Due to COVID-19, International Studies faculty will be working remotely. The best way to reach us is by email (our addresses are listed after our faculty profiles). For information about the department, graduate program, and undergraduate programs, please contact respectively: Prof. Purnima Bose, chairperson, pbose@indiana.edu; Prof. Stephen Macekura, director of graduate studies, smacekur@indiana.edu; and Prof. Jessica Steinberg, director of undergraduate studies, steinbjf@indiana.edu.
Welcome!
The Department of International Studies prepares you for the increasingly complex and interconnected world of the 21st century. Whether you are passionate about human rights, media, education, the environment, or public health, when you pursue an International Studies degree at IU you will learn how to analyze these global issues through a multidisciplinary context and acquire the skills required of tomorrow’s global leaders. Additionally, you will develop deep knowledge of at least one region outside the US, and fluency in another language. An integral part of the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies, the department offers Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees as well as graduate degrees. Our students go on to meaningful careers in government, NGOs, corporations, foundations, media outlets, and policy institutes; but most importantly, emerge from our department as ethical citizens of the world.
Upcoming Events
There are no events at this time. See more eventsFeatured Courses - Spring 2021

REEI-R 300/500 & INTL-I 300 Russian Foreign Relations and Eastern Europe
Why did Russia annex Crimea in March 2014? Why does Moscow continue to support pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine? What can the Ukrainian crisis tell us about Russia’s relationship with Eastern Europe more broadly? This course will examine Russian foreign relations in Eastern Europe since the Second World War, exploring topics such as the rise and fall of the Soviet bloc, economic interdependence, and the security challenges of the post-Cold War order. Lectures, readings, and discussions will also consider how Russian relations with other parts of the world, particularly the West, affected Moscow’s behavior in the region during the Cold War and after.
Learn more
INTL-I 305 Media and the Middle East
Explore media representations of Middle Eastern societies, as well as the role of media in Middle Eastern countries with an emphasis on Iran, Turkey, Egypt, and the Levant.
Learn more
INTL-I 206 Peace and Conflict
This course will investigate intersections between "identity" and "conflict." We will consider how different forms of identity--such as ethnic, religious, political, and gender--can become the basis for people to mobilize. We will analyze the processes through which certain identities are affirmed at the cost of alternative ones, paying careful attention to how and why people participate in acts of violence and discrimination against those whose identities are deemed undesirable. Rather than view conflicts as irreducibly based in identity, however, we will seek to understand how they emerge out of local conditions and historical legacies, and can be shaped by national, regional, and transnational contexts. Our approach will be interdisciplinary, drawing on readings from anthropology, cultural studies, and political theory. Students will acquire some familiarity with critical concepts such as colonialism and post-colonialism, the nation and the state, race and ethnicity, and globalization and neoliberalism.
Learn more
INTL-I 426/520 History of the International System
History of the International System An introduction for advanced undergraduate students and graduate students to the history of the modern international system and major theoretical approaches to understanding how international order changes over time. The course is organized chronologically. It mixes occasional lectures with group discussions of the readings. We study the rise and fall of different international systems, their organizing principles, and the fate of alternative visions for international order that did not come to pass.
Learn more
INTL-I 424/510 Violence against Civilians in War: Causes and Consequences
Why do armed groups engage in violence against civilians? What are the consequences for such conduct? Can such violence be limited in future conflicts? This course seeks to provide a framework for thinking about violence against civilians in war. We will approach these issues from theoretical, ethical, legal, empirical, and policy perspectives, examining the main moral and legal arguments prohibiting the targeting of civilians as well as theories used to understand variation in such armed group conduct. By the end of this course, students will be able to apply this knowledge in order to assess global policies to promote human security. Students pursuing careers in human rights, security, diplomacy, law, or international policy will find this course useful.
Learn moreSpring 2021 - Non-standard and Spanish Courses

INTL-I 310 Global Internet Governance: Sovereignty in the Digital Age
Why did the US administration seek to ban TikTok? Why does Russia want the United Nations to regulate the internet? Why is the European Union battling with the Silicon Valley giants over their business practices? These questions fall under the ambit of global internet governance, the administration of the global internet's technology, and policy. The course will trace how internet governance evolved from a niche technical domain into one of the most contentious arenas of global politics. The tension between the internet's global reach and national sovereignty will be at the center of this examination.
Second 8-week course
Learn more
INTL-I 325 Women, Gender & Human Rights - in Spanish
Students will discuss the way groups organizing around gender issues strategize and utilize the various tools available to them in their attempts to eect political and social change. Concurrent enrollment in INTL-I304 #8048, Women, Gender and Human Rights Movements (which is taught in English) is recommended, but not required.
Course taught in Spanish
Learn more
INTL-I 325 Contemporary Latin America - in Spanish
Students will discuss pertinent problems of contemporary Latin America, such as urbanization, industrialization, and revolution. Concurrent enrollment in LTAM-L211 #6241 (which is taught in English) is recommended, but not required.
Course taught in Spanish
Learn moreRecent Faculty Achievements
David Bosco was recently quoted on Vox
Hamid Ekbia published a short essay, "Solace in Solitude," in the Los Angeles Review of Books.
Huss Banai recently made a number of media appearances discussing important current events. He appeared on NPR's On Point show, Public Seminar("On the meaning of Soleimani's death), Background Briefing podcast, BackStory Podcast("On the history of US-Iran relations), Deutsche Welle (airs on PBS before NewsHour), CBC("On what de-escalation means"), and on Vox("On possible implications").
In August, Amali Ibrahim published The Law and Religious Intolerance in Indonesia on the Baker Institute Blog.
Feisal Istrabadi's op-ed, "To Foster Trust, Genuine Federal Structures Must be Constructed," was published by the Iraq Energy Institute.
Sarah Bauerle Danzman published an article in The Monkey Cage titled "Why is the U.S. forcing a Chinese company to sell the gay dating app Grindr?".
Huss Banai participated in a roundtable discussion on Boston radio station WBUR. You can listen to the conversation at radioopensource.org.
Emma Gilligan is participating in an ongoing podcast series, My Smart Roomates. Episodes are available on iTunes, Pippa, and Podcast Republic.
Recent Publications by Faculty

Purnima Bose’s book
Intervention Narratives: Afghanistan, the United States, and the Global War on Terror, was published by Rutgers University Press. Her book is also featured on the Page 99 Test.

Bill Scheuerman’s book
The second, revised and expanded edition of Bill Scheuerman’s The End of Law: Carl Schmitt in The Twenty-First Century has been released by Rowman & Littlefield International (London).

Sarah Bauerle Danzman's book.
Merging Interests by Sarah Bauerle Danzman is now available through Cambridge University Press.

Nur Amali Ibrahim's book
Improvisational Islam: Indonesian Youth in a Time of Possibility, is now available through Cornell University Press.

Stephen Macekura’s book
The Development Century: A Global History (co-edited with Erez Manela of Harvard University), has just been published.

Jess Steinberg's book
Mines, Communities, and States: The Local Politics of Natural Resource Extraction in Africa, is now available through Cambridge University Press.