International Affairs is an interdisciplinary major and minor program that stresses the importance of a broad-based international education and prepares students for careers or graduate study in the global arena. The major examines the relations between and among nation-states, regions, and other international actors as influenced by culture, history, politics, business, economics, and the environment.

Skidmore's International Affairs Program draws on the expertise of faculty from a broad array of academic disciplines. Approximately 70 faculty members from 22 academic departments and programs teach over 200 International Affairs designated courses. Over forty (40) IA courses are offered each semester.

International Affairs majors are encouraged to study abroad in order to learn about the world beyond the borders of the United States, recognize their own cultural biases, and develop skills to communicate with people from other cultures. Studying abroad enables students to gain foreign language proficiency and first-hand experience of the ways different political, economic, and social systems operate. The opportunity to live in another country for an extended period of time allows students to develop a deeper appreciation for cultural diversity and an understanding of the physical environment in a different region of the world.

In addition to being anchored in the richness and variety of its course offerings, faculty scholarship, and study abroad opportunities, the International Affairs Program also stresses other related and reinforcing components: colloquia, faculty/student collaborative projects, guest lectures, study in Washington, D.C., internships, and cocurricular activities including the student International Affairs Club and the United Nations and European Union simulations of international negotiations.