Courses | International Studies | Johns Hopkins University

If you would like to see our current course schedule, please visit the Course Schedule page, or visit the department’s listing on the Public Course Search website.

Please consult the online academic catalogue for final and official program information.

Courses designated as more than one subject area (e.g., as both INST-CP and INST-IR) cannot be double-counted to fulfill both requirements. Please consult the POS tag on the course description in SIS, as well as the list below, for course designations.

Interdivisional Registration at SAIS: Interdivisional registration (IDR) in courses offered by the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is restricted to KSAS graduate students and junior and senior International Studies (IS) majors and requires appropriate approval (SAIS Course Application). Juniors and seniors who are not International Studies majors may enroll in SAIS courses via IDR only with the approval of Kate Bruffett [email protected] in the International Studies Program. Students enrolled in the DMP and BA/MA program with SAIS are not eligible for interdivisional registration in SAIS courses during their first three years of undergraduate study, regardless of major or special permission.

Note: This course list is subject to change without notice.

Fall 2026 International Studies Courses

Gateway Courses (INST-GATEWY)

AS.190.112 Introduction to Geopolitics

Political Science Courses

Six semester courses (18 credits) in political science are required: One Gateway course (INST-GATEWY), one American politics (INST-AP) course, two comparative politics (INST-CP) courses, one international relations (INST-IR) course, and one political theory (INST-PT) course.

American Politics (INST-AP)

AS.190.225 Democracy in America: Classics in Context
AS.190.228 The American Presidency
AS.190.403 Bureaucracy and the American Political Landscape
AS.190.437 Race and Ethnic Politics in the United States
AS.190.455 Social Movements in U.S. Politics
AS.196.201 Introduction to Civic Leadership
AS.196.411 The Modern American Presidential Election in Historical Perspective *HSDC students only
AS.230.244 Race and Ethnicity in American Society
AS.362.345 Black Politics I

Comparative Politics (INST-CP)

AS.010.373 Art and Politics in Modern China
AS.070.312 Global China: Anthropological Perspectives
AS.070.345 Violence, Race and the Unruly Body
AS.180.214 The Economic Experience of the BRIC Countries
AS.190.308 Democracy and Dictatorship: Theory and Cases
AS.190.379 Nationalism and the Politics of Identity
AS.190.424 Theories of Comparative Politics
AS.190.475 America in Comparative and International Perspective
AS.191.335 Arab-Israeli Conflict
AS.191.345 Russian Foreign Policy
AS.196.201 Introduction to Civic Leadership
AS.197.213 Social Democracy
AS.215.111 Modern Spanish Culture
AS.215.112 Modern Latin American Culture
AS.230.150 Issues in International Development
AS.230.314 China and the Global South
AS.310.202 Introduction to Korean Culture
AS.310.305 China, Southeast Asia, and U.S. National Security
AS.310.332 Ethnicity in China
AS.310.336 Rebellion and Its Enemies in China Today

International Relations (INST-IR)

AS.190.112 Introduction to Geopolitics
AS.190.350 Political Violence
AS.190.397 The Politics of International Law
AS.190.438 Violence and Politics
AS.190.475 America in Comparative and International Perspective
AS.191.335 Arab-Israeli Conflict
AS.191.345 Russian Foreign Policy
AS.191.354 The Global Politics of Migration and Mobilities
AS.196.201 Introduction to Civic Leadership
AS.197.213 Social Democracy
AS.230.150 Issues in International Development
AS.230.317 Sociology of Immigration
AS.310.305 China, Southeast Asia, and U.S. National Security

Political Theory (INST-PT)

AS.190.112 Introduction to Geopolitics
AS.190.225 Democracy in America: Classics in Context
AS.190.379 Nationalism and the Politics of Identity
AS.190.402 Environmental Racism
AS.190.415 Political Arts: Dada, Surrealism, and Societal Metamorphoses
AS.190.426 Time and Politics
AS.191.391 Political Pluralism in the Anthropocene: A World for Many Worlds
AS.213.386 Panorama of German Thought
AS.230.213 Social Theory
AS.230.369 Sociology in Economic Life

Economics Courses (INST-ECON)

Four semester courses (12 credits) in economics are required: two “Elements” courses (180.101 Elements of Macroeconomics & 180.102 Elements of Microeconomics), one course of the student’s choosing taken in the Economics Department at JHU (e.g., AS.180.xxx), and one approved international economics course chosen from the INST-ECON course selection.

AS.180.214 The Economic Experience of the BRIC Countries
AS.180.223 Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa
AS.180.229 Economics of Health and Education in South Asia
AS.180.261 Monetary Analysis
AS.180.266 Financial Markets and Institutions
AS.180.289 Economics of Health
AS.180.351 Labor Economics
AS.180.389 Social Policy Implications of Behavioral Economics
AS.192.345 Trade Wars: East to Win, Good, or Fantastically Disruptive?
AS.230.150 Issues in International Development
AS.230.231 The Rise of Gig Economy Around the Globe
AS.230.369 Sociology in Economic Life
AS.230.432 Global Migration as a Process

History Courses (INST-GLOBAL)

Five semester courses (15 credits) in history must be taken from the INST-GLOBAL course selection.

AS.070.312 Global China: Anthropological Perspectives
AS.100.104 Modern Europe in a Global Context, 1789-Present
AS.100.160 Colonial Latin America
AS.100.229 African Women in the Postcolonial City
AS.100.233 History of Modern Germany
AS.100.239 Chronicling the Caribbean
AS.100.282 Race & Power in Modern South Africa
AS.100.314 The Enlightenment
AS.100.347 Early Modern China
AS.100.350 Law and Empire
AS.100.360 The Modern British World: Imperial Encounters, Regimes, and Resistance, 1700-Brexit
AS.100.386 Sports History of the Cold War
AS.100.422 Society & Social Change in 18th Century China
AS.100.426 Popular Culture in Early Modern Europe
AS.100.452 From Slavery to Freedom: History and Personhood, 500BCE-1500CE
AS.100.453 Global Legal History
AS.130.352 History of Hasidism
AS.140.313 Science and Fascism
AS.140.426 Chemical Warfare, 1915-Present
AS.211.171 Brazilian Culture & Civilization: Colonial Times to the Present
AS.211.357 Framing Amazonia: Narratives and Myths in Film and Literature
AS.213.386 Panorama of German Thought
AS.215.111 Modern Spanish Culture
AS.215.112 Modern Latin American Culture
AS.300.315 Authoritarianism, Freedom, and the Arts
AS.310.332 Ethnicity in China

This spring semester course offers training to undergraduate students in International Studies and related majors on the fundamentals of library research and research or grant proposal writing. The course will introduce students to the major research resources in global studies in the humanities and social sciences, strategies and techniques to conduct effective research, and how to use library research to enhance research and grant proposal writing. This course also aims to help students learn to develop research skills for use in their major coursework and major-related research projects, including field research projects abroad and senior thesis. For questions, please contact Mr. Yunshan Ye at [email protected].

Suggested Methods Training Courses

AS.070.419 Logic of Anthropological Inquiry
AS.180.217 Game Theory in Social Sciences
AS.180.334 Econometrics
AS.190.426 Qualitative Methods
AS.196.306 Democracy by the Numbers
AS.196.600 Data Analysis for Social Science and Public Policy I
AS.196.601 Data Analysis for Social Science and Public Policy II
AS.230.202 Research Methods for the Social Sciences
AS.230.205 Introduction to Social Statistics
AS.360.331 Methods for Policy Research
EN.553.111 Statistical Analysis I
EN.553.112 Statistical Analysis II