STIA Minor

The Minor in Science, Technology and International Affairs (STIA), administered by the STIA program in the School of Foreign Service in collaboration with Georgetown College and the School of Nursing and Health Studies (NHS), is designed to provide science and technology policy training to students who already have a strong math and science background. Students majoring or minoring in a program offered by the Department of Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, or Physics are eligible to pursue the minor.

Students in both the College and NHS who are not majoring or minoring in a program offered by one of the above departments but who have taken a year long major-level sequence in one of the above departments may request approval to pursue the minor. The science fundamentals prerequisite is the same as for the STIA-BSFS major:

• Biology 103/104 and 113/114 (labs)
• Chemistry 001/002 and 009/010 (labs)
• Physics 101/102 or 151/152 (includes labs)
• Computer Science 051/052 and COSC 030

Students meeting this prerequisite must obtain approval to pursue the minor by submitting a written request to the appropriate Dean (see below). The request should articulate a rationale for the minor in relationship to the rest of the student’s program of study. Only students who have been approved to declare the STIA minor will be permitted to register for the required STIA gateway course (STIA 305). Note that AP credit, Science for All (SFA) courses and Core Pathways science courses do not meet the STIA science prerequisite.

STIA minor approval for students in the College: 

STIA minor approval for students in NHS:

MINOR REQUIREMENTS

6 courses total including:

Three required courses:

• Science and Technology in the Global Arena (STIA-305)
• Principles of Microeconomics (ECON-001 or ECON 101)
• International Relations (GOVT-006)

Three elective courses from one of the STIA subfields:

• Energy and Environment
• Business, Growth, and Development
• Biotechnology and Global Health
• Science, Technology, and Security

All STIA courses listed in MyAccess show the STIA subfield attributes, with some courses counting for more than one concentration depending on focus. Courses offered each semester are also listed on the STIA-BSFS page. Concentrations are meant to provide depth and expertise in a specific STIA area, but there is some room to design the concentration courses around a student’s specific area of interest. Examples might include low carbon technology, global infectious diseases or cybersecurity.

Any courses taken abroad or outside of Georgetown must be reviewed by the STIA program for rigorous science and technology content prior to it being counted for the minor.

This minor is subject to the same controls as other minor programs in the College, including no courses that count toward any other degree option can count for the minor.