International Relations Concentration Opens Doors for the GVPT Department

Sophomore Government and Politics and Journalism double major Pablo Roa was born in Colombia and has always loved traveling, learning about different cultures and meeting new people.

Thanks to the Department of Government and Politics’ recent decision to add an International Relations concentration to its curriculum, Roa can now combine his academic interests with his more worldly endeavors.

“In my opinion, the International Relations concentration is the one thing that the Government and Politics program really needed to put it over the top when comparing UMD to other schools that already offered an IR concentration or major,” Roa said. “Overall, it makes the major more well-rounded and far more appealing, both to current and prospective students.”

Sara Cover, a junior Arabic Studies and Government and Politics double major, plans to join the Peace Corps after graduation and eventually work with refugee resettlement/integration in either the Middle East or Europe. She says the new International Relations concentration provides differentiation and guidance for students interested in this specific field.

“I hope to see more distinct subfields within the department take shape, allowing students to hone in on their academic interests while still having a diverse selection of courses available to them,” Cover said.

Katherine Russell, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies in BSOS said it was students who initially made the case for the new International Relations major. “Given the extraordinary expertise on the Government and Politics faculty in International Relations and the in-depth training that students were already getting, the students really wanted this reflected on the diploma,” Russell said.

Dr. Russell and Professor Scott Kastner, Undergraduate Director in the Department of Government and Politics, both believe that the new concentration will usher in a crowd of prospective students to the department.

“We hope the concentration will help to attract top students to Maryland, students who might otherwise have attended other Big Ten schools, or private research universities in the Washington DC area that offer formal study in international politics,” Kastner said.

 “Students sometimes choose University of Maryland in order to take advantage of the unparalleled opportunities for internships and research in IR in the Washington DC area, and knowing that they will have a strong international relations curriculum and faculty mentoring in IR really makes for an ideal package,” Russell added.

Students are continuing to add International Relations to their Government and Politics program, so definitive numbers are not yet available for how many students have declared the concentration. However, you can count Roa and Cover in.

“I feel like an IR concentration is something that can really set someone apart with a unique skill set, and I hope to use what I learn in my career,” Roa concluded.

Click here for more information about the International Relations concentration.

Published on Fri, Sep 23, 2016 - 2:46PM