<p>What exactly is the International comparative studies major? is it similar to international relations or more liek political science. I looked at the courses and still cant tell</p>
<p>It's routinely mocked as being a "geography" major, although that's not accurate, exactly. From what I've been told, you learn stuff about different countries, mostly including cultural aspects and their implications.</p>
<p>It's a geographically organized survey of various elements of culture, I suppose you could say.</p>
<p>I think you have to choose a "concentration" for ICS like a region of the world to focus on.</p>
<p>From the Bulletin</a> of Undergraduate Instruction on pp. 320-321:
[quote]
The undergraduate major in international comparative studies offers a Bachelor of Arts degree to students interested in the interdisciplinary study of societies and cultures in a particular region of the world. Students complement their primary concentration with the comparative study of international themes or problems. The major allows a student to combine language study with courses in a variety of disciplines. As in area studies programs elsewhere, the result is a sustained focus on a single world area tailored to fit the student's interest.</p>
<p>International Comparative Studies at Duke, however, is distinct from other area studies programs in several respects. The primary concentration encourages study in the social sciences and humanities as well as analysis of their social, historical, economic, and political roots and problems. The broader global issues courses impart breadth of focus and a cross-regional perspective to the course of study, while the required course on comparative methods ensures an analytic perspective that is multidisciplinary as well as global.
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