IS, IR,IA…different names at different colleges…we could argue all day about whether or not there is a difference. If there is, it’s very very minor at the undergrad level.
moooop, IR is more focused on diplomacy and politics, while IS is less structured and broader in scope. Either way, it is unlikely that Northwestern is better than Michigan is any of those disciplines.
But unlikely that Michigan is better than Georgetown at IR/IS/I-whatever
You can split hairs all you want. If there is a difference, do colleges have departments of any two of IS/IR/IA? No. They all deal with the same sorts of things…they pick a name and stick with it. There could be slight differences, but that has more to do with the faculty specialties, not the name of the dept. or major.
At the grad level, you will find some programs that lean towards security, economics, diplomacy, or whatever. You will find some are interdisciplinary & draw faculty from different departments; some that have their own IR/IS/IA dpartment & have their own faculty; sometimes it will be a part of the poli sci dept.; some are in their own college of deplomacy or IA/IS/IR. All arrangements might put a slightly different spin on things, but to claim, for example, someone might get a BA degree in IS and be deemed unsuitable for a grad program in IA is to assume the difference in name has a practical difference.
I just helped my kid examine dozens of grad programs in this field. Some were more practical; some were more theoretical, etc. But nowhere did I see anybody making a big deal about the terminology relations/affairs/studies. It’s like some colleges have depts of Government. Others have Poli Sci. Is there a difference? Do any have both?
@moooop , I agree that the distinction on name is fudgy. I did my masters in a department called “politics and international studies” …that offered no “IS” degrees, only “IR” ones. And that didn’t seem substantially different to me to degrees called by other names offered by other universities. I don’t believe that there is any universal meaning attached to whichever terminology is used, especially for those departments that offer a wide range of electives.
“billnyegirl, International Relations is not offered at Michigan or Northwestern. Both of them offer Political Science, and Michigan’s department in that major is actually ranked a little better (#4) than Northwestern’s (#23), Penn’s (#19), UVa’s (#37) and Georgetown’s (#33)”
Ok, but Georgetown doesn’t have a poly sci major, it’s government, so where is the poly sci ranking coming from?
“It’s like some colleges have depts of Government. Others have Poli Sci. Is there a difference? Do any have both?”
Ok but if you’re going to rank poly sci programs, the college should have a dept in that right? You can’t substitute the nearest major, in this case, government.
Government & poli sci (& IS/IR/IA) might have different dictionary definitions, but when it comes to academic departments they are like hoagie, hero, submarine sandwich…or hot dog, frankfurter: different names for the same thing.
It’s possible someone will claim some miniscule technical difference among hoagie/hero/submarine , and certainly there are differences even among submarine sandwiches.
My point is nobody orders a frankfurter & when a hot dog arrives, says, “Hey! I ordered a FRANKFURTER!” No restaurant’s menu has Heros listed on one page & Hoagies on another. No college has a Dept of Governent over here, & a Dept of Political Science over there. Same with International stuff.
ok all of the international “blank” programs I applied for are a little different, but I researched them before applying…
I applied to about 20 schools, it is hard to remember each school’s lingo. Also I am not 100% anti-sorority, maybe my view of then is skewed by the medias interpretations of them as homogenous superficial clubs…
Yeah… but as most others have stated, Michigan is large enough that you really don’t have to interact with Greek life if you don’t want to. I mean, when I was there, I’d walk past a few of the Greek houses sometimes, and there is some mud football thing that is a big deal that I remember skirting when going somewhere once. But it is VERY easy to have a great time at Michigan without getting involved in Greek life.
Is anyone else hungry? I am all of a sudden. =P~
3 out of 4 women aren’t involved in Greek life at UMich.
update: I went to a Campus day and now I am 95% sure I am going to UMich. I judged too early.
Check out my posts over here about UM: