Majors

You may wish to use the IS Advisory Planning Sheet to assist in laying out a potential course plan. Printed copies are available in Carnegie 409.

International Studies Major

General Distribution Requirement:

The following courses count toward the general distribution requirement in social science: INTL 110, INTL 113, INTL 114, INTL 225, INTL 239, INTL 245, INTL 246, INTL 253, INTL 280, INTL 282, INTL 284, INTL 285, INTL 301, INTL 320, INTL 321, INTL 325, INTL 335, INTL 345, INTL 352, INTL 362, INTL 368, INTL 372, INTL 380, INTL 382, INTL 477 and INTL 485. The following courses count toward the general distribution requirement in humanities: INTL 111, INTL 112, INTL 202, INTL 258, INTL 263, INTL 265, INTL 272, INTL 276, INTL 288, INTL 290, INTL 317, INTL 364, INTL 367, INTL 381, INTL 384, INTL 415 and INTL 488. The following courses count for fine arts general distribution: INTL 250 and INTL 210. Some topics courses (INTL 194, INTL 294, INTL 394, INTL 494), as approved by the department, may also count toward the distribution requirements.

General Education Requirements

Courses that meet the general education requirements in writing, quantitative thinking, internationalism and US identities and differences will be posted on the Registrar's web page in advance of registration for each semester.

Additional information regarding the general distribution requirement and the general education requirements can be found in the graduation requirements section of this catalog.

Honors Program:

International studies participates in the honors program, and encourages high performing students to do so. Eligibility requirements, application procedures and specific project expectations for the department are available from either the department office or the Academic Programs and Advising Office.

Topics Courses

INTL 194, INTL 294, INTL 394, INTL 494

Selected topics and new courses in globalization and world studies, not included among regular catalog offerings. To be announced at registration. (4 credits)

Independent Study

The department offers independent study options in the form of tutorials, independent projects, internships, preceptorships and Honors independent projects. For more information contact the department and review the Curriculum section of the catalog.

International Studies Major

Major Requirements

Students plan their fourteen-course major in consultation with their international studies advisor. All majors must complete the following:

Introduction. One of INTL 110, INTL 111, INTL 112, INTL 113, INTL 114
Language. Competency in a foreign language equivalent to six semesters of college work: examples are FREN 305 - Advanced Expression: Communication Tools and FREN 306 - Introduction to Literary Analysis; and GERM 308 - German Cultural History: Failed and Successful Revolutions; JAPA 306 - Third Year Japanese II; Portuguese through PORT 331 - Journeys through Brazil; Russian through RUSS 204 - Intermediate Russian II plus a semester immersion program abroad or its equivalent; or SPAN 305 - Advanced Oral and Written Expression or SPAN 307 - Introduction to the Analysis of Hispanic Texts. Students may complete this competency requirement while abroad. Likewise, students may meet this requirement in a language not regularly offered at the College by demonstrating equivalent ability, as confirmed by the department chair with appropriate consultation. Students for whom English is a second language have met the language requirement.

Students choosing Classics as the disciplinary focus of their International Studies major may satisfy the I.S. language requirement by passing five semesters of Greek or Latin, plus a sixth semester of advanced independent or equivalent language work. Students focusing on Hebrew or Arabic may combine work at Macalester with coursework and/or experience abroad or at neighbor institutions.
Study abroad. One semester of study abroad on a program chosen at least in part to support the individual major plan. International students at Macalester meet this requirement by completing a semester at Macalester.
Capstone. A capstone experience of either a senior seminar in international studies or, in select cases, an advanced independent project developed under appropriate supervision and with the approval of the department chair.

In addition to these four requirements, at the center of the major plan the student must complete a twelve-course sequence with the following characteristics:
Focus. To develop a coherent body of knowledge with a skill set, five trans/internationally focused courses drawn from a single disciplinary department including anthropology, biology, classics, economics, English, French, geography, geology, German studies, history, Japanese, philosophy, Spanish & Portuguese studies, political science, religious studies, Russian, or sociology. Please see List 1 below. One of these courses may be a non-introductory culture-neutral methods course in the chosen disciplinary department. Please see List 2 below. This would be in addition to the methods and skills elective (H).

