A world of opportunities here
|
International Studies throws open diverse career choices. Foreign Service, U.N., immigration departments, research in intelligence agencies, legal of.ces, interpreter/translator in foreign missions are only a few.
|
HOW do global trends influence domestic and international policies of governments? And does learning this in college make an interesting career? It does, say students of International Studies.
An M.A. in this discipline can lead you into the challenging world of jobs in national and transnational agencies. And even in private industry like oil, banking and finance, candidates with international studies qualification are identified and picked out from a lot, going by global trends.
Foreign Service fascinates some of the students of this programme. Another group wants to make careers studying the geopolitical affairs in specified areas of the globe. Research into the way global trends are impacting corporate and government policies can be another area of study.
The postgraduate programme today is offered in Chennai by the Loyola College, the Stella Maris and the Madras Christian College, besides the University of Madras. Beyond the metro, the School of International Studies, the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, the Central Universities in Hyderabad, Pondicherry, as also a few other places offer this niche area of study.
Of course, for a place on the course, the background need not be uniform. For example, Ramya, a II-year M.A International Relations student at Stella Maris comes from an economics background. "We have students coming from even chemistry or literature. When we were in the undergraduate programme, we heard that this college is starting the course for the first time and we joined eagerly." Several of her classmates are hoping to enter the foreign service or work with agencies like the United Nations.
Manisha Abraham, her classmate wants to study security issues and trends in Central Asia and their implication for the oil economy.
The programme includes courses in history, international economics, human rights, law, ethnicity, international relations theory, media studies, foreign policy, and research methodology. Students say they need to be update with contemporary global trends, especially in areas of conflicts and international trends in politics, strategic and defence-related issues.
In terms of career, one can hope to be a counsellor, overseas service agent for private or public sector, Peace Corps volunteer, community or service agency administrator, employed in immigration departments, do research in intelligence agencies, legal offices, become a Foreign Service officer, or join the United Nations, work as Interpreter/Translator in foreign missions.
More options present themselves in the form of marketing, administrative, sales executives in multinational corporations, including in banking and financial companies that must constantly analyse transnational economic and trade trends.
Careers can also be made in international tourism, public relations, insurance, and human services such as fund-raising, philanthropy, or in communication and media.
But while undergoing the course, academic activity requires a lot of exposure. To provide such opportunity, the Department at Stella Maris organised a two-day seminar on International System in the 21st century, where issues such as dynamics of nationalism and ethnicity, matrices of international conflict, globalisation, and security and strategic matters were debated.
A former Member of the National Security Advisory Board, M.K. Narayanan gave a fascinating overview of the ongoing strategic trends. His viewpoints on growing antagonistic relationship between the Islamic World and the West, and India's warming relations with its south Asian and ASEAN neighbours were keenly watched by the students, lecturers and policy researchers.
The challenge posed by global terrorism was another area he looked at and came out with some telling comments, which students definitely found useful.
K. Ramachandran
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Education Plus
