR Honors Major for students outside of NYU until the student is formally enrolled at NYU. Students transferring from another college within NYU may apply up until the fall of their junior year in certain cases. Permission to apply in the fall semester of their junior year is approved on a case by case basis by the program director. Students must have taken and received grades in at least two of the required core courses at NYU before applying in the fall of junior year. Once at NYU, students interested in IR should meet with the IR undergraduate student adviser (in the Politics Department) to get their records reviewed and to receive a preliminary assessment of their prospects of being admitted to this major.


J. Double Majoring in IR     

Students are permitted to double major in IR and another field of study in cases where their schedule permits it and there is enough time to complete the requirements.  Courses should be chosen carefully in consultation with the IR Advisor and the advisor from their second major or minor.  Students may only double-count up to three courses total toward any other majors or minors.

K. Briefing

A Briefing Session on the IR Honors Major takes place every September. Attendance is mandatory for all current IR Honors Majors. Students wishing to apply to the IR Honors Major should also attend the Briefing Session in September.

L. Advising

During the Fall and Spring semesters walk-in advising is available for the International Relations Program in the Politics Department, 19 West 4th Street, 2nd Floor.  Office hours are Monday-Thursday, 10am-1pm and 2pm-5pm.

M. Acting Program Director

The acting Director of the Program is Professor Michael Gilligan
E-Mail: Michael.Gilligan@nyu.edu.