Alternatively, students may have an interdisciplinary focus (options are American, Asian, Environmental, Latin American, Media and Cultural, and Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies). Of the five trans/internationally focused courses, one must be a survey/introductory course in the interdisciplinary department, two courses must be cross-listed with a single disciplinary department, and one must be a non-introductory methods or skills course within or directly relevant to the interdisciplinary field of study (this would be in addition to the methods and skills elective (H)). All courses must be chosen in consultation with the International Studies Department Chair.
Intermediate courses. To ensure immersion in global and transnational issues, five international studies courses beyond the introduction. Students may take a second senior seminar as one of these five. At times international studies courses are cross-listed with other departments. Thus there can be up to a two-course overlap between the courses for E and F.
Complementary elective. Allows exploration of one or more interests on the major plan from another angle. The course is chosen from List 1 below. The course must be international, outside the disciplinary focus department (E), and cannot include International Studies courses (F) without chair approval.
Methods and skills elective. One course chosen from List 2 below (courses with fewer than 4 credits may be combined to meet this requirement).

Additional Notes:

Courses abroad. Courses taken during study abroad may count, when appropriate, toward the major; indeed students should tailor study abroad to contribute to the major plan.
Language courses. Courses taken to satisfy the language requirement may not be included in the fourteen-course major plan, except when the focus department under "E" is French, German, Japanese, Russian, or Hispanic studies. In these cases one advanced language course may be counted among the five disciplinary courses.
The major plan can include one internship.

List 1: Internationalist Courses

American Studies (some courses, focusing on the U.S., acceptable for non-U.S. students)

AMST 305 - Telling Queer and Trans Stories: Oral History as Method and Practice
AMST 315 - U.S. Imperialism from the Philippines to Viet Nam

Anthropology

ANTH 101 - General Anthropology
ANTH 111 - Cultural Anthropology
ANTH 239 - Medical Anthropology
ANTH 241 - Anthropology of Death and Dying
ANTH 243 - Psychological Anthropology
ANTH 246 - Refugees/Humanitarian Response
ANTH 253 - Comparative Muslim Cultures
ANTH 255 - Latin America in Motion
ANTH 256 - India and its Neighbors: The Anthropology of South Asia
ANTH 258 - Dynamic Africa
ANTH 259 - Indigenous Peoples of the Arctic
ANTH 358 - Anthropology of Violence
ANTH 362 - Culture and Globalization
ANTH 363 - Anthropology of Development
ANTH 368 - Life Histories/Cultures/Selves (if international focus)
ANTH 380 - Stigma and Disabilities
ANTH 381 - Emerging Infectious Diseases (if international focus-possibly international public health focus)

Art (courses which focus on traditions outside the U.S.; studio courses do not count)

ART 160 - Introduction to Art History I: From Prehistory to the Medieval Period
ART 161 - Introduction to Art History II: From Renaissance to Modern
ART 272 - Art of China
ART 273 - Art of Japan
ART 252 - Gender, Sexualities, and Feminist Visual Culture
ART 270 - Making Sacred: Religious Images and Spaces in Asia
ART 271 - Japanese Art and the (Inter)National Modern
ART 280 - Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt
ART 281 - Art and Architecture of Ancient Western Asia
ART 282 - Art and Architecture of the Islamic World
ART 283 - Art and Architecture of Ancient Greece and Rome
ART 284 - Art and Architecture of Byzantium and Medieval Europe
ART 285 - Making of Imperial Cities: Babylon, Rome, and Constantinople

Asian Studies

ASIA 111 - Introduction to Asian Studies
ASIA 123 - Masterpieces of Chinese Literature
ASIA 140 - Introduction to East Asian Civilization
ASIA 150 - Language and Gender in Japanese Society
ASIA 272 - Art of China
ASIA 273 - Art of Japan
ASIA 211 - Asian Philosophies
ASIA 254 - Japanese Film and Animation: From the Salaryman to the Shojo
ASIA 255 - China on Screen
ASIA 256 - India and its Neighbors: The Anthropology of South Asia
ASIA 260 - Narratives of Alienation: 20th Century Japanese Fiction and Film
ASIA 274 - The Great Tradition in China before 1840
ASIA 275 - The Rise of Modern China
ASIA 276 - The Great Tradition in Japan before 1853
ASIA 277 - The Rise of Modern Japan
ASIA 281 - Dialects, Multilingualism, and the Politics of Speaking Japanese
ASIA 320 - Asian Cities
ASIA 378 - War Crimes and Memory in East Asia

Biology (chosen in consultation with relevant Biology faculty)

BIOL 180 - Biodiversity and Evolution
BIOL 170 - Ecology and the Environment
BIOL 357 - Immunology
BIOL 473 - Research in Immunology
BIOL 476 - Research in Biodiversity and Evolution
BIOL 406 - Seminar in Immunology

