Discover the interworkings of politics in the wider world with the international relations major. Students who major in international relations may also choose to follow a program of concentration in Comparative Politics, Governments and Globalization or Peace, Conflict, and Diplomacy.
Course Requirements
To graduate with honors in international relations, you must:
- Maintain an overall minimum GPA of 3.5
- Maintain a minimum GPA of 3.5 in courses within the major
- Complete 6 (18 hours) non-interim courses for honors credit, with a minimum of four honors courses within the major
- Complete an honors thesis that meets the guidelines of the political science department
- Earn at least a B+ in each political science honors course you take
- Make a formal commitment to graduate with honors by fall of your senior year
For more information:
- Talk with your advisor about pursuing honors at Calvin
- Contact the international relations honors advisor, Professor Watson
- Read more about Calvin's honors program
Internship experience
International relations majors, particularly those who do not anticipate pursuing either law school or some graduate program shortly after graduation, are encouraged to enroll in internship programs.
Students can complete an internship for a maximum of 3 semester hours in Internship in Politics and Government (POLS-380), as well as internships through our Washington D.C. semester program. Interested students should contact the department's internship director, Professor Pelz.
IR Major Cognate Requirement
Students wishing to complete an International Relations major must complete a cognate set of courses that complement the major. Students have three options to complete the cognate requirement.
Option 1
Take any three of the following courses (note that some of these courses have prerequisites):
- BUS-364 – Global Supply Chain Management
- BUS-371 – Financial Instruments and Markets
- ECON-222 – Principles of Macroeconomics
- ECON-236 – Emerging Economics
- ECON-237 – Regional Economics
- ECON-337 – World Poverty and Economic Development
- ECON-338 – International Trade and Finance
- GEOG-230 – The Geography of the Global Economy
- GEOG-240 – The Geography of Latin America
- GEOG-242 – The Geography of Africa
- GEOG-261 – Geographic Information Systems and Cartography
- GEOG-361 – Advanced Geographic Information Systems
- HIST-233 – Modern Middle East
- HIST-235 – India and Its World
- HIST-238 – Latin American History
- HIST-242 – Africa and the World
- HIST-258 – US Military History
- HIST-267 – Modern Europe
- HIST-271 – War and Society
- HIST-331 – Studies in Middle Eastern History
- HIST-346 – Modern China
- HIST-372 – Modern Empires
- IDS-201 – Intro to International Development Studies
- IDS-351 – Theories of International Development
- PHIL-225 – Chinese Thought and Culture
- PHIL-226 – African Thought and Culture
- REL-255 – World Religions
- REL-352 – Judaism
- REL-353 – Islam
- REL-354 – Hinduism
- REL-355 – Buddhism
- REL-356 – Confucianism
- SOC/CAS-253 – Intercultural Communication
- SOWK-260 – Global Issues and Perspectives
- SOC-303 – Anthropology of Religion
Option 2
Complete an approved off-campus semester program (with a maximum of three credits from the program counting towards the regular, non-cognate requirements of the International Relations major).
Option 3
Complete nine credits of foreign language beyond the 202-level.