Objectives:

This minor is designed to introduce students to the field of international and military affairs and provide them with a greater understanding of the international environment in which individuals, states, and organizations operate. The minor will include an introduction to international and comparative politics as well as at least one regional area of the international system. The program’s flexibility allows students to expand their introduction to this topic through the completion of two electives in regional studies, macro-based political views of the international system, international economics, national security, foreign policy, or some combination of these categories.

Competence, Knowledge, or Skills to be Achieved:

The minor will require students to acquire and apply critical analytical skills in order to achieve an understanding of the international system and its complex array of components. The required courses in international and comparative politics require students to consider the functions and components of the international system as well as the ideological and political differences between individuals, states, and organizations which comprise this system. A regional course requirement presents students with a more detailed analysis of how other states govern themselves and operate within the international system. The electives allow students to apply their newly developed tools for international and military affairs analysis to other geographical regions, macro-based political issues such as international law or organization, or international economics. Critical thinking and systematic analysis in the required courses and electives will present students with these tools for further dissection of the international system, allow a greater appreciation for the complex world we live in, and prepare them for military, political, legal, or business careers in an ever-increasingly interdependent world.

This minor is not approved for students majoring in political science.