Chemistry

None

Chinese (most courses, other than language courses)

CHIN 123 - Masterpieces of Chinese Literature
CHIN 255 - China on Screen
CHIN 258 - Gender and Sexuality in China

Classics

CLAS 121 - The Greek World
CLAS 122 - The Roman World
CLAS 127 - Women, Gender and Sexuality in Ancient Greece and Rome
CLAS 129 - Greek Myths
CLAS 130 - Early Arab and Persian Empires
CLAS 135 - India and Rome
CLAS 145 - Pagans, Christians and Jews in Classical Antiquity: Cultures in Conflict
CLAS 155 - January in Rome: The Art, Archaeology, and Urban History of Ancient Rome
CLAS 223 - Introduction to Archaeology
CLAS 260 - Introduction to Art History I: From Prehistory to the Medieval Period
CLAS 200 - Ancient and Medieval Philosophies

Computer Science

None

Economics

ECON 221 - Introduction to International Economics
ECON 225 - Comparative Economic Systems
ECON 229 - World Economic History
ECON 231 - Environmental Economics and Policy (if international focus)
ECON 233 - Health Economics
ECON 238 - Introduction to Entrepreneurship
ECON 242 - Economics of Gender (if international focus)
ECON 325 - China, Russia and Central Europe in Transition
ECON 239 - Economics of Global Food Problems
ECON 426 - International Economic Development Capstone

Educational Studies

EDUC 250 - Building Trust: Education in Global Perspective

English (all courses in British and/or world literature, but not U.S.-focused or creative writing courses.
English courses on "neutral" or thematic subjects (such as love or justice) are evaluated case by case.

ENGL 115 - Shakespeare
ENGL 200 - Major Medieval and Renaissance British Writers
ENGL 210 - Film Studies (if international focus)
ENGL 220 - Eighteenth-Century British Literature
ENGL 230 - Nineteenth-Century British Literature
ENGL 240 - Twentieth Century British Literature
ENGL 265 - Literature and Human Rights (if international focus)
ENGL 304 - Medieval Heroic Narrative
ENGL 308 - Literature and Sexuality (if international focus)
ENGL 310 - Shakespeare Studies
ENGL 313 - Literature in the Age of Shakespeare
ENGL 315 - Milton
ENGL 331 - Nineteenth-Century British Novel
ENGL 341 - 20th Century British Novel
ENGL 350 - 20th Century Poetry (if international focus)
ENGL 362 - Gendered, Feminist, and Womanist Writings (if international focus)
ENGL 245 - Nabokov
ENGL 367 - Postcolonial Theory
ENGL 384 - Langston Hughes: Global Writer

Environmental Studies (courses focused on international and/or transnational issues)

ENVI 240 - The Earth's Climate System (if international focus)
ENVI 150 - Climate and Society (if international focus)
ENVI 215 - Environmental Politics/Policy
ENVI 221 - Environmental Ethics
ENVI 252 - Water and Power
ENVI 239 - Neotropical Landscapes
ENVI 335 - Science and Citizenship (if international focus)
ENVI 368 - Sustainable Development and Global Future

International Studies

All courses

Japanese

JAPA 150 - Language and Gender in Japanese Society
JAPA 251 - Fiction of Modern Japan
JAPA 254 - Japanese Film and Animation: From the Salaryman to the Shojo
JAPA 260 - Narratives of Alienation: 20th Century Japanese Fiction and Film
JAPA 281 - Dialects, Multilingualism, and the Politics of Speaking Japanese
JAPA 288 - Identity, Race, and Ethnicity in Japan
JAPA 488 - Translating Japanese Literature: Theory and Practice

Latin American Studies

LATI 141 - Latin America Through Women's Eyes
LATI 151 - Caribbean Literature and Culture: Aesthetics of Resistance
LATI 171 - Susurros del Pasado: Whispers Toward the 21st Century
LATI 181 - Introduction to Latin America
LATI 245 - Latin American Politics
LATI 246 - Comparative Democratization
LATI 249 - Environment and Society in Latin America
LATI 255 - Latin America in Motion
LATI 281 - The Andes: Landscape and Power
LATI 282 - Latin America: Art and Nation
LATI 283 - Amazon: A Cultural History
LATI 308 - Introduction to U.S. Latinx Studies
LATI 316 - Mapping the New World: Exploration, Encounters, and Disasters LATI 341 - Comparative Social Movements
LATI 355 - Cultural Resistance and Survival: Indigenous and African Peoples in Early Spanish America
LATI 385 - Frontera: The U.S. Mexican Border
LATI 381 - Transnational Latin Americas
LATI 386 - Constructions of a Female Killer

