Prospectus

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International Studies

Bachelor

International Studies is a three year bachelor programme that has started in September 2012 in The Hague. Its study programme is designed around three elements: core courses that introduce disciplinary concepts and that analyze the international setting, area courses that analyze 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)

The areas offered in the degree, and their corresponding languages are:

Area Foreign Language East Asia Mandarin, Japanese, Korean Latin America Spanish, Portuguese Middle East Arabic (Persian, Turkish) North America French, Spanish Russia and Eurasia Russian South Asia and South-East Asia Hindi, Indonesian Africa Swahili, French (Afrikaans) Europe French, Spanish, Portuguese (Dutch, German, Italian)

First Year

Course EC Semester 1 Semester 2

First semester
Global History 5
Current Issues 5
Communicating Power 5
Configuring the World 10
Introduction to Area Studies 5

Second semester
Philosophy of Science 5
Economics 5
Cultural Studies 5

History area

Choose one of the following courses:
History: Africa 5
History: East Asia 5
History: Europe 5
History: Latin America 5
History: Middle East 5
History: North America 5
History: Russia and Eurasia 5
History: South and South-East Asia 5

Foreign Language

Choose one of the following courses:
Arabic 1 Beginners 10
French 1 Beginners 10
French 1 Pre-Intermediate 10
German 1 Beginners 10
Hindi 1 Beginners 10
Indonesian 1 Beginners 10
Japanese 1 Beginners 10
Korean 1 Beginners 10
Mandarin 1 Beginners 10
Portuguese 1 Beginners 10
Russian 1 Beginners 10
Spanish 1 Beginners 10
Spanish 1 Pre-Intermediate 10
Swahili 1 Beginners 10

Second Year

Course EC Semester 1 Semester 2

First Semester
Globalization and Cultural Studies 5
Politics 5

Culture

Choose one of the following courses.
Culture Africa 5
Culture East Asia 5
Culture Europe 5
Culture Latin America 5
Culture Middle East 5
Culture North America 5
Culture Russia and Eurasia 5
Culture South and South East Asia 5

Economics

Choose one of the following courses.
Economics Africa 5
Economics East Asia 5
Economics Europe 5
Economics Latin America 5
Economics Middle East 5
Economics North America 5
Economics Russia and Eurasia 5
Economics South & South-East Asia 5

Foreign Languages
Arabic 2 Pre-Intermediate 10
French 2 Pre-Intermediate 10
Hindi 2 Pre-Intermediate 10
Indonesian 2 Pre-Intermediate 10
Japanese 2 Pre-Intermediate 10
Korean 2 Pre-Intermediate 10
Mandarin 2 Pre-intermediate 10
Portuguese 2 Pre-Interrmediate 10
Russian 2 Pre-Intermediate 10
Spanish 2 Pre-Intermediate 10
Spanish 2 (Upper-)Intermediate 10
Swahili 2 Pre-Intermediate 10

Second Semester
International Economics 5
International Politics 5

Politics

Choose one of the following courses.
Politics Africa 5
Politics East Asia 5
Politics Europe 5
Politics Latin America 5
Politics Middle East 5
Politics North America 5
Politics Russia and Eurasia 5
Politics South and South-East Asia 5

Foreign Languages
Arabic 3 (Upper-)Intermediate 5
French 3 (Upper-)Intermediate 5
Hindi 3 (Upper-)Intermediate 5
Indonesian 3 (Upper-)Intermediate 5
Japanese 3 (Upper-)Intermediate 5
Korean 3 (Upper-)Intermediate 5
Mandarin 3 (Upper-)Intermediate 5
Portuguese 3 (Upper-)Intermediate 5
Russian 3 (Upper-)Intermediate 5
Spanish 3 (Upper-)Intermediate 5
Spanish 3 Advanced 5
Swahili 3 (Upper-)Intermediate 5

Elective

Choose one of the following courses.
Elective: Argumentation and Debate 10
Elective: Art, Literature, and Law - The Question of the Human Nature of Right(s) 10
Elective: Censorship and Social Transformation: The Past and Present of Artistic Freedom in South Africa and Russia 10
Elective: Cold War 10
Elective: Comparative Philosophy: concepts of humanity and society worldwide 10
Elective: Enemies, undesirables and Others: forced migration and the creation of the modern world 10
Elective: Film Journeys 10
Elective: Languages and Cultures in Contact 10
Elective: Nations and Nationalism 10
Elective: Political Justice: local and global 10
Elective: Religion Rules: regulating religion in a globalizing world 10
Elective: The World’s Religions Today: Changes and Challenges 10

Optional Internship program

This course is mandatory for students who intend to take up an internship.
Organizational Theory, Culture and Behavior 5

Third Year

The third year consists of 4 components:

  • Discretionary space – 30 ec

  • Practising International Studies – 5 ec

  • Elective – 10 ec

  • Thesis & thesis seminar – 15 ec

It depends on several factors how these components are spread over the semesters of the third year.

Course EC Semester 1 Semester 2

First semester
Discretionary space International Studies 30

Second semester
Thesis and thesis seminar International Studies 15
Practising International Studies 5
Elective International Studies 10