Hello International Affairs majors! Please look through the series of topics below and find helpful information to meet your IAFS needs. If you have questions, please reach out to our staff and advisors. 

If you are a prospective student, please see our webpage specifically for IAFS prospective students.

How to Navigate the Website

If you want to know which classes you can take will meet the needs of your IAFS degree, use the semester list of courses. We publish this list for when you are registering for the upcoming semester, and note that these are subject to change as departments change their courses. 

We publish alot of events on our News & Events webpage that we find are relevant and of interest to IAFS students. 

  • Events: Events offered by CU and non-CU organizations
  • News: A collection of articles about IAFS students, faculty, staff, and other news related to the IAFS program
  • Global Speaker Series: The Global Speaker Series considers current world events and problems, featuring topics led by scholars and practitioners from CU Boulder and beyond
  • Internships and Job Opportunities: Find a collection of internship and job opportunities

The Student Resources website links you to helpful resources pages:

  • Advising
  • Global Grants Scholarship
  • Student Organizations & Awards
  • Professional Development
  • Helpful Links (library resources, graduate programs, etc)
  • IAFS 4930 Pre-approved Internships

Who is Your IAFS Advisor?

Buff Portal Advising, the undergraduate online advising appointment scheduling system, will help you with the following:

  • Advisor(s) / Success Team contact information
  • Schedule advising appointments
  • View your enrolled major/minors, academic records & grades, class schedule
  • View alerts & holds on your account and messages
  • Links to calendars, campus offices, degree audit, MyCUInfo, etc

If you are a first year student, you might be assigned a first year advisor and next year (or when you declare) you will be assigned an IAFS advisor. Stay alert and informed by checking your Buff Portal Advising account regularly. If you have more than one degree plan (double major, minor, etc) then you might have more than one advisor. On your Buff Portal Advising, it will tell you who is your advisor for which degree of yours. You should communicate with all of your advisors regularly.

  • All A&S Academic Center Advisors (including first year)
  • Related: Academic Coaching: in addition to your advisor, you can work with an academic coach if you are: 1) an A&S student who wants to talk to an academic coach for any reason (Drop-ins on Mondays from 1-3pm), 2) on academic alert/probation, 3) receive a mid-semester course alert notification

On our Advising webpage, there are helpful FAQs for prospective and current IAFS students, as well as other selections. Familiarize yourself with our Advising webpage and get answers to your questions in one spot.

How to Plan For Your Internship

Not only can students fulfill the Off-Campus Experience major requirement through IAFS 4930, but an internship for credit also has other benefits.

  • Some organizations require students to receive credit
  • Your internship will be part of your academic transcript for employers or graduate and professional schools
  • Allows students to reflect on their experiences in a structured way, and to connect those experiences to research that interests and motives them
  • Please note: all internships for IAFS 4930 must have clear international content

Internships in general can be completed at anytime, but the IAFS 4930 Internship in International Affairs 3-credit class is open to junior and senior majors. Plan ahead! Work with your academic advisor and let them know what you are considering (study abroad, internship(s), CU in D.C.) and they can help you map out the best semesters to complete your goals. They might be able to find overlap too! Internships for credit can be completed while studying abroad and as part of the CU in D.C. Program.

IAFS Study Abroad Guide

Did you know we have an IAFS Education Abroad webpage? It is full of resources on how to start your program search, our Global Grants scholarship to support IAFS students going abroad, and making sure you get class credit, including internships and the off-campus experience requirement.

  1. Be Inspired: Read about IAFS students who've gone abroad in our News section and talk to your academic advisor
  2. Be Involved: Dig deeper in programs you are interested in (year, semester, summer session, global seminar) and attend info sessions
  3. Be International: Choose a program that intrigues you and will fulfill your IAFS requirements (and/or an internship) 

“I am going abroad next semester and don’t know which classes to pick!”

  • Start by running a degree audit to see what remaining requirements you have for GenEd, your major, etc. Review the list of pre-approved courses on the Education Abroad website, filtering to your program, then check to see if any courses have already been approved to cover those specific requirements.
  • If there are courses being offered by your study abroad program that are not on the pre-approved list, you can have courses evaluated (please note this process can take 3-5 weeks). Please review the information available on the Fulfilling Credit Abroad website.

Graduating with IAFS Honors

Through the IAFS Honors Program, students can graduate with honors (cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude), awarded by the University Honors Council, based on overall academic record, written honors thesis, and oral defense exam. Students apply to the IAFS Honors Program in the early spring semester of the year prior to their final year at CU Boulder. Learn full details on the IAFS Honors Program webpage. 

Keep these tricks up your sleeve to be prepared for the IAFS Honors Program:

  • Tell your IAFS academic advisor that you are thinking about completing IAFS Honors
  • Keep in contact with faculty you want to potentially be on your future faculty committee
  • Know your deadlines! Check when applications are due each semester.
  • Meet with the IAFS Honors Director to go over ideas.
  • Look over the past syllabi for IAFS 4800 (fall) and IAFS 4810 (spring)

Get Involved

When you participate in various student group and volunteer initiatives aligned with what is valuable to you, don't be surprised to see other IAFS students in your same group. IAFS students are interested in domestic and international efforts. 

Learn about resources made specifically for IAFS students.

CU has a strong connection with the Peace Corps and many IAFS students go on to volunteer or complete the Peace Corps Prep undergraduate certificate program. Learn more about the benefits of the Peace Corps Prep program here. Look for virtual and in-person Info Sessions or watch videos on the Peace Corps YouTube. 

IAFS Faculty and Alumni

On our faculty webpages, you can read about their research and teaching topics. Don't see a faculty member of a course you want to take? Try looking at the faculty webpage of their home department as often our faculty members teach in multiple departments. 

Explore courses offered for each semester on the Semester Course Lists page or review syllabi to see what courses might interest you. If you want to see what courses a specific faculty member is teaching, try the CU class search and search by name.

  • Philip Staehelin (IAFS '91) - Learn about Philip's experience that led him to found DOT Glasses, a company that produces ultra-cheap, one-size-fits-all frames to help address the developing world's vision problem.
  • Rory Burke (IAFS '03) - Read about Rory's work with the nonprofit Skateistan, helping kids across the globe achieve academic goals through skateboarding. 
  • Check out more Alumni Spotlights to read stories of alumni doing amazing things in the world, or read our snapshot of Alumni Stories on the right sidebar.