RECOMMENDED ELECTIVES FOR MAJORS IN ECONOMICS
“[]... [T]he master-economist must possess a rare combination of gifts. He must be mathematician, historian, statesman, philosopher—in some degree. He must understand symbols and speak in words. He must contemplate the particular in terms of the general and touch abstract and concrete in the same flight of thought. He must study the present in the light of the past for the purposes of the future. No part of man’s nature or his institutions must lie entirely outside his regard. He must be purposeful and disinterested in a simultaneous mood; as aloof and incorruptible as an artist, yet sometimes as near to earth as a politician.”
(Keynes, John M. 1924. “Alfred Marshall, 1842-1924.” The Economic Journal 34 (135): 311-372. )
For Economics Majors:
Once you have selected the courses that will lead to your graduation with a BA with a Major in Economics , you still have many credits that you can use to explore other fields of study. In this page, you will find a non-exhaustive list of possible options to get started in your explorations. Remember, that you can always aim for a double major, or declare one or more minors. Courses from other Arts disciplines have been suggested by the listed Arts department, with the likely interests of Economics Majors in mind. Courses from Math, Statistics, and Computing Science have been recommended by the Department of Economics to complement your Economics major.
The University Calendar is your first source of information in building your program of study. What you will find below are just suggestions to get started. It remains your responsibility to design a plan of study that suits your needs and allows you to graduate. Students can check Course Listings in Bear Tracks to view the most up-to-date prerequisites.
Mathematics, Statistics, and Computing Science
The following courses in Mathematics, Statistics, and Computing Science will complement your education in economics. Most economics rely on calculus and linear algebra; therefore, the recommended MATH courses are mainly in these areas. Economics employs descriptive analysis, regression analysis, and sampling methods. The Department also offers courses that cover data analysis using computer software. The following courses in STAT and CMPUT complement our econometrics sequence. Please note that some of the recommended courses may have additional prerequisites that are not listed here.
Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences
MATH 214: Calculus III
MATH 315: Calculus IV
MATH 125: Linear Algebra I
MATH 225: Linear Algebra II
MATH 216: Introduction to Analysis
MATH 372: Mathematical Modelling I
MATH 334: Ordinary Differential Equations
MATH 432: Intermediate Differential Equations
MATH 373: Introduction to Optimization
MATH 381: Numerical Methods
MATH 253: Theory of Interest
MATH 356: Introduction to Mathematical Finance I
MATH 357: Introduction to Mathematical Finance II
STAT 252: Introduction to Applied Statistics II
STAT 265: Statistics I
STAT 266: Statistics II
STAT 276: Statistics for Data Science
STAT 378: Applied Regression Analysis
STAT 372: Mathematical Statistics
STAT 437: Applied Statistical Methods
STAT 441: Statistical Methods for Learning and Data Mining
Department of Computing Science
CMPUT 101 - Introduction to Computing
CMPUT 191 - Introduction to Data Science
CMPUT 195 - Introduction to Principles and Techniques of Data Science
CMPUT 291 - Introduction to File and Database Management
Department of Political Science
Political science seeks to understand the processes, ideas, and institutions through which power is structured, as well as power's effects. Subjects range from Canadian elections and political parties to the ethics of war and post-conflict management, from political economy to theories of justice and citizenship, and from environmental movements to gender relations, enhancing students’ understanding of the world around them. Explore political economy:
POL S 364: An Introduction to International Political Economy
POL S 435: Metropolitan Government
POL S 462: The Political Economy of Global Governance
Sociological concepts and approaches help students understand the social forces that shape (and are shaped by) economics. In sociology classes, you will come to know and appreciate the societal changes, human relations, and social experiences in which economic institutions and processes are embedded. Consider, for example, that the economics of transportation is inseparable from environmental behaviour and changes in population; that international trade is also a matter of global inequalities, migration flows, and human resistance; and that labour markets are steeped in cultural ideas about work and the social dynamics of households. Consider the courses:
SOC 203: Social Problems
SOC 260: Inequality and Social Stratification
SOC 269: Introductory Sociology of Globalization
SOC 291: Introduction to Environmental Sociology
SOC 343: Social Movements
SOC 363: Sociology of Work and Industry
SOC 369: Sociology of Globalization
Department of Women’s and Gender Studies
Women’s and Gender Studies is a field of study that encourages students to ask big questions about the way that gender impacts how we think, how we live, and how we understand ourselves and others. Though the field historically focused on the lives of women, in the contemporary Women’s and Gender Studies classroom, an emphasis is placed on the ways that gender, race, class, age, sexuality, ability, and size work together. To complement your studies in Economics, you can explore the roots of social inequality, sustainable business practices, and the role that gender plays in North American Culture:
