The Department of International Relations at PUC Minas was established twenty years ago, and we are one of Brazil’s largest IR departments with three campi in the state of Minas Gerais: two in the city of Belo Horizonte and one in the city of Poços de Caldas. The Department has an average of 1000 students in any given year including a significant number of overseas exchange students from all over the world. In 2018 we had over 880 students enrolled in our four-year undergraduate program with the remainder forming our strong cohort of masters and doctorate students. 

Our postgraduate program, which initiated its master’s level courses in 2007 and doctoral courses in 2011, was the sixth postgraduate in International Relations founded in Brazil. The postgraduate program was awarded a grade four ranking (nota 4) in its first-ever evaluation by The CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education (the 2007-2009 cycle). In its next two performance assessment cycles (2010-2012 and 2013-2016), CAPES ranked the program at grade five (nota 5), including us in the select handful of postgraduate programs that hold this position in the country. Thus, in the incredibly short time since its inception, our postgraduate program has established itself as one of the best in Brazil, known for its exacting teaching standards as well as its original research output. 

Exceptionally, the Department of International Relations is proud to house and produce three high-quality academic journals in the field of International Relations, Conjuntura Internacional, Estudos Internacionais: Revista de Relações Internacionais and Fronteira: Revista de Inciação Científica em Relações Internacionais. Reflecting the Department’s mission to educate and train a new generation of rigorous researchers, Conjuntura Internacional is primarily student-run whilst our other two journals also boast extensive student participation. Fronteira stands out in particular as the first journal in Brazil dedicated solely to the publication of original research produced by undergraduate students. 

The postgraduate program maintains close ties with key IR departments across Latin America, the United States, Europe and Asia and is particularly well known internationally for its specialization in International Political Economy, International Security and International Institutions.  Alumni from our IR department can be found across the academe in Brazil and overseas, in intelligence, security and other governmental sectors, as well as in local and international non-profit organizations and private companies.

Director of the Institute of Social Sciences: Danny Zahreddine | danny@pucminas.br

Head of the Department of International Relations: Chyara Sales | reinter@pucminas.br

Postgraduate Program Coordinator: Javier Vadell | ppgri.coord@pucminas.br

Secretary: Paula Mayrink | ppgri@pucminas.br

Administrative Assistant: Lucas Figueira | ppgri.sec@pucminas.br