The Five College International Relations Certificate Program offers an opportunity for students to pursue an interest in international relations as a complement to their majors. With challenges such as globalization, regional and ethnic conflict, environmental degradation, resource scarcity, demographic stress, global climate change and wide disparities in global economic development and global public health among others, the world is increasingly more complex. Now more than ever, students need to be prepared to confront the complexities of these international challenges with interdisciplinary understandings. The Five College IR certificate program is designed for students who want to make connections between their field of study and the global challenges.

Course requirements for the certificate cover the following areas of study:

1. A course on introductory world politics
2. A course on global institutions or problems
3. A course on the international financial and/or commercial system
4. A course concerning the historical development of the international system since 1789
5. A course on contemporary American foreign policy
6. Proficiency in a contemporary foreign language through the completion of two years of the language at the college level or its equivalent. (For Amherst College students, the requirement is two years of college-level foreign language study.)
7. Two courses on the politics, economy and/or society of foreign areas, of which one must involve the study of a Third World country or region