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International Studies Major Plan
Guidelines for the Declaration Statement
(Adopted by International Studies, September 2006)
 Macalester's International Studies major is both rigorous and flexible. Put briefly, I.S. majors complete fourteen courses: five in one discipline, seven from I.S. itself (including an Intro, a Senior Seminar, and five from the large mid-level menu), and the balance (two to five courses, depending on the overlap between the first two categories) from other areas. To declare an I.S. major, you need to hand your chosen advisor or the I.S. chair a declaration form listing these fourteen courses, and a brief essay, described below.
The open framework of the major enables students to draw from many places across campus to construct their plan. But our great flexibility also risks producing "scatter" in the major plan. Thus an I.S. major plan should be carefully built to embody the aims you seek to achieve. This is why we ask students to accompany their initial major plan with a compact narrative describing how their course lineup relates internally and supports their broader goals.
The narrative has two parts. First, in a paragraph, say a word about yourself, and introduce the central interests that you plan to pursue in the major. Second, using your fourteen-course lineup as your roadmap, walk through your course choices, explaining briefly how they connect to or complement each other, and how they relate to the interests you described at the start.
The narrative is not a formal essay or paper; I.S. faculty will read it with interest, but will certainly not "grade"! It should be no longer than two single-spaced pages, with a space between paragraphs, for ease of reading. The aim, again, is simply to help you ensure that your individual major plan is meaningful and rich. What is more, as conditions change and you make alterations to your initial plan over the coming semesters, you need not re-do this declaration statement.
Feel free to speak with any department member about declaring I.S. at any point. Administratively, you simply hand the declaration statement to the I.S. chair or your I.S. advisor when you declare: we'll then give it a read, and either sign it right away or drop you an email if we've got further questions.
Above all: this essay should not be a source of stress. It is, rather, a valuable way for you to pause briefly and reflect at the outset of a rewarding academic adventure.
rev. Sept. 2008
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