Bulletin - Course Listing - ECO (Economics)

ECO 120 Principles of Microeconomics (4 hours)
This course will introduce the fundamental economic principles and apply them to economic problems. The primary topics include scarcity and choice, the theories of consumption, production and markets, and the role of government and its policies in those markets. Analysis of policy surrounding income distribution, government regulation of business, labor organizations, and international trade will be addressed using elementary microeconomic models.

ECO 122 Principles of Macroeconomics (4 hours)
The changing economic system with its developing problems is studied from the simple circumstances of Colonial times, through the emergent industrialism of the middle period, to the complex, specialized, and diverse conditions of today. This includes an introductory survey of aggregate economic principles. The scope and method of economics, basic supply and demand theory, and national income theory are intermeshed.

ECO 200 Independent Study in Economics (1-4 hours)
This course provides the opportunity for an intense study of diverse topics under the direct supervision of the instructor. The student and instructor will collaborate to develop the content of the course, which must be approved as outlined by the Independent Study Policy. (Sec. 6.15.)

ECO 220 Intermediate Microeconomics (4 hours)
This course develops an advanced investigation of the economic principles necessary to analyze and interpret the decisions of individuals and firms with respect to consumption, investment, production, pricing, market strategy, and hiring. The theories are used to understand the behavior of business firms and public policy-making institutions, and are also used to develop an understanding of new subjects, including empirical estimation of demand functions, two-variable constrained optimization techniques, optimal input usage, and partial equilibrium and general equilibrium analysis. Prerequisites: ECO 120, ECO 122, and math requirement (Sec. 6.4.1. and Sec. 6.4.3.).

ECO 222 Intermediate Macroeconomics (4 hours)
This course examines the goals of economic policy and the policy instruments available to achieve those goals. Attention is given to both monetary and fiscal policy along with the theory and measurement of national income, employment and price levels and the international implications of economic policy. Prerequisites: ECO 120 and ECO 122.

ECO 290 Special Topics in Economics (1-4 hours)Courses of selected topics will be offered periodically as determined by the needs of the curriculum. Prerequisites can vary based on the topic selected. See individual course listings for each semester for the specific topic and any prerequisites.

Specifically, this Economics course is an intense study of diverse topics under the direct supervision of an Economics faculty member.

ECO 320 Economic Development (4 hours)
This course is a study of the economic, social and political factors that account for the contrast between the economic stagnation in much of the world and the steadily rising incomes in the United States, Europe and Japan. General principles are applied to the development experience of selected countries in the historically less-developed world and the formerly centrally-planned economies of Eastern and Central Europe. Prerequisite: ECO 120 or ECO 122.

ECO 323 International Economics (4 hours)
This course is a study of international trade and finance. The micro-foundations of the course will address why countries trade, why special interest groups fight international trade, regional specialization, international agreements on tariffs and trade and national commercial policies. The macro-foundations of the course will focus on exchange rates, balance of payments, international investments and coordination and cooperation of international monetary and fiscal policies. Prerequisite: ECO 120 or ECO 122.

ECO 324 History of Economic Thought (4 hours)
This course is a study of the major writers and schools of economic thought related to the economic, political and social institutions of their times: the Medieval, Mercantilist, Physiocrat, Classical, Marxist, Historical, Neoclassical, Institutionalist, Keynesian and post-Keynesian schools. Prerequisite: ECO 120.

ECO 325 Environmental Economics (4 hours)
This course is an introduction to economic methods that will allow the student to understand the economic causes of environmental problems and to evaluate the economic impact of environmental policies. It will introduce the student to a wide range of current environmental problems and issues such as hazardous and municipal solid waste, water and air quality concerns, biodiversity, global warming and sustainable development. Topics will include externalities, benefit-cost analysis, alternative policy instruments as solutions to environmental problems, market failures, policy decision process and risk analysis. Prerequisite: ECO 120.

ECO 326 United States Economic History (4 hours)
This course will study the origin and growth of the American economic system from pre-colonial through the 20th century. The course traces the development of the evolution of American agricultural, commercial, manufacturing, financial, labor, regulatory and technological sectors. Prerequisite: ECO 120 or ECO 122.

ECO 400 Advanced Independent Study in Economics (1-4 hours)
This course provides the opportunity for an advanced, intense study of diverse topics under the direct supervision of the instructor. These offerings are generally suited for junior or senior students. The student and instructor will collaborate to develop the content of the course, which must be approved as outlined by the Independent Study Policy. (Sec. 6.15.)