Linguistics

LING 150 - Language and Gender in Japanese Society
LING 175 - Sociolinguistics
LING 201 - Historical Linguistics
LING 206 - Endangered/Minority Languages
LING 225 - 100 Words for Snow: Language and Nature
LING 280 - Topics in Linguistic Anthropology
LING 281 - Dialects, Multilingualism, and the Politics of Speaking Japanese
LING 309 - Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics
LING 335 - Analyzing Japanese Language
LING 375 - History of the Spanish Language
LING 376 - Spanish Dialectology
LING 488 - Translating Japanese: Theory and Practice

Mathematics

None

Media and Cultural Studies (and other non U.S.-focused courses as they emerge)

MCST 110 - Texts and Power: Foundations of Media and Cultural Studies (if international focus)
MCST 128 - Film Analysis/Visual Culture (if international focus)
MCST 202 - Global Media Industries
MCST 247 - Documentary Film and Video (if international focus)
MCST 248 - History of Film 1893-1941 (if internationally focused enough)
MCST 249 - History of Film Since 1941
MCST 256 - Mass Culture Under Communism
MCST 315 - Gender, Sexuality and Film (if international focus)
MCST 334 - Cultural Studies and the Media (if internationally focused enough)
MCST 364 - Afrofuturism in Media and Popular Culture (if internationally focused enough
MCST 376 - Critical Social Theory and the Media (if international focus)

Music

MUSI 72 - African Music Ensemble
MUSI 73 - African Music Ensemble
MUSI 110 - Introduction to Western Classical Music
MUSI 111 - World Music
MUSI 131 - African Music
MUSI 155 - Music and Freedom
MUSI 180 - Music, Race, and Ethnicity
MUSI 342 - Sacred, Secular, Sublime: Music and Meaning in Europe, 1300-1800
MUSI 343 - Romanticism and Nationalism
MUSI 354 - Gender and Music

Neuroscience

None

Philosophy

PHIL 200 - Ancient and Medieval Philosophies
PHIL 201 - Modern Philosophy
PHIL 210 - Existentialist Metaphysics
PHIL 211 - Asian Philosophies
PHIL 212 - Philosophy of Religion
PHIL 221 - Environmental Ethics (if internationally focused enough)
PHIL 222 - Philosophy of Human Rights
PHIL 223 - Health and Human Rights
PHIL 300 - 20th Century Continental Philosophy

Physics

None

Political Science

POLI 120 - Foundations of International Politics
POLI 140 - Foundations of Comparative Politics
POLI 141 - Latin America Through Women's Eyes
POLI 160 - Foundations of Political Theory
POLI 170 - Theories of Rhetoric (if international focus)
POLI 215 - Environmental Politics/Policy (if internationally focused enough)
POLI 220 - Foreign Policy: The Evolution of China's Grand Strategy, 1950-2050
POLI 221 - Global Governance
POLI 222 - Regional Conflict/Security
POLI 242 - Political Economy of Development
POLI 245 - Latin American Politics
POLI 246 - Comparative Democratization
POLI 247 - African Politics
POLI 250 - Comparative-Historical Methods for Social Science
POLI 260 - Contemporary Political Theory
POLI 261 - Feminist Political Theory (if international focus)
POLI 265 - Work, Wealth, Well-Being (if international focus)
POLI 266 - Medieval Political Thought
POLI 267 - Liberal and Conservative Political Theory
POLI 305 - Women's Voices in Politics
POLI 316 - Information Politics, Policy and Law
POLI 320 - Global Political Economy
POLI 321 - International Security
POLI 322 - Advanced International Theory
POLI 323 - Humanitarianism in World Politics
POLI 341 - Comparative Social Movements
POLI 342 - Urban Politics of Latin America

