Pages

January 28, 2010

Studying International Relations at Mount Allison: Degree Audit and Preparing for Graduate School and Beyond.

“Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.” ~ Douglas Adams


It's already been almost a month since second semester began and this is only my first post of the new year. I've been busy organizing everything and have finally gotten used to my class schedule after moving my classes around. This semester I've started taking International Relations courses starting with an intro class. Our first essay assignment is focused on judging the legitimacy of different theories which is fairly interesting but I'm anxious to move onto the Global Governance module that is the foundation for my upper year course selections. I declared my International Relations Major with an Minor in History (you are not able to apply to pursue Honours until third year and do not receive confirmation until the end of that year) and planned the classes that I will be taking the next two years (yet again, with minor revisions). Classes differ from year to year so I can't be sure exactly when they will be taught but I'm almost certain about taking all of them.

Despite doing just about everything else online you have to submit a dead-tree version of the Degree Audit Form to graduate:



(Bold indicates classes I have yet to take. Highlighted classes are those shared between major and minor.)


International Relations Major


Core

POLS 1001, INRL 2301/ POLS 2201
INLR 3101 GLOBAL GOVERNANCE
INLR 3201 PROBS IN INTL DEV

HIST 2411, HIST 2421/ ECON 1001, 1011, 3501
FREN 2401 LANGUE ET LECTURES I
GENV 1201, 2201/ ENGL 1201
Electives
CANA 3421 CANADIAN-US RELATIONS
HIST 3521 US SOC. AND CULTURAL HISTORY
HIST 3511 COLONIAL AMERICA
HIST 3561 US FOREIGN RELATIONS

HIST 3311 EUROPE SINCE 1945
INLR 3301 LATIN AMERICAN POLITICS
INLR 3401 IPE

Honours:
INLR 4101 GLOBAL GOVERNANCE SIM
INLR 4301 INTER-AMERICAN SYSTEM
HIST 4500 (6CR) MODERN US HISTORY

Minor in History
HIST 1601 NEW NATIONS IN N.A.
HIST 1611
HIST 2041 EUROPE IN THE 19th C
HIST 2511 US History TO 1865
HIST 2521 US History AFTER 1865
HIST 3521 US Social and Cultural History
HIST 3511 COLONIAL AMERICA
HIST 3561 US FOREIGN RELATIONS

I am especially excited to be taking American History from the perspective of Canadian Academics.




I've also began upgrading my online presence with a new twitter username, LinkedIn (essentially facebook for profession networking) profile and a renewed commitment to this blog. Although not quite to the intensity of 3rd year 2nd year at Mount Allison has at times been a challenge in terms of time management and I unfortunately had to put aside writing about my studies and instead actually study.


This summer I plan on working full time hopefully in furthering my qualifications for Graduate study (in the field of International Studies) or at the very least volunteering part time for NGOs in the Vancouver Area.
I've begun researching various post-graduation options at schools across the United States, Canada, and Overseas (including the Peace Corps and related programs).


I will soon be turning twenty which is a pretty big milestone but one which I don't have much time to celebrate..along with classes more specialized to your interest comes larger, more challenging assignments due earlier... so I'll be lucky enough to be spending much of my weekend in the library (which is being more and more overly crowded due to the massive influx of frosh this past September.


I recently made a considerable donation (considering my scarce resources) to Amnesty International. I was very involved in Amnesty as the President of my high school's club. We organized a weekend long film festival which is still on an archived newsletter from my school which surprisingly is still online. While reviewing the course material for my IR class I came upon a section on NGO's and was reminded of their important role in protecting human rights worldwide. Unfortunately Mount Allison does not yet have a chapter but there are many ways you can get involved on your own.


That's all I have time to share with you for now. I will be writing much more frequently from here on out as there is a lot more about life at Mount Allison to share with you. As promised I will soon write about the RCMP Youth Academy I attended in BC, Graduate School Options, how Canada Post fail, and why I miss the US. Take care for now.

2 comments:

  1. Hi!
    Your course list sounds very interesting...it makes me think that maybe I picked the wrong humanities requirements in undergrad. I did more classical history courses, since they were the interesting ones offered. They should have had some like colonial and european history offered as 2nd year levels...I think it would hook more ppl into history...Most first year courses tend to be dry, and thats all you get to taste when your a Chemistry student.
    Anyway, good luck in the semester!
    I like reading your blog, its a little taste of Sackville I savour:)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm taking IR at MTA as well. While I have given some thought to all of the relevant details considered in your post, it is safe to say that in contrast with your multi-year advance planning I am pretty well 'winging it'. We are probably even in some of the same classes. I like to do all of my assignments the night before or the morning of for added intensity. It keeps life interesting. Anyhow, best of luck, happy bday, and maybe I'll see you around campus.

    ReplyDelete