Pardee School Introduces BA/MAIA Program
The Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University is excited to introduce the BA in International Relations/MA in International Affairs (BA/MAIA) program. The BA/MAIA is a rigorous five-year program in which students develop both broad and deep knowledge of the interdisciplinary field of international relations while acquiring a rich and varied research experience.
The BA/MAIA supports the academic and career goals of undergraduate students by allowing them to graduate with a rigorous professional MA in International Affairs with only one additional year of coursework by integrating the final year of undergraduate study with the first year of graduate study.
“The introduction of the BA/MAIA program is a major step forward toward implementing the Pardee School’s strategic plan,” said Dean Adil Najam. “It provides our very best students yet another way to benefit from being part of a professional school of global affairs. The BA/MAIA program distinguishes the Pardee School from most other schools in our field and with this we join a very small and select group of universities that can offer its top undergraduate students such an opportunity. If I were an undergraduate at BU today, this is the program I would want to be in.”
Students in the BA/MAIA gain foundational knowledge in the economics, history and theory of international relations through their undergraduate coursework which is supplemented with graduate courses on the fundamentals of international relations scholarship, quantitative research methods, the workings of the global economy, and the practice of diplomacy and negotiation.
As part of their graduate coursework, students will also take courses in any of the five MAIA functional specializations including Diplomacy, International Communication, Global Economic Affairs, Security Studies, and Religion and International Affairs.
“We are very excited to be able to provide this opportunity to our most academically accomplished undergraduate students,” said Associate Dean for Academic Affairs William Grimes. “They will benefit from being able to enter the job market with a widely-recognized, high-quality Master’s degree, but at much lower cost than if they went to an equivalent 2-year program. Our graduate program will benefit as well: our undergraduates are highly accomplished and unusually well-trained, and the select few who are accepted into the BA/MAIA will contribute to the quality of the graduate program.”
Students in the BA/MAIA program can expect to enter the job market with extensive research experience in addition to a deep functional and regional knowledge in the field of international relations.
The BA/MAIA program prepares students for a wide variety of careers in the international relations field, including working for national governments, international organizations and non-governmental organizations. The BA/MAIA also provides extensive preparation for those students wishing to pursue doctoral programs in social science disciplines or professional degrees in law, business or communication.