International Relations, Public Policy & Service Career Pathway

The International Relations, Public Policy & Service Pathway helps students prepare for careers as international lawyers, diplomats, international development specialists, intelligence analysts, nonprofit/NGO workers, environmental analysts, policy analysts, public affairs specialists, human rights advocates, researchers, academics, and more. St. John’s graduates have included U.S. Senators, state governors, prime ministers, and four signers of the Declaration of Independence.

International Relations, Public Policy & Service Studies

Curricular Pathways

At St. John's, you will study over 30 texts from across 3,000 years of legal, political, and economic thought that is relevant to careers related to diplomacy, public policy, public service, trade, human rights work, and more. Explore a sampling here.

More International Relations, Public Policy & Service Texts

Discourse on the Origin of Inequality

Leviathan

The Early History of Rome

The Histories of Tacitus

Annals of Imperial Rome

Second Treatise of Government

Politics

Lincoln: Speeches and Writings, 1859–1865

The Social Contract

Plutarch's Lives: Life of Julius Caesar

Constitution of the United States of America

The Histories

Democracy in America

The Federalist Papers

History of the Peloponnesian War

Articles of Confederation

The Origins of Totalitarianism

Frederick Douglass: Selected Works Collection

The Wealth of Nations

Capital

The Prince

Decline of the West

Capital in the Twenty-First Century

Writings of Booker T. Washington

Discourses

History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

The Human Condition

A Treatise of Human Nature

War and Peace

Choose Your International Relations, Public Policy, and Service Internship

Professional Pathways

Every student at St. John’s is guaranteed a college-funded internship or research fellowship if they work with our career offices. Discover institutions at which we often place our students and where our alumni are currently employed.

Learn More

Fulbright Program

German Marshall Fund

Hertog Foundation

Human Rights Watch

Projects for Peace

American Civil Liberties Union

Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership

U.S. Department of Justice

Lawyers for Civil Rights

Hudson Institute

Think New Mexico

American Enterprise Institute

Museum of International Folk Art

Global Santa Fe

Fulbright Program

German Marshall Fund

Hertog Foundation

Human Rights Watch

Projects for Peace

American Civil Liberties Union

Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership

U.S. Department of Justice

Lawyers for Civil Rights

Hudson Institute

Think New Mexico

American Enterprise Institute

Museum of International Folk Art

Global Santa Fe

Study Abroad & Gain Cross-Cultural Skills

Global Pathways

St. John’s funds and facilitates study-abroad experiences at institutions including Rome Institute for the Liberal Arts, Incheon National University in South Korea, Boya College of Sun Yat-sen University in China, Dharma Realm Buddhist University in Taiwan, and Richmond American University London in England.

Learn More

Italy

Rome Institute of Liberal Arts

The Rome Institute of Liberal Arts offers a rare opportunity to explore the art and architecture of Rome in order to articulate fundamental questions across disciplines. Discussion-based classes on philosophy, literature, and history are designed together with excursions led by art historians and classicists throughout Italy’s artistic heritage.
China

Boya College

St. John’s unique partnership with Boya College, of Sun Yat-sen University in China, offers academic and cultural exchange opportunities for students from both colleges, expanding cultural understanding, liberal learning, and friendship.
South Korea

Incheon National University

St. John’s special relationship with South Korea offers multiple opportunities for study and research in South Korea. Incheon National University is foremost among them, with its Great Books Center providing study programs, internships, and exchange opportunities between our colleges. Opportunities also exist at Kangwon National University, Hallym University, and Yonsei University.

Italy

Rome Institute of Liberal Arts

The Rome Institute of Liberal Arts offers a rare opportunity to explore the art and architecture of Rome in order to articulate fundamental questions across disciplines. Discussion-based classes on philosophy, literature, and history are designed together with excursions led by art historians and classicists throughout Italy’s artistic heritage.

China

Boya College

St. John’s unique partnership with Boya College, of Sun Yat-sen University in China, offers academic and cultural exchange opportunities for students from both colleges, expanding cultural understanding, liberal learning, and friendship.

South Korea

Incheon National University

St. John’s special relationship with South Korea offers multiple opportunities for study and research in South Korea. Incheon National University is foremost among them, with its Great Books Center providing study programs, internships, and exchange opportunities between our colleges. Opportunities also exist at Kangwon National University, Hallym University, and Yonsei University.

Leverage Our Graduate Relationships

Graduate Pathways

Our graduate school partnerships connect Johnnies to multiple career pathways. Discover special fast-track admissions opportunities, discounted tuition, expedited degrees, and more for Johnnies only.

Learn More

University of Chicago

Includes graduate degrees in international relations, social sciences, and more.

University of Maryland

Includes a JD and Master of Liberal Arts dual degree for Johnnies enrolled in the Graduate Institute.

Learn More

St. John’s College

Includes an MA in Eastern Classics, which explores the great texts of India, China, and Japan.

University of Chicago

Includes graduate degrees in international relations, social sciences, and more.

University of Maryland

Includes a JD and Master of Liberal Arts dual degree for Johnnies enrolled in the Graduate Institute.

Learn More

St. John’s College

Includes an MA in Eastern Classics, which explores the great texts of India, China, and Japan.

Alumni in the International Relations, Public Policy, and Service Field

View All

Roger Carstens

U.S. SPECIAL PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY FOR HOSTAGE AFFAIRS

“St. John’s allowed me to tie together a lot of the things that I’ve been pondering for years and make sense of them.”

Lucy Tamlyn

Chargé d’Affaires, Republic of the Sudan

In February 2022 Lucy Tamlyn (A78) was sworn in as U.S. Chargé d’Affaires to the Republic of the Sudan—the latest step in her career in the Foreign Service, which dates back to 1982 and includes assignments in Central Afrian Republic, Brazil, Mozambique, Colombia, Washington, and more. Prior to her position in Khartoum, Lucy Lucy served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Central African Republic.

Melanie Santiago-Mosier

Managing Director Access + Equity, Vote Solar

“My organization, the environmental movement, and the nation need to interrogate our approach to a clean energy transformation, in addition to many other systems. St. John's absolutely planted in me the seed for interrogating assumptions.”

John Sifton

Asia Advocacy Director, Human Rights Watch

“So many St. John’s students say this, but it’s true: the school began to teach me how to think, how to analyze what I was thinking.”

Earn Career-Enhancing Credentials

Credentialing Pathways

eCornell offers Johnnie discounts and is our preferred credentialing partner.

Learn More

Meet Our Network of Alumni Advisors

Advising Pathways

St. John’s College alumni are employed at high levels across all career pathways. Benefit from their advisement in your field of interest through the Odyssey Program.

Learn More

St. John's College

St. John's College

International Relations, Public Policy & Service Career Pathway

International Relations, Public Policy & Service Studies

Choose Your International Relations, Public Policy, and Service Internship