ECO 421 Money and Banking (4 hours)
This course will study the role of private financial institutions and the Federal Reserve System in the creation of the nation’s money supply and the theory that links the money supply to the nation’s inflation rate and output level. Additional topics are the international payments mechanism, capital flows, the determination of exchange rates, and the use of a common currency by several countries. Prerequisites: ECO 220 and ECO 222.

ECO 423 Economics of Antitrust Law (4 hours)
This course is a study of the structure of firms within a given industry, the corresponding strategic decisions and conduct, and the United States’ antitrust policy that is intended to facilitate competitive market goals across the economy. Topics will include competition, dominant firm and cartel theory, measurement of industry structure and performance, strategic behavior in pricing, advertising and information, vertical integration, regulation and law and international markets. Prerequisite: ECO 220 with a grade of “C-” or higher.

ECO 424 Labor Economics (4 hours)
This course will be a comprehensive study of the cause and effect relationship between work and income. It will examine labor market structures, human capital theory, union-management relations, labor history, economic policy and earning profiles by gender and race. Prerequisites: ECO 220 and ECO 222.

ECO 425 Public Finance (4 hours)
An analysis of the impact of federal, state and local government expenditures, revenues, debt management and budgeting on the allocation of resources, the distribution of income, the stabilization of national income and employment and economic growth. Topics will include expenditure patterns, tax structure, benefit-cost analysis, policy analysis and microeconomic and macroeconomic theories of public expenditures and taxation. Prerequisites: ECO 120 and ECO 122.

ECO 429 Econometrics (4 hours)
This course will introduce basic econometric theory and applications related to the use of classic linear regression model. Students will perform empirical tests of various economic theories using Excel™ and other computer software. Particular emphasis will be placed on understanding the strengths and weaknesses of ordinary least squares regression (OLS) and interpreting its results. Offered every fall. Prerequisite: ECO 120, ECO 122, and BUS 275. Co-requisite: ECO 429L.

ECO 429L Econometrics Lab (1 hour)
The lab is designed to support student learning of econometric theory in Econometrics (ECO-429) through hands-on practice of creating and estimating linear regression models as well as testing and interpreting the regression results. Students will gain experience in data analysis by utilizing familiar and new software, strengthening their quantitative skills. Offered every fall. Co-requisite: ECO 429.

ECO 490 Advanced Special Topics in Economics (1-4 hours)
Advanced courses of selected topics will be offered periodically as determined by the needs of the curriculum. These offerings are generally suited for junior or senior students. Prerequisites can vary based on the topic selected. See individual course listings for each semester for the specific topic and any prerequisites.

ECO 495 Internship in Economics (1-12 hours)
An internship designed to provide a formalized experiential learning opportunity to qualified students. The internship generally requires the student to have an application (which satisfies all internship requirements developed by the academic program that oversees the internship) and to obtain a faculty supervisor in the relevant field of study. All internships are graded on a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory basis. Prerequisites are determined by the academic program overseeing the internship course.

Specifically, an Economics internship is designed to provide a formalized experiential learning opportunity to qualified students. The internship requires the student to obtain a faculty supervisor in the relevant field of study, submit a learning agreement which includes 3-4 learning objectives, work 30 hours for every hour of academic credit, keep a reflective journal of the internship experience, have regularly scheduled meetings with the faculty supervisor, submit a professional resume, write a research paper dealing with some aspect of the internship (length of paper dependent on number of academic credits), and deliver a presentation of the internship experience at the end of the semester. Graded on a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory basis. Prerequisites: See Internship Requirements block below.

Internship Requirements

Hours worked per credit hour: 30
Learning Objectives: Required
Reflective Journal: Required (guiding questions to be provided)
Resume: Required
Presentation: Required*

Academic Writing

• 5 Pages for 1 – 4 credits
• 10 Pages for 5 – 8 credits
• 15 Pages for 9 – 12 credits

Approvals

• Career Development
• Internship’s Faculty Supervisor
• Student’s Academic Advisor

*Summer and Fall internships will be presented on the afternoon of the last Friday of the Fall Semester. Spring internships will be presented as a part of LASS, date given in each Spring academic calendar on the HUB website.)

AAS 100 Introduction to African American Studies (4 hours)
This course will examine the African American experience chronologically from its historical roots to its modern day realities. Some of the topics covered include slavery, the Black Reconstruction Era, Civil Rights, Hip Hop, black political and social thought, the Black church, # movements, and intersectionality.

