<p>Two questions:</p>
<li><p>I’ve been considering doing a double major with two of these three fields. Which combination would be the most beneficial?</p></li>
<li><p>What are some colleges with great undergraduate programs in both Philosophy, and especially, IR?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>As a starting point, in addition to International Relations, you may want spending some time googling a few terms such as PPE or similar acronyms.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) is a popular interdisciplinary degree which combines study from the three eponymous disciplines. It is most strongly associated with the University of Oxford – the institution that first offered the degree – and the University of Pennsylvania, but is increasingly being offered at other universities across the English-speaking world.</p>
<p>In the past, this was a programme taken predominantly by those who sought a career in politics or public life – and quite a few who subsequently achieved it – but now also by those seeking a broader range of subjects for their first degree. The degree is currently offered by universities in the United Kingdom (such as Oxford, York, Durham, Warwick, UEA, Manchester, Lancaster, and Essex), in the United States (such as the University of Pennsylvania, Pomona College, Claremont McKenna College, Eastern Oregon University and The King's College), in South Africa (at Stellenbosch and Cape Town), and in Canada (at Wilfrid Laurier University). Oxford's famous PPE graduates include Harold Wilson, Edward Heath, Wesley Clark, David Cameron, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, and Benazir Bhutto, among others.
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</p>
<p>Depends largely on what you want to DO with your degree.</p>
<p>As someone who has basically no qualifications to answer your question, I would--off the top of my head--say that IR/philosophy would be the best combination. Reason being that IR is more practical/applied than either philosophy or English and may be more helpful in finding employment. The value of philosophy/English is usually that students have critical reading/writing skills. Philosophy, on top of that, will provide analytic/logic skill (it's generally among the highest-scoring majors of most graduate exams, including GRE and LSAT).</p>
<p>But remember...you have to stick with this business for around 4 years. Neither English nor philosophy is exactly career-oriented. Choose what you enjoy and fill your electives with the other.</p>
<p>I would question how many IR majors do something with their specialized knowledge, and say that what one wants to do with the degree shouldn't be too much of a focus (unless you say, want to do computer science or engineer, in which case you should study a lot of that). </p>
<p>What do you mean by "beneficial?"</p>
<p>Many schools have great philosophy programs, and IR is more rare (but often, as far as I know, excapsilated within otherdepartments such as <em>insert name of place here</em> studies or political science). </p>
<p>I think that you should find 1) schools with great IR programs, and then see if they have a good philosophy program, 2) find schools with amazing philosophy programs and see whta sort of IR offerings they have, and 3) find schools that just seem generally interesting to you and see what they have in each field. </p>
<p>This thread will help you with 1, and you could ask nspeds to post more if you want more information. </p>
<p>As far as 2 is concerned, I'd say ask UCLAri what he thinks, or others who know about IR. I don't know of anyone on these boards who specializes in IR and knows a lot about IR programs, but some may exist. </p>
<p>Lastly, I would say try to go to a school that is generally strong, because you may change your mind entirely. However, feel confident that wherever you go will likely have some decent philosopy, English, history, and political science, as these are all so established fields. :)</p>
<p>I have one degree in English and 2 in philosophy. They both teach you to read and write with precision that students in other majors usually can't come close to achieving. If I had to recommend one, I'd recommend philosophy. The details of the ideas philosophy students study rarely come into play, but the basic critical thinking ability you will develop will help you in any line of work.</p>