Looking Ahead with the New International Studies

Abstract

As I write this, the world seems to be in a more precarious position than it was 30 years ago, when the Bachelor of Arts in International Studies (BAIS) at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) was established. In 1994, the Cold War appeared to have come to an end. That year an Accord was signed between Israel and Palestine, and Yasir Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin won the Nobel Peace Prize. The discourse around global climate crisis had not yet emerged. The sharpened international geopolitical situation since 1994 cannot be sheeted home to our program, of course. But in 2024 the need for graduates with the skills, insights and cultural intelligence that language and culture learning and an immersive overseas experience gives—that our international studies students possess in spades—has clearly not diminished, hence the evolution of the BAIS into the Bachelor of International Studies and its exciting new options for international education