Which International Major is Right For You
As a global network university that places great value on preparing students to become confident world citizens, New York University offers several programs which actually require study at one or more of our centers abroad as part of the curriculum. Although all of these programs and majors focus on international intellectual development and global experience, they vary in a number of important ways. The information below is designed to help you determine the major that meets your academic orientation and professional goals.
Global Liberal Studies Program
NYU School: Separate program under the aegis of the Faculty of Arts and Science.
Perspective: Humanities
Curriculum: Students complete an integrated, interdisciplinary great works program that emphasizes direct engagement with the ideas of the past as well as the challenges of the contemporary world. The first-year core curriculum has three required sequences that introduce students to milestones of literature, art, history, and philosophy from many of the world's major cultural traditions. Classes are small and students develop close relationships with faculty. Sophomores select a region for more in-depth course work and language study connected to their junior-year site by enrolling in seminars designed to prepare them for living and studying in another culture. After returning to Washington Square as seniors, students draw upon their international experiences to conduct guided independent research that culminates in a senior thesis.
Global Experience: Through the Global Liberal Studies program (GLS), you are offered the exceptional choice to spend your freshman year either in New York, or at NYU in Florence, NYU in London, or NYU in Paris. In the sophomore year, you will select the international center at which you will spend your junior year and enroll in seminars designed to prepare you for living and studying in another country. For the whole of your junior year, you will be fully immersed in another culture at one of the NYU global sites: Accra, Ghana; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Berlin, Germany; Florence, Italy; London, England; Madrid, Spain; Paris, France; Prague, Czech Republic; Shanghai, China; or Tel Aviv, Israel. While abroad, you will become proficient in the language of your chosen city, and you will enroll in an experiential learning course or internship.
Language Requirement: GLS does not have a proficiency requirement per se, but all students are expected to study language at an advanced level or to take courses in their chosen language during the junior year.
Program Philosophy: GLS provides a solid foundation in the liberal arts updated for the 21st Century, emphasizing the great works and a global perspective. Small classes in New York and at our academic centers abroad, and intensive advising, place students at the forefront of the learning experience.
Program Requirements: GLS requires a total of 128 credits, most of which will be taken within the Liberal Studies Program. In addition to program requirements, including language study, students have the opportunity to complete all-university minors and to pursue individual interests through electives.
Outcomes: A rigorous course of study emphasizing the great works in a global context prepares students to become citizens of an increasingly interdependent world. More importantly, it prepares them for professions in all the fields where such skills are in demand, from business to nonprofit organizations and NGOs to journalism and the media. While many graduating students will choose to enter the world of work immediately, others will enroll in graduate and professional schools in fields such as law, international relations, public administration, and many arts and science disciplines.
Business and Political Economy
NYU School: Stern School of Business
Perspective: Business and Social Science
Curriculum: This groundbreaking curriculum combines course work in business, politics, and economics with three semesters of integrated study abroad. Students will live and learn at NYU academic centers in three of the world's most important global marketplaces: NYU's Washington Square campus in New York City and NYU's global campuses in London and Shanghai. The program's carefully tailored courses provides students with a deep understanding of key business, political, and economic concepts. Equally important are courses in the broader liberal arts, which will develop the critical thinking and communications skills needed for advanced course work. Like all Stern students, BPE students will also complete social impact courses and choose electives of interest to broaden your experience. The BPE program culminates with a senior seminar, where students will be challenged to connect cross-continent knowledge to draw powerful conclusions about today's globalized society.
Language Requirements: Language proficiency must be demonstrated.
Global Experience: Your BPE Program international experience consists of three semesters abroad, including a full academic year in London and one semester in Shanghai. During your time abroad, you will have the opportunity to see historic cultural landmarks, visit the world's top multinational corporations, and take weekend trips to nearby towns, fully immersing yourself in the host country. You will practice what you learn in the classroom as you live, study, and socialize with friends from around the world.
