International Affairs

Director of the International Affairs Program: Mahesh Shankar

Associate Professor: Feryaz Ocakli, Mahesh Shankar

Assistant Professor: Rachel Cantave

Senior Teaching Professor: Scott Mulligan

Affiliated Faculty:

American Studies: D. Nathan

Anthropology: M. Ennis-McMillan, H. Hurst, J. Park, S. Silva

Art History: S. Waraich

Asian Studies: B. Bogin

Biology: D. Domozych, M. Raveret-Richter

Classics: M. Arnush

Economics: J. Bibow, R. Rotheim, S. Tiwari, M. Wolfe

English: R. Janes

Environmental Studies and Sciences: N. Atalan-Helicke, J. Halstead, K. Kellogg

Geosciences: A. Frappier, K. Nichols

History: J. Day, E. Bastress-Dukehart, J. Delton, J. Dym, M. Hockenos, T. Nechtman, M. Yildiz

Library: B. Norelli

Management and Business: T. Harper, J. Kennelly, E. Lepkowska-White, J. Mao, T. Li, P. Prasad

Philosophy: R. Lilly

Political Science: Y. Biberman-Ocakli, K. Graney, F. Ocakli, R. Seyb

Religious Studies: E. Kent

Sociology: C. Berheide, A. Emeka, X. Hou

Theater: G. Dasgupta, E. Ferreira-LaMere, L. Opitz

World Languages and Literatures: J. Anzalone, D. Barnes, G. Burton, M. Chen, G. Faustini, C. Grant, M. Inamoto, H. Jaouad, M. Lander, B. Loyola, W. Mudrovic, M. O’Brien, O. Perez-Hernandez, V. Rangil, C. Silber, S. Smith, M. Tamagawa

Department Overview

International Affairs is an interdisciplinary major that stresses the importance of a broad-based international education. The major examines the relations between and among nation-states, regions, and other international actors as influenced by culture, history, politics, business, economics, and the environment. Students majoring in International Affairs must also successfully complete another approved minor, major (strongly recommended), or regional concentration to provide depth of knowledge in a discipline or geographic region of the world. In consultation with the IA director, students propose a coherent course of study, which provides both breadth through coursework on international issues from different disciplines and depth through coursework in a region or a specific disciplinary or interdisciplinary area of study. The individual student is free to select any specific minor, major, or regional concentration that best fits the student’s personal interests and educational objectives, but must present a coherent proposal of courses and clearly argued rationale for the minor, major, or regional concentration for approval by the IA director and, if necessary, the IA steering committee. The major culminates with an approved capstone experience that allows the student to synthesize the course of study and serves as the basis for further work in the IA senior seminar.

Skidmore’s International Affairs Program draws on the expertise of faculty from a broad array of academic disciplines. International Affairs majors are also encouraged to study abroad in order to learn about the world beyond the borders of the United States, recognize their own cultural biases, and develop skills to communicate with people from other cultures. Studying abroad enables students to gain foreign language proficiency and first-hand experience of the ways different political, economic, and social systems operate. The opportunity to live in another country for an extended period of time allows students to develop a deeper appreciation for cultural diversity and an understanding of the physical environment in a different region of the world. In addition to being anchored in the richness and variety of its course offerings, faculty scholarship, and study abroad opportunities, the International Affairs Program also stresses other related and reinforcing components: colloquia, faculty/student collaborative projects, guest lectures, study in Washington, D.C., internships, and cocurricular activities including the student International Affairs Club and the United Nations and European Union simulations of international negotiations.