<p>Hey guys! I was wondering if anybody happened to have chosen International Studies as their major and if so would be willing to tell me about their experiences as a Washington U student with that specific concentration.</p>
<p>Though I’m not an IAS guy, I took a lot of IAS courses and program. IAS requires a lot (well, at least compare to economic). There are several required courses you have to take, and you have to study a foreign language; you need to take approximately 6 courses (18 units) that are unique to the major; you also need to take courses in at least three different departments or disciplines; if you don’t have study abroad experience, you need to take an additional 300 or 400 level course; there are some senior thesis or seminar or research you also have to finish; and finally a writing intensive course within the IAS.</p>
<p>I hope I covered everything, but there might be some mistakes</p>
<p>I came into Wash U wanting to do IAS (international + area studies… what we call the major) and Econ. I’m not sure if I’ll end up declaring IAS, mostly because I think my interests lie elsewhere. Anyway, it seems like a fabulous department and I know a fair amount about it from exploring it as a freshman. </p>
<p>I think nearly every IAS student has one other major or another minor. It is a flexible major in the sense that if you want to couple IAS with Econ, or Poli Sci, or Anthro, you can easily do this. For obvious reasons, having a major in a foreign language is essentially required… I mean you’d just be weird if you didn’t do this. </p>
<p>There are five mine focus areas: International studies generally, Latin American studies, European studies, Russian studies, and East Asian studies (arguably the strongest, considering Wash U’s renown in the graduate program in east asian studies). There is also an African studies major that some people combine with the IAS major. Similarly, there is a Jewish/Islamic/Near Eastern studies major, which is reportedly really strong, that is common to be grouped with IAS as a second major. If you do have an interest in east asian studies, there is a freshman program called China in the Global context, which is kind of an intro to that concentration in IAS and I’m 90% sure includes a freshman spring break trip to China.</p>
<p>You should absolutely do ILP (international leadership program) as a freshman, which is another one of those freshman programs here. Simply put, it’s amazing. You should read up on it: [International</a> Leadership Program for Freshmen | International and Area Studies](<a href=“http://ias.wustl.edu/undergraduate/ilp]International”>http://ias.wustl.edu/undergraduate/ilp)</p>
<p>The abundance of, and generally the high quality of, the study abroad programs is arguably one of the highlights of the IAS major. There are over 100 programs and studying abroad is really common at Wash U. You could just take classes in a different country, do field study and research, home stays, and/or internships. I’m pretty sure there isn’t a cap on how many times you can study abroad, although I doubt they’d let you study abroad for 4 years, lol. But, doing one semester + summer, two summers, or a full-year program, is really common and quite feasible. </p>
<p>Wash U is really really boosting various programs in Washington DC. It’s like a quasi-study abroad program, in the sense that you aren’t “abroad.” But you take classes in DC, Wash U has it’s own building there, and you will be placed in an internship in DC based on your specific international interest. I know an upperclassman whose internship was with the State Department and two who interned at the Brookings Institution. </p>
<p>Finally, a rather unique thing about IAS at Wash U is that a couple years ago, a bunch of students started this project called OneWorld magazine. It’s a really high-quality magazine distributed on campus with student content on various global issues. They launched a revamped website recently which you should check out [url=<a href=“http://www.weliveoneworld.org/]weliveoneworld.org[/url”>http://www.weliveoneworld.org/]weliveoneworld.org[/url</a>]</p>
<p>Hope that helps.</p>
<p>Also, as a follow-up, the faculty support (especially for freshman) seemed to be especially strong in the IAS dept. I mean, I don’t exactly have experience with every major on campus, but the general support from faculty/admins in IAS seemed to be at even a higher level than other majors. Priscilla Stone is the director of the IAS dept and study abroad programs, but she also teaches (as does her husband, who is an Anthro professor) and is generally an amazing person. There are quite a number of advisors in IAS who will make sure that you know which of those 5 tracks you want to pursue, that you are combining IAS with another field of study, your requirements are being met, that you do some research with the faculty, etc. I really found them to be above and beyond my expectations.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot guys, both your posts have been very helpful in helping me get a feel (or more) of the program. Seriously, pretty much all my questions have been answered :).</p>