International Relations Minor

Minor Requirements

The requirements for the minor are six economics and political sciences courses and completion of the language requirement as follows:

Introductory Course

• POSC 232 - Fundamentals of International Relations (IR) (a prerequisite for upper-level courses for IR majors)

Core Political Science Subfield Courses

At least two of the following POSC courses:

• POSC 349 - The International Political Economy
• POSC 353 - National Security
• POSC 357 - International Institutions
• POSC 366 - Contemporary American Foreign Policy
• POSC 374 - International Law

Economics Courses

All of the following:

• ECON 151 - Introduction to Economics
• ECON 249 - International Economics (Students who have completed the relevant prerequisites may take ECON 349 in place of ECON 249)

IR Seminar

Unless the director grants specific permission, the seminar must be taken on campus. IR concentrators pursuing honors must take an IR seminar in addition to the honors seminar.

One of the following:

• HIST 489 - Seminar on Problems in Military History
• POSC 405 - Seminar: Coercive Diplomacy: Trade, Aid & Sanctions
• POSC 406 - Seminar: The State and Political Violence
• POSC 407 - Seminar: Media and International Relations
• POSC 416 - Seminar: Democracy, Capitalism, and the Changing World Order
• POSC 421 - Seminar: Information Warfare
• POSC 433 - Seminar: Topics in Globalization
• POSC 434 - Seminar: Immigrants, Refugees, and the Politics of Borders
• POSC 436 - Seminar: Continuity and Change in International Politics
• POSC 437 - Seminar: Democratization and Prospects for Peace and Prosperity
• POSC 451 - Seminar: Africa in World Politics
• POSC 454 - Seminar: The Cold War and After
• POSC 456 - Seminar: War - Theories and Practices
• Other seminars in the Division of Social Sciences may count with permission of the program director.

Language Requirement

For both majors and minors, reading proficiency in a Western European language equal to that attained by completion of two 300-level courses with a grade of at least C.

Alternatively, for students interested in a non-Western European language, such as Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Japanese, Russian, etc., the requirement can be satisfied by reading proficiency equal to that attained by completion of two 200-level courses with a grade of at least C. Students entering with AP credit in a non-Western language must take at least one language course at Colgate.

Students seeking clarification regarding their current level of proficiency should contact the language department or program in question.

To receive credit for courses taken off campus, arrangements must be made in advance with the director of the IR program.

GPA Requirement

Satisfactory completion of the IR minor requires (1) a minimum GPA of 2.00 in the six IR-designated courses, and (2) a grade of C or better in POSC 232, ECON 151, and the seminar. A student may not count toward an IR minor any courses being counted toward a major in political science.

International Relations Program

For more information about the department, including Faculty, transfer credit, awards, etc., please visit the International Relations program catalog page.