<p>So I'm deeply interested in international relations, especially from a historical standpoint, and am looking into majoring in either History or International Relations in the future. From a career perspective, however, what kind of jobs (other than diplomat, ambassador, historian, etc.) could I choose from with a background in International Relations or History?</p>
<p>Also, what are the top schools when it comes to International Relations/Affairs?</p>
<p>For IR, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, GWU, American U, Claremont McKenna, Swarthmore, Tufts, Princeton, etc…</p>
<p>Georgetown has an International History major in its School of Foreign Service.</p>
<p>I know a few history majors who went on to law school, and did very well.</p>
<p>A lot of Tufts IR grads go on to work for the US State Department or the UN. I know you said besides diplomat or ambassador, but relatively few of the employees of either organization are ambassadors. Embassies need full-time staffs with expertise in many areas to run smoothly, and stateside headquarters need policy analysts, advisors, and bureaucrats. The Defense Department and the CIA also recruit people with a background in IR, especially if they have a Master’s degree and a good knowledge of a foreign language, for analyst jobs.</p>
<p>Multinational businesses always need people with an understanding of how different cultures relate to each other. Tufts has a concentration in international economics that would serve you well if the private sector was where you wanted to go.</p>
<p>Finally, think-tanks hire those with advanced academic degrees in IR to produce policy suggestions and advocate for positions basically full-time.</p>
<p>Hopkins has both a strong IR department and history department.</p>
<p>Other recommendations include:
Georgetown, obviously.
UPenn
Uchicago
Tufts
Princeton</p>
<p>A lot of schools offer IR and History. Many schools do it very well. Because of that I wouldn’t worry so much about finding a school that is good specifically for that major, but I would focus on finding a school that you really like beyond just your major. If you were wanting to study meteorology or physics, that would be very different. </p>
<p>But anyone that would be in a really basic college like Arts and Sciences or the College of Business, or whatever it is at each university…you really can’t go wrong with literally hundreds of schools that all have great programs in that area. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t recommend going to some horrible and mundane school like Emporia State University in Kansas that’s for sure, but there are so many good schools. If that’s going to be your major, consider yourself lucky then that you can just concentrate on finding a school that fits you on a more personal level.</p>
<p>I will say though that generally larger schools will have more resources when it comes to history, such as large collections of artifacts, or if not that, a traveling collection of history artifacts will often stop at a larger university over a smaller one. That can always be a boost when you’re studying history. Just one small thing to consider.</p>