BA/BS in Culture and Politics

Culture and Politics examines how culture, knowledge, and power intersect, training students to read the ways everyday expressions such as speech, art, religion, and ritual carry political weight alongside more visible exercises of power by states and institutions. The major draws on fields ranging from history and sociology to anthropology, philosophy, literature, and the arts of performance, building cross-cultural literacy and an ethics-minded view of leadership. Coursework centers on a set of courses organized around a chosen theme, alongside the major's core requirements, letting students pursue a specific angle on how power operates within culture. Like the other Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service majors, it is declared in the first semester of sophomore year after a short proposal to an advisor. Graduates have moved into roles across higher education, government ministries, and cultural institutions, with others building careers in private industry, applying the major's interdisciplinary training in cross-cultural analysis to work that carries real stakes.