AAS 200 Independent Study in African American Studies (1-4 hours)
This course provides the opportunity for an intense study of diverse topics under the direct supervision of the instructor. The student and instructor will collaborate to develop the content of the course, which must be approved as outlined by the Independent Study Policy. (Sec. 6.15.)

AAS 235 Black Intellectual Thought (4 hours)
This course traces black races’ intellectual production through thinkers who demand/ed recalibration and reconfiguration of deeply embedded assumptions and practices. In this way we come to understand the politics of difference. The terms Black and black races cover not only thinkers here in the U.S., but key Black thought around the world, and therefore reveal differences between and among groups of Black people. The various forms of human affirmation are connected through major historical and thematic links such as Black feminisms, the modern world and the Black condition, Black intellectual labor in the U.S. university, critiquing ‘progress’ narratives and more. We will look at U.S. cultural and intellectual history in comparative context alongside the histories of other nation-states founded by European colonists. When we validate Black thought, we counter the so-called norms that have been structurally ingrained in society and in university curricula and we also strengthen the whole fabric of intellectual thought by its contribution. Cross-listed as HIS 235 and WGS 235.

AAS 290 Special Topics in African American Studies (1-4 hours)
Courses of selected topics will be offered periodically as determined by the needs of the curriculum. Prerequisites can vary based on the topic selected. See individual course listings for each semester for the specific topic and any prerequisites.

AAS 306 Race & Ethnicity in the United States (4 hours)
This course examines sociological theory on race and racism. It explores the social construction of race and ethnicity, explanations for racial and ethnic stratification, and the role that race plays within U.S. social institutions. It also addresses the social histories of several racial and ethnic groups in the U.S, addressing the experiences of immigrants, indigenous racial/ethnic groups, and those who were forcibly brought to the United States. While a comparative approach may be taken, the chief concern is with the United States. Offered fall semester of even-numbered years. Prerequisite: SOC 101 or AAS 100. Cross-listed as SOC 306.

AAS 307 Elites and Inequality (4 hours)
This course examines the social stratification of privileges and deprivations in contemporary societies, focusing on the distribution of wealth, status and power. The course explores the American upper, middle and lower classes; institutionalized power elites; race and gender stratification; status systems and economic inequality. Offered spring semester of even-numbered years. Prerequisite: SOC 101. Cross-listed as SOC 307.

AAS 340 African American Discourses and Criticism (4 hours)
Students will explore various African American discourses and how Black communities have used symbols rhetorically to construct and reconstruct images of themselves, advance social justice platforms for all, and as a means of survival. African American rhetoric is a unique discursive style birthed out of Western language and Black experience. Prerequisites: COM 105 or AAS 100. Offered alternate fall semesters. Cross-listed as COM 340.

AAS 400 Advanced Independent Study in African American Studies (1-4 hours)
This course provides the opportunity for an advanced, intense study of diverse topics under the direct supervision of the instructor. These offerings are generally suited for junior or senior students. The student and instructor will collaborate to develop the content of the course, which must be approved as outlined by the Independent Study Policy. (Sec. 6.15.)

AAS 406 French & Spanish Crossroads in the Caribbean and Africa (4 hours)
This course uses Spanish- and French-speaking countries in proximity to each other in the Caribbean or Africa as a point of departure for literary, cultural, social and service-learning exploration. Offerings may focus upon Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Martinique and Cuba, Equatorial Guinea in relation to Senegal or other appropriate pairings. The course is taught in English and students without advanced skills in French or Spanish may register. Prerequisites: SPN/FRE 301 or AAS 100. Cross-listed as SPN 406 and FRE 406.

AAS 490 Advanced Special Topics in African American Studies (1-4 hours)
Advanced courses of selected topics will be offered periodically as determined by the needs of the curriculum. These offerings are generally suited for junior or senior students. Prerequisites can vary based on the topic selected. See individual course listings for each semester for the specific topic and any prerequisites.

AAS 495 Internship in African American Studies (1-12 hours)
An internship designed to provide a formalized experiential learning opportunity to qualified students. The internship generally requires the student to have an application (which satisfies all internship requirements developed by the academic program that oversees the internship) and to obtain a faculty supervisor in the relevant field of study. All internships are graded on a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory basis. Prerequisites are determined by the academic program overseeing the internship course.