MAIR Degree Overview
Featuring a global student body, the MAIR degree provides rigorous academic and professional training for positions in the public, non-profit, and private sectors.
The degree incorporates coursework drawn from across the social science departments of the Maxwell School.
This interdisciplinary curriculum builds on the research conducted in its internationally-focused research centers, such as the Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration, the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism, and the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs and its seven regionally focused centers.
Students may also take courses in other colleges at the University, particularly the College of Law, the Whitman School of Management, the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, and the School of Information Studies, as well as the State University of New York’s New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF).
The MAIR degree requires 40 credits of coursework. All students complete a core curriculum of five courses, to ensure proficiency in international relations theory, economics, management, program and research evaluation, and statistics. By the end of their studies, students will also show significant cultural and linguistic competencies by demonstrating proficiency in a second, modern foreign language
Students choose one interdisciplinary signature course, serving as the foundation for a career track specialization in an international relations sub-field. These career tracks consist of 12 credits of coursework in one of the following areas: peace, security, and conflict, development and humanitarian assistance, governance and diplomacy, and international political economy, as well as a wide variety of area studies of Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East.
Elective courses offer an understanding of the pressing challenges present in the international system. These course options include the Maxwell School’s internationally-focused social science electives or other internationally-focused graduate-level coursework at Syracuse University.
Students pair academic study with practice in the discipline through a required professional internship experience. This internship experience is conducted in Washington, D.C. or overseas through a multitude of Global Program offerings hosted by the Maxwell School or other Syracuse University international partnerships.