BA International StudiesAdd to shortlist

Programme profile

This programme offers you a unique combination of regional studies, placed in an international setting and provides you with the opportunity to learn a foreign language.

After a broad introductory semester, you specialise in one of nine world regions and one of its languages. You analyse your area of choice from cultural, economic, historical and political angles and compare them within an international perspective.The programme is designed around three elements: core courses that introduce disciplinary concepts and that analyse the international setting, area courses that analyse the situation in a selected region from a disciplinary, and increasingly interdisciplinary, perspective and language courses that prepare students for access to the cultural context in the relevant language.

The core concepts, ideas and methods are taken from four broad disciplinary approaches: History (mostly modern history); Cultural Studies (modern cultural phenomena in their societal settings); Economics (and the concepts from International Political Economy); Political Science (and Sociology and Anthropology)

In some cases, it is possible for students to study two languages.

Note: if you need accommodation through the university's Housing Office, you must apply by 01 April

Programme content

In the first year , all students engage in the same core courses on economics, history, culture and politics. Through the core courses, a clear shared base for further studies is established. Moreover, you will start to develop your academic skills: reading and thinking critically, writing and speaking clearly and concisely. In the second semester you start to specialise in the region of your choice through courses that focus on its history and culture; and begin your language training.

In your first year you choose one of the world regions as your specialization, and you also choose which language from that area you want to learn:

Africa: Arabic, Berber, French, Portuguese, Swahili
East Asia: Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese
Europe: German, French, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish
Latin America: Portuguese, Spanish
Middle East: Arabic, Modern Hebrew, Persian, Turkish
North America: French, Spanish
Russia and Eurasia: Russian#
South Asia and Southeast Asia: Hindi, Indonesian

In your second year, you will deepen your knowledge of your chosen area and learn more of the area's economic and political situation, as well as gain a global perspective on cultural interaction. You continue to improve reading, writing and speaking skills in your chosen language, and select your first thematic seminar from a broad range.  In the second semester you learn about international relations and global political economy, and you have the opportunity to practice your research skills in a second Thematic seminar.

In the first semester of the third year you choose between an international exchange, an internship, or a university minor.

In this year you will take the exciting 12-week consultancy course Practising International Studies (PRINS). In a team with fellow students you will work on finding solutions to real-life issues put forward by leading organisations, such as Unilever, UNESCO, UN Women, Starbucks, Philips, the European Space Agency and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Progression

The university offers related Masters programmes, taught through English, in the following areas:

Public Administration;
Public International Law;
International Relations and Diplomacy;
Political Science;
Area [Regional] Studies

Entry Requirements