Study Tracks
Study Tracks
Spring Track List is NOW AVAILABLE!
Each list includes acceptable AFR area study list!
NOTE: A course that falls within multiple tracks or is offered by one of the area studies departments may only count once toward the IRG major. May not count towards both IRG degree requirements.
Fall & Summer Track Lists are NOW AVAILABLE!
Track will always be housed immediately below "Current Semester Track Lists" section.
Each list includes acceptable AFR area study list!
PLEASE READ NOTE: A course that falls within multiple tracks or is offered by one of the area studies departments may only count once toward the IRG major. May not count towards both (or "double dip" between) IRG degree requirements.
Track Lists Coming Soon
Spring 2025 Track Lists will be published shortly. Dates TBD.
IRG Advisors will email IRG students when list is available.
Please do not email advisors for list.
Photo Credit.
Track I: Culture, Media, and the Arts
Courses in this track provide students with an understanding of transnational cultural issues through a number of analytical perspectives and themes, such as race, gender, class, language, religion, food, and entertainment/sport. In these courses, the nation is not the central analytical framework for the investigation of cultural questions. Instead, matters of cultural identity are placed within a regional and even global context. These courses investigate both the cultural connections among peoples across national boundaries as well as the tensions that such contact may engender. Courses in this track may be concerned with the effects ofmodern media—radio, television, film, and the Internet—upon shaping cultural identity, as well as the impact of artistic expression, such as through literature, painting, drama, and music.
Track II: International Security
Courses in this track are concerned primarily with questions of conflict within and across national borders, and the efforts by state-and non-state actors to minimize threats and forge a peaceful and just world. Broad considerations of the foreign policies of nationsfit within this track, as well as those courses that focus upon war, revolution, imperialism and decolonization—in other words, subjects involving the extension of power in the international sphere. The proliferation of nuclear weapons and the threat ofglobal terrorism are central concerns within this track. Security matters may involve both external and internal threats. In an age of globalization, many issues that threaten to derail the stability of any one government—social unrest, mass migration, political turmoil—can quickly become a regional and even global hazard, and thus may fall within this track’s scope.
Current Semester Track Lists
African Studies Area Lists
African Studies (AFR) (courses approved for AFR area studies*)
*AFR-approved courses must focus on continental Africa
Need to Declare or Change Tracks?
CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT A TRACK CHANGE REQUEST
Current semester track lists reflect courses taught in the semesters below:
Summer 2023 TRACK LIST (and AFR)
Track III: Science, Technology, and the Environment
Courses in this track deal with the dramatic influence of science and technology upon modern life, as well as our changing relationship with the natural world. Advances in medicine and genetic research have transformed global health and helped us better understand what it means to be human, while at the same time these advances have provided deep ethical challenges regarding the future of our species. Technological breakthroughs have transformed where and how we live. Courses that trace the development of the modern city as well as the changing contours of our contemporary farming system in a regional or global context fall within this track. Another prominent theme withinthis track is the development and management of renewable and nonrenewable energy sources. Finally, courses in this track investigate some of the largest threats to our global environmental well-being, including climate change.
Track IV: International Political Economy
Courses in this track deal with questions of international trade, investment, and finance, as well as matters concerning the distribution of resources within countries and across the globe. This track encompasses not only the functioning ofmarkets, but also their intersection with politics—that is, the way in which governments direct their economies and interact with multinational corporations and international organizations. Courses investigating the efforts to coordinate and direct regional and global economic affairs fall within this track, along with efforts by state-and non-state actors to foster development around the world. Courses that investigate the legacy of imperialism around the globe are especially critical in setting the context for the struggles of today’s emerging economies. The debate between globalization’s adherents and its discontents is of central importance to this track.
Master Track Lists
NOTE: Master Track Lists are a historical reference of all classes offered in the past and are NOT indicative of courses being offered in the currenty or upcoming semesters.
Track I:
Culture, Media, and the Arts Master Track List
Track II:
International Security Master Track List
Track III:
Science, Technology, and the Environment Master Track List
Track IV:
International Political Economy Master Track List
Courses that merit inclusion in one of the four IRG subject tracks encompass subjects of contemporary international significance that either deal with the relations among states or groups in two or more countries or deal with topics whose impact affects groups in two or more countries.
