Statement of Support for Our Students
Mission Statement
The International Affairs Program, a community of students and faculty, contributes
to the overall educational mission of Skidmore College in preparing students for responsible
citizenship in an increasingly interdependent world.
The IA Program fosters the idea that no one world view is universal, that other people may have profoundly different perspectives and values, that cultures are interdependent, and that local choices have global impact. In the interdisciplinary IA Program, students acquire an in-depth base of knowledge and skills in a separate major or minor and broaden their global awareness and cross-cultural understanding in coursework on the political, economic, cultural, and physical world. The Program prepares students for responsible global citizenship, leadership roles, and international careers in a world characterized by intellectual and ethical challenges.
As a center of international learning, the Program cultivates and enriches a culture of teaching, scholarship and learning among the faculty and students at home and abroad.
The IA curriculum is transformative, in that students:
- engage a variety of complex issues of global significance, such as human rights, poverty, environment and cultural intolerance
- learn to apply different methods and theories to the study of such issues
- develop the ability to think independently while working collaboratively
- are challenged to produce and communicate creative solutions to world problems
- acquire life-long learning skills, such as high intermediate competence in a foreign language to enrich their understanding of and interactions with other peoples; an understanding of the dynamics of international conflict, collaboration, and negotiation; the ability to differentiate between phenomena that are area-specific and transnational; and the ability to identify and analyze complex international problems in their historical, technological, and ethical contexts.