In 2017, SFL launched the Program of International and Regional Studies (PIRS). International and Regional Studies is an academic discipline that aims at investigating a specific country or region based on primary sources with a multi-disciplinary approach. Its themes range from politics, economy, society, culture, history, geography and so on. Currently, the regional expertise of PIRS faculty members at SFL covers Middle East, Russia-Central Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia and Northeast Asia while taking into consideration studies of other major counties and regions. In 2018, the faculty of PIRS, an inclusive team consisting of professors from SFL, was formed, and since then, the program has regularly recruited M.A. and Ph.D. students. In 2022, PIRS initiated an undergraduate certificate program.

Since March 2019, PIRS has carried out a series of lectures on International and Regional Studies in order to publicize the latest researches in the field. In addition, in cooperation with Institute of Area Studies, Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences and Faculty of Humanities of PKU, the faculty members of PIRS have organized numerous lectures and seminars in the form of Broadyard Workshop, Xinya Salon and Wenyan Lecture. Moreover, the PIRS team launches academic visits and overseas exchanges, in order to deepen team members' understanding of countries and regions and to promote cooperation among academic institutions, which will serve as the driving force for the development of International and Regional Studies.