Program Philosophy: Today's nations and economies are converging in new ways. The BPE program teaches students about where new ideas, capital, and belief systems are intersecting and how they are transforming our political and economic landscape. Your time in New York and abroad will give you a real-world understanding of today's global environment-one that challenges you to think beyond borders. As a student in the BPE Program, you will naturally form tight bonds with your cohort of fellow BPE students, who will progress through the program with you across all four years. Your connection to the broader NYU Stern community is also critically important and begins freshmen year when you are placed in a cohort of 50 other freshmen with whom you will participate in social and team-building activities throughout your college experience. Additionally, you will engage in a robust network of student clubs where you will make friends and develop leadership skills that will last a lifetime.
Program Requirements: Stern's Business and Political Economy Program requires a total of 128 credits. Central to the BPE are the economics (five courses), business (four courses) and politics (four courses) core curricula, which are complimented by coursework in the liberal arts (five courses) and social impact (three courses). The program also allows students to explore topics beyond the core degree with eight courses reserved for elective work. Upon completion, you receive a B.S. in Business and Political Economy.
Outcomes: After living and studying in the world's most international cities New York, London and Shanghai-students will graduate with a broad world view and a sophistication beyond their years. Alumni of the program will take on the challenges of the large, multinational organizations that abound in today's globalized world. From non-profit to for-profit, the BPE is uniquely designed to prepare the next generation of global business leaders.
International Relations Program
NYU School: College of Arts and Science
Perspective: Social Sciences
Curriculum: International Relations (IR) is an honors major offered through the Department of Politics in the College of Arts and Science that seeks to provide students with an understanding of the global system's past, the tools to function effectively in the present, and the ability to respond to future developments. The program recognizes the changing nature of the contemporary political and economic environment and seeks to lay an interdisciplinary basis for understanding these changes. It provides students with an opportunity to study the complex web of transnational politics in an in-depth, interdisciplinary fashion. The breadth of courses is designed to match the breadth of knowledge and skills that the field requires. Fluency in a foreign language and a semester abroad at a site where that language is spoken are required of all majors to help ensure that they acquire a deeper understanding of a country's culture and institutions. In their junior or senior year, majors are also encouraged, though not required, to take advantage of the many internship opportunities that are available in New York City to students of international relations.
Language Requirement: Two courses in one foreign language beyond the intermediate level are required.
Global Experience: A minimum of one semester abroad at a site where your foreign language is spoken.
Departmental Philosophy: The IR honors program emphasizes the scientific approach to understanding international politics. Students are encouraged to develop a strong analytical perspective, which will be reflected in their honors theses.
Program Requirements: A G.P.A. of 3.65 is required to be considered for admission. Students must take courses from a list of approved classes. The capstone of the program is the two-course senior honors sequence, in which students write their own research theses with intensive advice from faculty members. 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. Internships do not count directly toward the IR major. Internship credit is given as general College of Arts and Science credit. Students can pursue internship possibilities through the Department of Politics, the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, the NYU Office of Career Services, and internship opportunities posted on the International Relations Web site.
Outcomes: Although law schools do not require any particular major, political science is an especially useful field for students planning legal study and a later career in law. The Association of American Law Schools has suggested that among the areas of importance in pre-legal education are the study of the political organization of societies; the democratic processes of Western societies; the freedom of individuals; and the art of peaceful, orderly adaptation to change. The association also suggests that students develop the power to think creatively and analytically.
Not Enough?
Still not certain that NYU can satisfy your interest in international study?
In addition to these three globally oriented programs, there are other majors with similarities to these three but that do not require international study that you might want to consider, including the Stern School of Business's business studies/economics program, and the College of Arts and Science's majors in economics and politics.
But no matter what your major is, you will be encouraged to study abroad through NYU's global network, which includes programs at international centers on five continents, direct exchange programs with partner institutions, and many summer and intercession programs. We strongly encourage all NYU students to experience the world directly through our global network!