International Studies Minor

www.smu.edu/internationalstudies

Professor Stephen K. Wegren, Director

General Information

To succeed in an international career, students need expertise in the politics, economics, history, language and cultures of societies other than their own. The curricula for the International and Area Studies Program are designed to provide students with a foundation for this expertise, requiring coursework in the social sciences, business, language and humanities. A student majoring in international studies also chooses a region in which to specialize: Europe, Asia, Latin America, or the Middle East/Africa.

As an alternative to the international studies major, a student may choose an area of study to earn a minor. Minors include European studies, Asian studies, Latin American and Iberian studies, and Africa/Middle East studies.

International Studies Major and Minor Rules for SMU Abroad Credit

To maximize the educational experience in these degree programs, all international studies majors and minors are strongly encouraged to spend at least one term or summer studying abroad. The University offers numerous study abroad opportunities around the world; most of these courses may be applied to the international and area studies major or minor. The following policies apply to the International and Area Studies Program:

For the International Studies Minor

• Up to six hours of world language study may be taken in an SMU-approved study abroad program and counted toward the language requirement for the minor.
• Of the 15 hours required from the basic curriculum, 12 hours must be taken on an SMU campus (Dallas, Taos or Plano). Three hours of transfer credit (not an SMU-approved study abroad program) may be counted toward fulfillment of the basic curriculum requirement.

Minor Information 

The minor in international studies requires 15 hours of coursework from the basic curriculum , nine hours of which must be in courses at the 3000 level or above. A cocurricular requirement is one year of college-level study or equivalent of a world language. Note: Latin does not count as a second language. Courses taken in language study do not count toward the 15 hours of required coursework.