About the Program
Professors: Nora Colton, Fred Curtis
Associate Professors: Jennifer Olmsted (chair), Bernard Smith, Marc Tomljanovich
Assistant Professors: Daniel Lawson, Maliha Safri
The business major is comprised of a set of introductory courses, a set of core courses, a choice of electives drawn from Business, Society, Culture and economics courses, and a capstone that will integrate concepts students have been exposed to in the major. The introductory and core courses include five economics courses so that majors will have a thorough understanding of the operation of markets and the economy, with special attention to financial markets. Accounting and statistics round out the introductory courses. The other core courses include key business courses in ethics, history and management. There are four required electives for the major; students must select two courses from the current Business, Society, Culture offerings, and two courses from Economics electives. Two of these courses must be upper-level or advanced courses.
Finally, a one-credit capstone course must be taken to complete the major, during the senior year. This course is designed to pull together previous work that students have done in prior courses, and will have students present their research to each other and faculty members throughout the term.
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Requirements for the Major (57 Credits)
I. Introductory Courses (4 courses, 16 credits)
ECON 5/ Principles of Microeconomics (4 credits) Every semester
ECON 6/ Principles of Macroeconomics (4 credits) Every semester
MATH 3/Introduction to Statistics (4 credits) Every semester
BUS 15/ Introduction to Financial Accounting (4 credits) Every semester
II. Required Core Courses (6 courses, 24 credits)
BUS 101/ Management (4 credits) every semester
ECON 102/ Intermediate Microeconomic Theory (4 credits) every semester
ECON 103/ Intermediate Macroeconomic Analysis (4 credits) every semester
BUS 120/Econ 120/Corporate Finance (4 credits) every semester
REL 127/ Business Ethics (4 credits) Spring semester annually
One of the following two classes:
HIST 124/ A History of Business in America (4 credits) fall semester of alternate years
HIST 108/History of Work (4 credits) spring semester of odd numbered years
Students must pass Bus 101 (Management) and BUS 120 (Corporate Finance) with a grade of C- or better in order for these courses to satisfy the requirements of the Business Studies major.
III. Elective Courses (4 courses, 16 credits)
Students must complete at least eight credits in each of the following two areas. INTR 50/Internship Project may be substituted for one of these courses if the specific internship project is approved for the major by the Chair of the Economics and Business Studies Department.
A. Business, Society and Culture electives – complete at least 8 credits from the following:
BSC 10/ Corporations in Context (4 credits) annual
ENGL 65/Business Writing (4 credits) every semester
PANAF 180/Pan-African Studies Seminar (when topic is appropriate) (4 credits) spring semester
PSCI 102/Public Policy and Administration (4 credits) annual
SPAN 125/Doing Business in the Hispanic World (4 credits) alternate years
SOC 110/Sociology of Communications (4 credits) fall semester
SOC 117/ Sociology of Management (4 credits) spring semester
THEA 64/ Show: Business (2 credits) alternate years
HUM 21/Culture and Exchange (2 credits) to be determined
B. Applied Economics Courses – complete at least 8 credits from the following:
ECON 38/ Economics of Labor and Trade Unions (4 credits) every spring
ECON 41/ Global Economy (4 credits) alternate years
ECON 42/ International Business (4 credits) alternate years
ECON 47/ Economics of Business and Environmental Sustainability (4 credits) alternate years
ECON 49 and 50/ Wall Street Semester Program (4 credits each) – by application only – every spring
ECON 118/ Industrial Organization and Public Policy towards Business (4 credits) alternate years
ECON 119/ Money and Banking (4 credits) annually
ECON 136/ Political Economy of Race, Class and Gender (4 credits) alternate years
IV. Capstone Course (1 credit) - annually
All students will take this in their senior year.
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Information about the Minor
Business Studies is not offered as a minor. Students interested in a minor related to business are encouraged to minor in Economics or Business, Society, Culture. Students majoring in Business Studies will not be able to take the Economics minor due to the number of overlapping required courses. Business Studies majors may take the Business, Society, and Culture minor provided that they count no more than two courses for both.
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