Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies

Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies (IR/PS) Courses, Curricula and Program of Instruction

The Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies (IR/PS), at the University of California, San Diego was created by the Board of Regents in 1986 as the University of California’s first professional school of international affairs. The school’s regional focus is on the Pacific Rim, which extends from the southernmost tip of Latin America northward, across the United States and Canada, down through the Soviet Union, Japan, China, Korea, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, and the other nations of Oceania.

The school’s programs have been developed in response to the increasing participation of the United States in global economic and political affairs. The United States wields less economic and political influence than it did in the immediate postwar years; at the same time, American industries face increasing competitive pressures in domestic and international markets. As a result, professionals who can understand and work in an internationalized environment are needed in both the public and private sectors. Moreover, while the United States once looked primarily to Europe as the site of its major commercial, financial, and strategic interests, the United States now has large stakes in the Pacific Basin, a likely source of both our greatest national challenges and possibilities in the next decades. These changes create both a need and an opportunity: a need for new programs of training and research in international affairs and an opportunity for a new school of international affairs and management to develop a distinctive, modern program that links professional training with international competence and gives greater prominence to the Pacific Basin.

The school’s primary objectives are to prepare students with an interest in the Pacific Rim countries for positions of leadership in business, government, journalism, diplomacy, public service, and other fields; to serve as a center of excellence for research on economic, political, social, technological, and security issues confronting those nations; and to promote dialogue on Pacific region issues of common concern.

1. The degree programs provide students with professional training for careers in international affairs and management, including jobs in industry, government, international organizations, foundations, schools, and research institutes. Whatever their specific goals, students receive a broad training across professional areas so that those headed for the government have a grasp of decisions in the private sector and those planning business careers acquire a grasp of decision-making in public organizations. A program combining applied social science and professional subjects with courses on Pacific region countries provides students with both general skills and particular knowledge of the history, culture, language, and contemporary situations of those countries.
2. The school serves as a center for research on issues of common concern to the nations of the Pacific Rim. Since the Pacific Rim countries have become important foci of economic and security relations, the need for information and research centered on this dynamic region has become urgent. The diversity of national experiences represented by the Pacific region countries suggests a research agenda that includes comparisons of different approaches to economic management, foreign relations, policymaking, and development.
3. As part of the University of California, the school plays an important role in developing public awareness and understanding of the Pacific region. Programs of public outreach contribute to the information available to citizens and specialized groups about international issues that affect their lives.

Degree Programs

The degrees offered by the school include a professional Master of Pacific International Affairs (M.P.I.A.), a Ph.D. in Political Science and International Affairs offered jointly with the Department of Political Science, and a Ph.D. in Economics and International Affairs offered jointly with the Department of Economics. Training emphasizes international relations, economics and management, international technology management, policy, knowledge of specific countries or regions, analytical and research skills, and foreign language.

Mid-career and other executive certificate programs are also offered by IR/PS. In particular, the International Career Associates Program (ICAP) is designed for working professionals seeking additional study in international management, international relations, and comparative public policy. Participants in the program spend an academic year at IR/PS beginning in mid-September and ending in mid-June. Under the auspices of the program, associates have the opportunity to further internationalize their knowledge and experience as well as enhance their professional development in such areas as finance, accounting, quantitative methods, econometrics, and long-range strategic planning. The program of study is tailored to individual interests under the guidance of the program’s director and faculty advisers.

The M.P.I.A. program is distinctive in several respects. The program:

1. Exposes students to the perspectives of both private business and public policymaking.
2. Offers specialized training in economics, management, international relations, and political analysis and integrates the languages, history, and cultures of the Pacific region into the curriculum.
3. Creates a laboratory for comparative analysis of economic management, foreign relations, policymaking, and development in the diverse countries of the Pacific region.
4. Offers language skills training necessary for international affairs professionals specializing in Pacific Rim countries.

The Ph.D. in International Affairs is offered only in conjunction with either the Ph.D. in political science or the Ph.D in economics. These Ph.D. programs are designed for students who seek a rigorous training in a discipline (either economics or political science) along with a specialization in a specific policy area and regional expertise. Ph.D. students will be required to demonstrate knowledge of a foreign language linked to their regional specialization.

The master’s and Ph.D. programs are distinct and separate. There is little overlap in the structure or requirements of the two programs because their objectives are very different. The master’s program provides professional training for graduates who will pursue international careers in business, government, journalism, and other fields. The Ph.D. programs offer an academic education to a small number of students who will pursue international careers requiring advanced research capabilities in universities, corporations, government agencies, consulting firms, or other research organizations.

The master’s and Ph.D. programs do share a common intellectual framework. Both the professional master’s curriculum and the academic Ph.D. curriculum are designed to bring the theories, methods, and insights of various disciplines together to analyze policy issues of the Pacific region and to blend the perspectives of public policy makers and private managers. The same faculty teach and advise students in both the master’s and Ph.D. programs.

The Faculty

The school has attracted an interdisciplinary faculty from such fields as economics, management sciences, international relations, comparative politics, public policy, and linguistics. The various programs draw upon and contribute to research which focuses on the regions of the Pacific Rim and on major issues that affect the region.

The school places special emphasis on research in and teaching of topics of particular importance to the program. These topics currently include:

1. The Pacific Rim as system, including the interaction of the countries and regions within it (e.g., Latin American-Japanese economic relations, U.S. relations with both East Asia and Latin America, and the placement of the Pacific in the global system of international relations, both contemporary and historical).
2. Studies in international economics, management, and finance, including such subject areas as international competition, comparative industrial organizations, international trade and development, industrial relations, technological innovation, international financial structures, policies, institutions, and historical patterns of development.
3. Comparison of the trajectories of socioeconomic development among the countries of Asia and Latin America, including the exploration of differences and similarities in state-society relations, culture, entrepreneurship, linkage to the global economy, and geopolitical position.
4. Comparative analysis of patterns of policymaking in the countries of the Pacific region to understand how different governmental structures, economic systems, and social group interests shape the policy process and influence policy choices in such areas as budget allocation, regulation of industry, and foreign trade.

For further information, contact the Office of Admissions, Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, UCSD, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0520. (858) 534-5914, email: irps-apply@ucsd.edu, Web site: http://www-irps.ucsd.edu.