Explore the World with CAS
Arts & Sciences is the heart of a global research and teaching university. Our students hail from more than 100 countries, comprising one of the largest international student populations of any American university. Our faculty is also international in its origins, and our teaching and scholarship encompass the world’s cultures and societies. A key part of the CAS mission is to prepare students to live and work in a global society.
Many universities talk about “internationalizing the curriculum,” but international and global studies at CAS have long been an important focus of the research and teaching of almost all our humanities and social science departments and programs.
At CAS, you can find an international dimension in almost every discipline, from World Languages & Literature to Earth & Environment to Religion. We work hard to break down disciplinary boundaries and international boundaries, forging strong partnerships with academic institutions across the globe. Our students also take advantage of 75 study abroad programs in over 20 countries and can take courses in 28 different languages. Honing a language isn’t the only benefit of learning overseas; many of our undergraduate and graduate students conduct extensive scientific research abroad, working with leading CAS professors and researchers. In short, CAS is a tremendous place to gain highly valuable experience for a globalized world and workplace. Many of our alumni go on to pursue careers with a global perspective, either working in the United States or oversees (for example, our many graduates who enter the Peace Corps).
Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies
The Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, which officially opened at the beginning of the Fall 2014 semester, leverages the University’s existing strengths in international and area studies to advance human progress and improve the human condition. Housed within CAS and GRS, the Pardee School consists of two divisions: International Studies and Regional Studies, combining under one roof the University’s International Relations program and various area studies programs and centers.
The School’s Division of International Studies, home to our renowned International Relations program, offers a special blend of academic and practical applications of international affairs. As the largest major in CAS, International Relations offers a multidisciplinary curriculum that encompasses not only the traditional studies of politics, trade, investments, war, and peace, but also social science-oriented studies in history, economics, geography, anthropology, and other disciplines. In addition, the department offers a range of MA programs geared toward students who want careers in international affairs.
The Division of Regional Studies comprises the BU centers and programs dedicated to the study of Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, and the Muslim World. African Studies, founded in 1953, is the oldest African Studies program in the country and a designated Title VI Center. Asian Studies, including the Center for the Study of Asia, the Asian Studies Interdisciplinary Program, and the International Center for East Asian Archaeology & Cultural History, is a dynamic area of study at BU. A new major in Middle East & North Africa Studies and minors in Muslim Cultures and Muslim Societies put us at the forefront of scholarship in this important area of global study.