WGS 101: Representations of Girls and Women
WGS 102: Gender and Social Justice
WGS 220: Feminism and Popular Culture
WGS 298: Critical Issues
WGS 390: Environmental Feminisms and Social Justice
DRAMA 101: Introduction to Theatre Art (lecture-based course)
DRAMA 149: Dramatic Process I
DRAMA 257: Introduction to Oral Communication
Popular music is deeply embedded in our everyday lives. Because popular music is both a commercial product and a cultural object, it has important connections to our own cultural identity, to the broader economic and political world, to visual culture, to cities and music scenes, and to our use of media and technology. Music can be used for social progress on a variety of issues (health, education, peace, civil society, social justice, and social integration.) Consider the courses:
See: Courses for Non-Music Students
Department of History, Classics, and Religion
Courses in Classics focus upon the culture and society of Ancient Greece and Rome. We are the original interdisciplinary program! We explore the art, history, languages, literature, myths, philosophy, politics, religion, science and technology of the peoples of the Mediterranean world from the Bronze Age to the Early Christian era. Our courses offer a cross-cultural perspective on the roots of our modern society and help students develop their skills in critical thinking and analysis and the oral and written expression of their ideas. Popular courses include:
CLASS 102: Greek and Roman Mythology
CLASS 110: The Ancient World
CLASS 221: Literature of Greece and Rome
CLASS 254: Introduction to Greek Art and Archaeology
CLASS 255: Introduction to Roman Art and Archaeology
CLASS 261: Women, Gender and Sexuality in the Ancient World
History is the study of all aspects of human life in the past, across all areas of the globe. It explores how people in different places and at different times went about organizing their material-economic life and social relationships, expressing themselves in ideas and culture, establishing forms of political organization and government, and engaging in sometimes catastrophic armed conflict; it is also centrally about how all of those human activities changed over time. Historians look to the past to understand how our contemporary local, national, and international worlds came into being. In this way, they expose us to ways of being and thinking that are very different from those of today. This is especially the case with economic practices and institutions, which have change dramatically over the past five centuries. Are you interested in why transoceanic trade developed alongside huge slave plantations in the Americas and
Asia during the 17th and 18th centuries? Have you ever thought about where our modern conceptions of property, labour, and markets come from? Are you curious to know why Europe only surpassed China in economic growth and output in the nineteenth century (1800s)? Would you like to study the relationship between the unevenness of economic prosperity, global trade, and colonialism in the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries? Would you like to learn more about modern industrial revolution(s), “globalization” and the growth of late twentieth century finance, the formation of trading blocs like NAFTA and the EU, and the striking rise of China as a global economic power? Finally, are you interested in the historical genealogies of the Great Depression of the 1930s and the Great Recession of post-2008? If so, the following courses might be of interest to you:
HIST 205: Capitalism
HIST 210: Europe in the 19th and 20th Centuries
HIST 242: Modern Latin America
HIST 247: Africa in the 20th and 21st Centuries
HIST 251: From the End of Slavery to the Present: American History Since 1865
HIST 281: East Asia from 1500
HIST 300: Topics in European History: Europe since 1945
HIST 301: Europe in the Age of Total War, 1890-1945
HIST 302: Germany in the 20th Century and Beyond
HIST 306: France in the 20th Century and Beyond
HIST 373: Peasants, Slaves, and Workers
HIST 377: Canada since 1945
Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies
These courses explore languages, cultures, texts, and contexts from an international perspective. How do the arts reflect cultural tradition? How can we better communicate across borders? Cross-cultural knowledge is important in our increasingly multicultural societies. These courses help students develop critical thinking in cross-cultural perspectives and hone their oral and written communication skills. Look for these course prefixes:
C LIT: Comparative Literature
LA ST: Latin American Studies
MLCS: Modern Languages and Cultural Studies
SCAND: Scandinavian Studies
SLAV: Slavic Studies
Philosophy is the critical study of ideas, experiences, and institutions. To enhance your Economics major, you can strengthen your reasoning skills by learning to analyze arguments and identify fallacies, as well as by studying the philosophical underpinnings of scientific thought, statistical reasoning, or decision theory. You can also study core ethical and political theories, both historical and contemporary, as they apply to key issues facing the world today and develop your argumentative writing skills. Most courses, even at the 300-level, do not have prerequisites.
PHIL 125: Practical Logic
PHIL 250: Contemporary Ethical Issues
PHIL 270: Political Philosophy
PHIL 325: Risk, Choice and Rationality
PHIL 355: Environmental Ethics