IP is a concentration within International Relations (IR), and all IP students must satisfy both IP and IR requirements.
IR Requirements
Students concentrating in International Policy must take a minimum of four courses within the program. They also must fulfill the general requirements for the field of International Relations by taking an additional two courses from two IR programs other than International Policy (Conflict Management, Global Theory and History, International Law, or Strategic Studies). Students must take the Theories of International Relations Core Exam or must pass the course by the end of their second semester.
Please note that some IP courses are cross-listed with other IR concentrations (for example, International Environmental Law is cross-listed with International Law.) Some IP courses are also cross-listed with Economics (for example, Project Finance). Since IP is an interdisciplinary program, students can meet some of their general MA or IR requirements within the IP curriculum.
IP Curriculum
The IP curriculum offers foundation and specialization courses. Foundation courses provide an overview of the policymaking process internationally and within individual countries and provide the means to analyze and evaluate policy (for example, Cost-Benefit Analysis). Foundation courses are broad-based and cover topics in all three focus areas. Specialized courses offer students the opportunity to apply the concepts learned in their foundation courses to one of IP’s three focus areas The IP program allows its students to specialize in one of three focus areas, graduating with a degree in International Relations and a specialized concentration in one of the focus areas listed below.* Students may also elect to specialize in two of the three focus areas. • International Energy Policy
• International Environmental Policy
• International Health Policy Focus Area Requirements: Students pursuing a general IP concentration have no focus area requirement. They must take four IP courses, one of which must be a foundation course. Students wishing to specialize in a focus area must take at least one foundation course within IP and at least three specialization courses within one focus area. (Please note: the foundation course requirement is suspended for students entering SAIS in 2008-09.) Students who wish to specialize in two IP focus areas must take at least three courses in each of the two focus areas (for example, International Energy Policy and -International Environmental Policy). Some courses are cross-listed and can count for both focus areas (for example, Economics of Natural Resources counts for both International Energy Policy and International Environmental Policy), making a dual focus a practical option. A student may also complete a general IP concentration, which requires four IP courses (one foundation course and three other IP courses).
*IP formerly offered technology as a focus area.
Practicum
The IP program offers the Environmental Policy Practicum, a course that allows students to work directly with client organizations to analyze and assess an international environmental policy issue. Students will use the academic concepts learned at SAIS to work on a project for individual organizational clients. Depending on the project, it may be possible for this course to count towards any of the three IP focus areas. Professor Simpson, who is directing the work of the practicum, will determine how to classify client projects. Future
The IP curriculum will continue to evolve. More changes will be introduced in the future, and we hope that these changes will further strengthen the program.
IP Curriculum Matrix View the 2007-2008 Course Matrix
IP Course Requirements Checklist
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