International Affairs - Graduate Certificate

The graduate certificate in international affairs allows currently matriculated graduate students across CU Boulder to examine global issues and position their own graduate research in a global context. It will also allow graduate students in specific disciplines to study international affairs in an interdisciplinary way and with access to courses across the social sciences, humanities and natural sciences.

Requirements

Admission Requirements

Students must be enrolled in a graduate degree program at the University of Colorado Boulder. They may apply for the graduate certificate at any point in their graduate career by emailing the International Affairs Program at iafs@colorado.edu with the following:

• A brief essay indicating how their research, professional or creative work, or teaching will relate to international affairs
• A statement of approval from their graduate advisor or graduate program in their home department

Requirements fulfilled at CU prior to admission to the Graduate Certificate in International Affairs may be counted towards certificate requirements.

Required Courses and Credits

The certificate requires successful completion of 3 graduate courses (9 credit hours) with a grade of B or higher from our list of approved graduate courses. A maximum of 6 credits can be taken from any one discipline. This list is built upon our undergraduate interdisciplinary model and draws from our main cognate units in the Social Sciences, Arts & Humanities, and Natural Sciences divisions, and includes courses taught by faculty on the International Affairs Committee.

Students may request that the IAFS Graduate Director approve courses (including independent study courses) from outside this list, if the course contains significant international content and the student’s completed work for that course is related to international affairs. The courses may be drawn from the Social Sciences, Arts & Humanities, or Natural Sciences divisions in the College of Arts of Sciences, as well as from other schools and colleges at CU Boulder.

In addition to the 9 credit hours of graduate coursework, the certificate requires participation in the International Affairs Colloquium. The colloquium is intended for graduate students to present their works-in-progress for discussion and feedback from faculty and participants. Works-in-progress encompass various aspects of intellectual and professional life. Projects may include academic papers, thesis and dissertation chapters, grant proposals, conference presentations, or job applications. Two semesters of participation in the colloquium will be required. One semester of participation is defined as attendance at a colloquium session and presentation of a work in progress during that semester.