<p>Can anybody expand on the differences between Pol Sci and I.R. as programs of study? Please?</p>
<p>Thanks :)</p>
<p>I wrote this in response to a different thread-- but I hope it helps.</p>
<p>Technically, international relations is one of the four subfields of political science at American universities (the others being comparative politics, political theory and American politics). I believe what the OP was inquiring about is quite different–that is the interdisciplinary study of international relations, international economics, language and area studies. These programs are designed to prepare students for graduate studies or for careers in government, international businesses, ngo’s, and the like and go by various names–including international studies, foreign affairs, foreign service, international service, global studies, etc. For some reason, some of these programs are also called international relations (and often referred to by students as “IR” programs) although it is a misnomer since IR is just one of the subjects included.</p>
<p>Technically, only graduate students in political science “major” in international relations if they chose it as their major subfield.
bonanza is online now</p>
<p>Political science is very philosophy and theory based. It has to do with the way a government works and the way governments work together. It usually has an American spin, but there are also subfields. IR is more like applied political science with a focus on the world view. IR combines economics, language and area studies, geography, business, political science, the humanities, and other factors to create one major that explores the way that people AND governments interact. IR is, on these boards, generally the broad name for many fields. International relations, international affairs, international and area studies, and other majors are all different varieties of the same program. International relations is to bioengineering as political science is to biology.</p>