Diplomacy & World Affairs

About Us

“Discipline with Attitude”: To give a sense of the DWA major, the following is an outline of the themes on which DWA professors and students focus in an interdisciplinary and applied manner.

Security and Human Security

Thinking about security in a historically informed manner that sees as fundamental the intersection among issues such as war, poverty, human rights, and terrorism defines DWA’s approach to security and human security.

International Law, International Organizations, and Human Rights

Looking at how international and regional organizations and regimes such as international law and/or human rights intersect with urgent global issues is elemental in DWA.

Economic Development

DWA studies of economic development are informed by classic economics as well as exploring alternatives to a purely economic growth model, such as sustainable human development or rights-based approaches to development.

State-building, Nationalism, Religion, Identity, and Ethnic Conflict

Theories of nationalism, religion, and identity are emphasized in DWA as fundamental to understanding conflict and change in contemporary international relations.

Theory

A broad range of contemporary IR theory and philosophic texts inform DWA’s approach to international relations. As with much of the IR field, there has been a move away from a state-centric focus and toward theory that brings into the study of international relations a greater emphasis on the norms, non-state actors, and trans-state variables that increasingly constitute global politics.

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