Courses with substantial content covering multiple themes may be included in more than one track list.
PLEASE READ: A course that falls within a Track List and is offered by one of the Area Studies departments may only count once toward the IRG major. May not count towards both (or "double dip" between) IRG degree requirements.
(Ex. EUS 348 4-Comprehensive Notion of European Security may not be counted towards both IS Track and EUS Area Study credit. You may choose which requirement these courses can qualify for. May not count for both.)
Current Semester Track Lists
Current semester track lists reflect courses taught in the semesters below.
Track Descriptions and Master Track Lists
Master Track Lists are historical references of all classes offered in the past and are not indicative of courses being offered in the current or upcoming semesters.
- Track I: Culture, Media, and the Arts
Courses in this track provide students with an understanding of transnational cultural issues through a number of analytical perspectives and themes, such as race, gender, class, language, religion, food, and entertainment/sport. In these courses, the nation is not the central analytical framework for the investigation of cultural questions. Instead, matters of cultural identity are placed within a regional and even global context. These courses investigate both the cultural connections among peoples across national boundaries as well as the tensions that such contact may engender. Courses in this track may be concerned with the effects ofmodern media—radio, television, film, and the Internet—upon shaping cultural identity, as well as the impact of artistic expression, such as through literature, painting, drama, and music.
Want to learn more about what Culture, Media, and the Arts has to offer? Check out this CMA Guide created by IRG's own Sophia Kontos! Coming Soon!
Culture, Media, and the Arts Master Track List
PLEASE READ *Master Track List is a historical reference of all classes offered in the past and is not indicative of courses being offered in the current or upcoming semesters.
- Track II: International Security
Courses in this track are concerned primarily with questions of conflict within and across national borders, and the efforts by state-and non-state actors to minimize threats and forge a peaceful and just world. Broad considerations of the foreign policies of nationsfit within this track, as well as those courses that focus upon war, revolution, imperialism and decolonization—in other words, subjects involving the extension of power in the international sphere. The proliferation of nuclear weapons and the threat ofglobal terrorism are central concerns within this track. Security matters may involve both external and internal threats. In an age of globalization, many issues that threaten to derail the stability of any one government—social unrest, mass migration, political turmoil—can quickly become a regional and even global hazard, and thus may fall within this track’s scope.
International Security Master Track List
PLEASE READ *Master Track List is a historical reference of all classes offered in the past and is not indicative of courses being offered in the current or upcoming semesters.
- Track III: Science, Technology, and the Environment
Courses in this track deal with the dramatic influence of science and technology upon modern life, as well as our changing relationship with the natural world. Advances in medicine and genetic research have transformed global health and helped us better understand what it means to be human, while at the same time these advances have provided deep ethical challenges regarding the future of our species. Technological breakthroughs have transformed where and how we live. Courses that trace the development of the modern city as well as the changing contours of our contemporary farming system in a regional or global context fall within this track. Another prominent theme withinthis track is the development and management of renewable and nonrenewable energy sources. Finally, courses in this track investigate some of the largest threats to our global environmental well-being, including climate change.
Science, Technology, and the Environment Master Track List
PLEASE READ *Master Track List is a historical reference of all classes offered in the past and is not indicative of courses being offered in the current or upcoming semesters.
- Track IV: International Political Economy
Courses in this track deal with questions of international trade, investment, and finance, as well as matters concerning the distribution of resources within countries and across the globe. This track encompasses not only the functioning ofmarkets, but also their intersection with politics—that is, the way in which governments direct their economies and interact with multinational corporations and international organizations. Courses investigating the efforts to coordinate and direct regional and global economic affairs fall within this track, along with efforts by state-and non-state actors to foster development around the world. Courses that investigate the legacy of imperialism around the globe are especially critical in setting the context for the struggles of today’s emerging economies. The debate between globalization’s adherents and its discontents is of central importance to this track.
International Political Economy Master Track List
PLEASE READ *Master Track List is a historical reference of all classes offered in the past and is not indicative of courses being offered in the current or upcoming semesters.
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