Oh the Places You’ll Go! International Relations at NYU

Here is a direct description of the undergraduate International Relations major from the NYU College of Arts & Sciences website: 

The International Relations (IR) major provides students with an understanding of the global system’s past, the tools to function effectively in the present, and the ability to foresee and respond to developments in the future.

There are four academic quadrants that make up your IR degree: politics, economics, area studies, and a foreign language. The best part? These are all interdisciplinary! Having the freedom to enroll in your own courses distinguishes the IR major from other universities. 

The first two components are self explanatory: there are over 25+ courses that could satisfy the politics and economics requirements. One could take a seminar on Authoritarian Regimes or a lecture on International Economics. 

Keeping this in mind, IR majors are also required to complete coursework that focuses on a particular part of the world. This can either be done at one of NYU’s portal campuses, or at any of their Global Academic Centers.

Finally, students are also required to develop an advanced language fluency of their choosing. In the Spring, I decided to study away at NYU Abu Dhabi to satisfy this requirement, taking a course on Arab Youth and Intermediate Arabic. It was one of the BEST times of my life. 

That said, I still have two semesters before I complete my language requirement, so now I’m taking Colloquial Arabic! It was amazing to be able to take it in the UAE; my Arabic professor was Jordanian and it also encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone. 

You don’t even necessarily have to take Arabic; NYU offers over 27 different languages and you can arrange to take ones at a nearby campus if they are not offered here.

Here is a video about my experience with taking Arabic at NYU!

No two students will ever have the same sequence of classes! Some of my friends have taken Portuguese while studying Contemporary Spanish Politics in Madrid, or Twi in Accra while studying Cocoa development, for instance.

To clarify, your major does not have to be the only route of studying away. I’ve also been lucky enough to travel to NYU Sydney and NYU Berlin, where I was able to learn about the Aboriginal population in Sydney (known as the Gadigal clan) and also of German art history. Both locations serve as places where students can fulfill the area studies, regional specialization, and study away components of the IR major.

NYU students who have graduated in IR have gone on to work for NGOs, the United Nations, the Peace Corps, and Teach for America, for example. Like most of my friends, we’ve all been able to intern in these same fields, attending our Foreign Policy lecture in the morning and then going off to our internships in Midtown. Just a typical day! After college, most students go on to top law schools and graduate programs in International Relations, like Georgetown, Columbia, and even back at NYU.

Personally, the friends I’ve met along the way have been my favorite part about the major. Whether it’s climate change, promoting women’s rights worldwide, or fighting racial injustice, IR students are committed to making a better tomorrow for everyone.

Emily Mitchell-Marell, Undergraduate Academic Advisor for IR, agrees. “[IR students] aren’t the kind to shy away from things that are maybe a little more difficult because they see it’s worth it.”