Development Studies/International Relations (1 Viewer)

[evatt]

Hey,

I was just wondering whether anyone who does the Development Studies major could tell me about their opinion of the major and what it entails. I've been looking through the information, and it seems altogether akin to the International studies core units at Sydney and UNSW.

i.e. globalisation, political science, political economy.

As ANU is particularly renowned for its international studies program, is there an over-abundance of IR/ DS graduates?

Thanks.

 

[buyhercandy]

There are far, far more IR students than there are Development Studies students. Taking IR as a major is pretty much the most common choice on campus. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I think it somewhat answers your question.

Development Studies is a much broader major than IR - it looks at the whole world, and it works across disciplines, whereas IR is very European-focused and political theory-based.

 

[ajdlinux]

Is there much difference between the Arts major 'International Relations' and the Master of Arts (International Relations) degree other than the thesis?

Master of Arts (IR)? I think it'd be more comparable with Bachelor of Arts (International Relations).

 

[evatt]

Oki doke.

Everyone aspiring to be the next Secretary-General at ANU then

 

[ajdlinux]

Oki doke.

Everyone aspiring to be the next Secretary-General at ANU then

Or the next Secretary of DFAT

 

[evatt]

Or the next Secretary of DFAT

What subjects are you doing out of curiosity?

 

[ajdlinux]

What subjects are you doing out of curiosity?

I'm doing BA/BSc, this semester POLS1002 (Intro to Politics), PHIL1004 (Fundamental Ideas in Philosophy), COMP1100 (Intro to Programming and Algorithms) and MATH1115 (Maths and Apps 1 Honours).

Next semester I'll be doing POLS1003 (Ideas in Politics), POLS1005 (Intro to IR), COMP1110 (Intro to Software Systems) and probably MATH1014 (Maths and Apps 2).

So yeah, an odd combination of courses I'll admit

 

[gingerwitch28]

Oki doke.

Everyone aspiring to be the next Secretary-General at ANU then

That was my dream job throughout high school.
Luckily it's changed, else I'd have a fair bit of competition! But yeah, Arts/Law students with an Arts major in PS/IR, or just straight Arts (IR) students (the serious ones anyway) tend to have their sights set pretty high. And yes, I'm one of them.

 

[jurassic_6]

Master of Arts (IR)? I think it'd be more comparable with Bachelor of Arts (International Relations).

The MA (IR) and BA (IR) are very different degrees. The MA is postgrad and is far more advanced. It is one of the top programs of its type in the world. The BA is undergrad and gives the best grounding in International Relations in Australia - a few people every year go on to do the MA (IR) but entry is extremely competitive (2A Honours degrees and above only). Also the BA has a language component unlike the MA - the current structure is fantastic as it allows you to do an Asian language rather than just the European languages as before.

Re the original question about over-abundance: Not many people graduate w the BA (IR) named degree. Lots of students drop down to just a straight BA because the language component is quite demanding.

Because of ANU's strength in IR and Pol Sci lots of people do those majors in either single or double degrees. ANU is the best uni in the country and one of the best in the world for both those fields though so it's not as if the degree is cheapened in any way - it's just a popular choice for very good reasons.