International Relations

The Economics Department is a major contributor to the popular interdisciplinary major of International Relations (IR).  IR focuses on key international actors, such as states, multinational firms, and international organizations.  An integral concern for these actors is economic globalization, or the flow of goods, services, assets, or people.  Several fields of economics contribute to this dimension of IR, including international economics, development economics, open-economy macro, comparative economics, financial economics, and economic history.

The Economics Department offers a number of courses that fulfill requirements in the International Relations major.  The core requirements of IR include “International Trade” (ECON 475) and “International Finance” (ECON 476).  IR majors can also satisfy the methods requirement by taking “Principles and Methods of Statistics” (ECON 307). 

A number of Economics Department course offerings count toward the electives of the IR major.  These include “Global Economic History” (ECON 342) “Comparative Economics” (ECON 382), “International Economic Integration” (ECON 474), “Development Economics” (ECON 483) and “Economics of Growth (ECON 484). Some relevant topics courses under the heading of ECON 300 or 400 may also satisfy the electives for IR.