International and Public Affairs
Source: https://www.brown.edu/undergraduate-programs/international-and-public-affairs-ab Parent: https://www.brown.edu/undergraduate-programs
The concentration in International and Public Affairs equips students with the knowledge and skills necessary to be engaged global citizens.
Degree Type
A.B.
department
Program in International and Public Affairs
CIP Code
45.0901ℹ
The Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) was developed by the U.S. Department of Education to categorize educational programs in the U.S. for a variety of reporting purposes. Each program at Brown is assigned a CIP code that best matches its academic curriculum.
Current STEM Eligible CIP Codes
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International and Public Affairs
The concentration in International and Public Affairs equips students with the knowledge and skills necessary to be engaged global citizens.
This concentration offers three tracks: Development, Policy & Governance, and Security. All students take a common core of five classes, beginning with a choice of thematic gateway lecture courses (ideally taken during freshman or sophomore year), and then building through a required junior seminar and a required senior seminar (eligible students may choose to write an honor's thesis to satisfy the senior seminar requirement).
All students choose one of three tracks of substantive specialization:
- Development, in which students explore issues of human development in local and global contexts, and across both the developing world and advanced industrial settings;
- Security, which allows students to explore issues of security in both local and global contexts; and
- Policy and Governance, in which students explore the design, implementation, and evaluation of public policies to resolve societal challenges, as well as the governing structures that yield those policies.
The concentration is committed to engaging students in the classroom, enabling research opportunities with faculty and in the field, and supporting experiential learning opportunities. Advisors' office hours and an online appointment scheduler are available on The Watson School website.
Student Goals
Students in this concentration will:
- Understand societal challenges from a multidisciplinary perspective
- Understand the relationship between inquiry and action
- Learn methodological approaches for understanding and conducting social science research
- Develop analytical and critical skills for oral and written argumentation
- Develop substantive depth in a particular domain of global challenges
- Produce original scholarly research or original policy recommendations
Tracks
- Development
- Development (Professional)
- Policy & Governance (Professional)
- Policy and Governance
- Security
- Security (Professional)
Department Undergraduate Group (DUG)
Student Leaders: Jordan Lac, Oluwanifemi Adetunji
Graduating Class
| Class Year | Total Students | Honors Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 46 | 3 |
| 2022 | 101 | 18 |
| 2023 | 121 | 16 |
| 2024 | 177 | 18 |
| 2025 | 180 | 22 |
While the concentration in international and public affairs is relatively new at Brown, it is quite similar in content and in its interdisciplinary framework to the concentrations in international relations, public policy, and development studies. Alumni from these programs have pursued graduate and professional degrees in fields such as anthropology, sociology, political science, international affairs, business, journalism, public policy, public health, and law. Others have applied skills acquired in their concentrations to careers in consulting, marketing, international business and finance, government service, research, advocacy, teaching, and public service. For example, alumni work for the World Bank, Human Rights Watch, Freedom House,  Barclays Capital, Bank of America, McKinsey and Company, Reuters, NY Times-Beijing, New America Foundation, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Council on Foreign Relations, the U.S. Departments of State, Defense, Justice, and the Interior, as well as a host of NGOs. Previous concentrators have also received distinguished research fellowships such as the Fulbright, Marshall, and Truman Scholarships.Â
What are International and Public Affairs concentrators doing…
The Director of Undergraduate Studies is typically the first point of contact for prospective concentrators. Once students have declared, they may be assigned a specific concentration advisor from within the department or program.