About the International & Area Studies Program

A Broad Interdisciplinary Understanding of the World

International and Area Studies encourages research and teaching on societies and cultures around the world. It provides opportunities for scholarly inquiry and intellectual innovation, encourages faculty and student interchange, brings guests to campus, and helps organize conferences and workshops on international and global topics best approached from an interdisciplinary perspective. Our curriculum, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, emphasizes the importance of both the humanities and the social sciences, and aims to provide our students with a critical vocabulary and theoretical basis for understanding key international issues across different world regions and academic disciplines.

Undergraduate Program

For undergraduates, we offer:

• 1 major with a choice of 6 concentrations*
• 3 minor areas of study
• 2 freshmen one-year programs
• 100+ study abroad opportunities through the Office of Overseas Programs
• An active honorary that plans several internationally-themed events
• Ongoing seminars and other events

*Students who have taken Crossing Borders prior to Fall 2011 are grandfathered into the Old IAS Curriculum and concentrations.  All other students are subject to the New IAS Curriculum and concentrations.

Download the 2011 edition of The Summit, our undergradaute publication, here.

Note:  A Masters of Arts in International Affairs is available through the evening program in University College.

Funding Resources

IAS helps Washington University faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates locate funding for research, study abroad, and international curriculum and program development.