Master of Arts in International Affairs

During the Foundation Year students complete twenty-four credit hours of coursework:

• Two Foundation Courses (six credit hours total) in International Relations and Comparative Politics. Both courses are advanced survey courses taught by core faculty in the department. They are designed to serve as the academic foundation for the MA program. 
• One Political Science Research Methodology course (three credit hours) and one International Political Economy course (three credit hours)
• Four Graduate Seminars (twelve credit hours in total). Students choose from a range of dedicated, graduate-level electives.

The Foundation Year also includes a public lecture attendance component: each student will attend and review at least two scholarly lectures, conferences, workshops or other approved events over the course of each academic semester. This can include participation in the MA program’s High-level policy speaker series. Rome is especially rich in opportunities for intellectual expansion thanks to its unique wealth of embassies, international organizations and institutions, foreign scholarly academies, centers, universities and ministries, each with its own public programming. Students must also demonstrate proficiency (at the B2 level) in a second language other than English.

Following the first year of study students sit for a Comprehensive Exam in International Affairs (administered once a year). The Master’s exam requires a high-level synthesis of international relations and political science concepts and theories coupled with policy-driven, problem-solving analysis. The remainder of the summer (mid-May through late August) can be devoted to coursework, thesis research, research-related travel, internships in or outside of Rome, supplementary language training, or other professional or educational activities. MA Students have access to JCU’s Frohring Library and other university facilities through the summer.

The degree culminates in the completion of a Master’s thesis (six credit hours) during the Capstone Term. The thesis is typically based on a research project initiated during the Foundation Year in the context of a graduate research seminar or elective. Students will sign up for a small-group thesis course for the semester with a designated faculty member which includes a colloquium component meant to accompany and structure the thesis-writing experience. Colloquium participants present and discuss their research in progress; invite prominent guest professors to speak and critique their work; and prepare and deliver public presentations of their theses. Students may register for the Master’s thesis course upon fulfilling all requirements of the Foundation Year and receiving a passing grade on the Master’s exam. The thesis is expected to be policy-oriented, the result of scholarly research, and of a publishable length for an academic journal article. 

During this final semester (or the preceding summer), MA candidates also complete an International Affairs Practicum (two credit hours) taught by a senior practitioner in the field, a short Professional Development Course (one credit hour) and a Research Assistantship or Professional Internship (three credit hours total). Students interested in pursuing an academic career are encouraged to pursue a research assistantship with one of JCU’s research active faculty. Students interested in pursuing a professional career in international affairs are encouraged to pursue a professional internship.  

The University currently has internship agreements with a range of international organizations and governmental entities in Rome, including the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) and High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Foreign Embassies to Italy and the Holy See, the Italian Institute of International Affairs (IAI), SOS Méditerannée, Jesuit Refugee Service and the Italian Carabinieri’s Center of Excellence.  JCU students in international affairs have previously held internships with the US Embassy to Italy, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the International Food and Development Bank (IFAD), as well as major Human Rights organizations and law firms, Vatican institutes and Italian state ministries. 

Learn more about John Cabot University’s Office of Career Services and the aid they provide students in internship placement and post-graduate professional planning.

• Graduate Seminars are research-intensive colloquia focused on specialized themes devised to stimulate original student research. They begin with the reading of a discrete body of scholarly sources and the examination of source material and proceed to the development of a focused research project, presentation, and paper by each seminar participant. Weekly seminar meetings are devoted to analyzing readings and presenting and discussing the results of individual research. 
• Political Science Research Methodology required of all MA students. This course provides a systematic understanding and critical appreciation of alternative approaches, methodologies and paradigms of political science research. Students will learn techniques to interpret and analyze data. The tool-driven training will enable students to think through how they can use their knowledge and skills of advanced qualitative and quantitative methods in different contexts and apply them to a variety of problems; and, progressively, to identify their own needs for research.
• The Practicum in International Affairs provides a hands-on introduction to policy work in the field of global affairs. Practicums will feature participation by high-level practitioners from the field with experience in areas like the United Nations, Foreign and Defense Ministries and international advocacy organizations.  The course is designed to introduce students to the professional world of international affairs and engage with the networks of policymakers present in the city of Rome. 
• Proficiency in a Foreign Language: Given the international nature of policy-making as well as John Cabot’s traditional identity as a hub for intercultural relations, MA students must demonstrate proficiency in a second language beyond English at the B2 (upper intermediate) level or higher in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). This component can be satisfied by passing a language exam administered by the John Cabot University Foreign Language Resource Center or by presenting a B2-level certificate from an approved language school or testing service (CILS, DELF/DALF, etc.). John Cabot offers multiple language resources through its library and Foreign Language Resource Center to help students work towards this requirement. JCU also regularly offers language instruction in Italian, French and Spanish and MA students may audit JCU language courses as schedules permit. 

Summer: Master’s exam, followed by opportunities for thesis research, research-related travel, internships, supplementary language training, and other professional or educational activities, including the JCU-UNICRI Summer School on Migration and Human Rights, the Rome Summer Seminars on Religion and Global Politics, and the ChinaMED Summer School. 

*Research Assistantships and Internships may also be completed in summer between the Foundation Year and the Capstone Term.

Applicants who are EU citizens or who have an Italian permit of stay (permesso di soggiorno) are eligible for admission as part-time students. Part-time students take between three and nine credit hours per term and are allowed four years to complete all degree requirements.

As an American Liberal Arts University, John Cabot University’s MA in International Affairs is built upon a critical, seminar-style learning environment in small-sized classrooms that prize scholarly mentorship. As an American graduate institution in Rome, the MA program aims to serve as a policy hub for policy-oriented reflection in conversation with the city’s rich European, Mediterranean and global environment. The MA in International Affairs aims to provide graduate students with academically rigorous, professionalizing, hands-on training for a career in international affairs.  In all of its work, the program exemplifies the University’s mission to produce inspired graduates who will be leaders in their field, dedicated to the international community and devoted public servants. 

The MA in International Affairs degree is designed to serve as a foundation for pursuing careers in international affairs. Students will graduate equipped to begin work in international governmental organizations; International non-governmental organizations; Governmental Foreign and Defense Ministries; international consulting, finance and legal firms; as well as public service and civil society organizations. Students will also be prepared for further graduate and post-graduate scholarly work.