Psychology

None

Religious Studies

RELI 100 - Introduction to Islam: Formation and Expansion
RELI 102 - Modern Islam
RELI 111 - Introduction to Buddhism
RELI 120 - The Jewish Bible
RELI 121 - Jesus, Peter, Paul and Mary: The Beginnings of Christianity
RELI 124 - Dharma and Dao: Big Ideas in India and China
RELI 127 - Religions of India
RELI 135 - India and Rome
RELI 136 - World Religions and World Religions Discourse
RELI 145 - Pagans, Christians and Jews in Classical Antiquity: Cultures in Conflict
RELI 200 - The Qur'an and the Prophet
RELI 202 - Atheism Past and Present
RELI 212 - Philosophy of Religion
RELI 222 - Christianity in Late Antiquity
RELI 223 - Orthodoxy and Heresy in Early Christianity
RELI 226 - Martyrdom Then and Now
RELI 232 - Religion and Food
RELI 233 - Hindus and Muslims
RELI 234 - Introduction to Jewish Life and Thought
RELI 235 - Theorizing Religion
RELI 236 - Sanskrit and Classical Religion in India
RELI 238 - Catholics: Culture, Identity, Politics
RELI 254 - Dealing with the Dead
RELI 277 - Metaphysics in Secular Thought
RELI 311 - Ritual
RELI 336 - Gender, Caste, Deity
RELI 359 - Religion and Revolution: Case Studies

Russian Studies

RUSS 251 - Russian Literature on the Eve of Revolution
RUSS 252 - Revolution, Repression, and Resistance: Soviet and Post-Soviet Literature and Culture
RUSS 255 - Fierce and Beautiful World: Russian Culture Before the Revolution
RUSS 256 - Mass Culture Under Communism
RUSS 257 - Tolstoy's War and Peace
RUSS 261 - Making History: Russian Cinema as Testimony, Propaganda, and Art
RUSS 265 - Translation as Cross-Cultural Communication
RUSS 270 - Wrongdoing in Russian Literature
RUSS 272 - The Post-Soviet Sphere
RUSS 363 - Orientalism and Empire: Russia's Literary South
RUSS 364 - Culture and Revolution
RUSS 245 - Nabokov
RUSS 367 - Dostoevsky in Translation

Sociology

SOCI 175 - Sociolinguistics (if international focus)
SOCI 275 - Comparative-Historical Methods for Social Science
SOCI 280 - Indigenous Peoples' Movements in Global Context
SOCI 290 - Islam and the West
SOCI 370 - Political Sociology (if international focus)

Spanish and Portuguese (most courses, not language)

PORT 331 - Journeys through Brazil
SPAN 151 - Caribbean Literature and Culture: Aesthetics of Resistance
SPAN 171 - Susurros del Pasado: Whispers Toward the 21st Century
SPAN 305 - Advanced Oral and Written Expression
SPAN 307 - Introduction to the Analysis of Hispanic Texts
SPAN 309 - Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics
SPAN 316 - Mapping the New World: Exploration, Encounters, and Disasters
SPAN 343 - Culture and Politics in Spain from Civil War to Today
SPAN 354 - Here and There: Superando Limites
SPAN 355 - Cultural Resistance and Survival: Indigenous and African Peoples in Early Spanish America
SPAN 357 - El Quijote as Timeless Text
SPAN 359 - "Neither Saints Nor Sinners": Women Writers of the Early Modern Hispanic World
SPAN 360 - One Hundred Years of Plenitude: Modern and Postmodern Hispanic Fiction
SPAN 361 - The Fight Against Tradition: From the Enlightenment to the Avant-Garde
SPAN 362 - Modern Hispanic Novel and the Visual Arts
SPAN 366 - Parody in the Postmodern Hispanic World
SPAN 367 - Dramatic Words: Hispanic Theater and Poetry
SPAN 375 - History of the Spanish Language
SPAN 382 - Constructing the Nation

SPAN 385 - Frontera: The U.S./Mexico Border
SPAN 386 - Constructions of a Female Killer

Theatre and Dance

THDA 21 - Dances of the African Diaspora I
THDA 113 - The Power of the Dancing Body

Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

WGSS 210 - 20th Century Anglophone Women Writers
WGSS 220 - Feminist Reconstructions: Indian (if international focus)
WGSS 240 - Comparative Feminisms: Whiteness and Postcolonialisms
WGSS 300 - Worlds Upside Down: Revolutions in Theories and Practices
WGSS 305 - Telling Queer and Trans Stories: Oral History as Method and Practice
WGSS 315 - Comparative (Neo/Post) Modernities WGSS 330 - Democracies, Feminisms, Capitalisms

These departments offer some courses, focusing on the United States, acceptable for use on the International Studies major plan of non-U.S. students: American Studies, Psychology, and Urban Studies.

These departments typically do not offer courses that count toward the major: Chemistry, Mathematics/Statistics/Computer Science, Neuroscience, Physical Education, and Physics/Astronomy.