International Studies – Economics

International Studies majors are required to demonstrate basic proficiency in a modern foreign language.  This can be accomplished in one of the following ways:

Language course may be taken for a letter grade or Pass/No Pass, students must earn either a C- or better or a Pass. All other courses for major requirements must be taken for a letter grade of C- or above.

• Completion of the fourth quarter college-level foreign language course
• Proficiency Exam
• AP Language or Literature Exam
• IB Language Exam
• SAT II Language Exam
• Graduation from high school outside of the United States

All lower division pre-requisite courses must be taken for a letter grade of C- or better.

Calculus

• MATH-010A
• MATH-010B
• MATH-010C

• MATH-020A
• MATH-020B
• MATH-020C

Not sure what MATH course to take? Review the MathWays page

Economics

• ECON-001. Principles of Microeconomics
• ECON-002. Market Imperfections & Policy
• ECON-003. Principles of Macroeconomics

International Studies Core Courses (3 courses)

All courses are 4-units and must be taken for a letter grade of C- or better.

For Students Beginning the INTL Course Sequence in Fall 2024:

• INTL-100. Analysis, Argument, and Real World Problems 
• INTL-101. Culture and Society in International Perspective (Prerequisite: INTL-100)
• INTL-102. Economics, Politics, and International Change (Prerequisite: INTL-100)
  •  INTL-190 seminars with a regional/country focus may be taken to fulfill an ISP regional requirement.

INTL-102 may be taken before INTL-101.

For ISP Students who have already taken INTL-101 and/or INTL-102 by Spring 2024:

• INTL-101. Culture and Society in International Perspective
• INTL-102. Economics, Politics, and International Change
• INTL-190. Seminar in International Studies (Prerequisites: INTL-101 and INTL-102)

INTL-102 may be taken before INTL-101. Both INTL-101 and INTL-102 must be completed before INTL-190. The INTL core courses must be taken at UC San Diego.

You may not take INTL-100 instead of INTL-190.

Disclaimer: For IS-Economics majors whose first quarter at UCSD was prior to Fall 2023, please refer to the archived Fall 2018 - Summer 2023 Disciplinary Focus course list (see below) in addition to the following list. Courses accepted for the major on the archived list and the current list will be accepted for majors whose first quarter was before Fall 2023. 

All eight (8) courses must be 4 units, upper-division and taken for a letter grade of C- or better.

Economics Department Annual Tentative Course Offerings

Disciplinary Focus – Economics (8 courses)

At least one (1) of the eight (8) upper division courses must be selected from the following:

• ECON-101. International Trade
• ECON-102. Globalization
• ECON-103. International Monetary Relations
• ECON-106. International Economic Agreements
• ECON-116. Economic Development

At least one (1) of the remaining seven (7) upper division courses must be selected from the following:

• ECON-101. International Trade
• ECON-102. Globalization
• ECON-103. International Monetary Relations
• ECON-106. International Economic Agreements
• ECON-116. Economic Development
• ECON-117. Economic Growth
• ECON-125. Demographic Analysis and Forecasting
• ECON-129. Cities, Inequality, Innovation*
• ECON-130. Public Policy*
• ECON-131. Economics of the Environment
• ECON-132. Energy Economics
• ECON-138. Economics of Discrimination*
• ECON-140. Economics of Health Producers*
• ECON-144. Economics of Conservation
• ECON-145. Economics of Ocean Resources
• ECON-164. The Indian Economy
• ECON-165. Middle East Economics
• ECON-168. Economics of Modern Israel*
• ECON-181: Building State Capacity: India*

The remaining six (6) upper division courses must be selected from the following:

• ECON-100A-B-C. Microeconomics
• ECON-110A-B. Macroeconomics
• ECON-120A-B-C. Econometrics
• ECON-101. International Trade
• ECON-102. Globalization
• ECON-103. International Monetary Relations
• ECON-106. International Economic Agreements
• ECON-116. Economic Development
• ECON-117. Economic Growth
• ECON-125. Demographic Analysis and Forecasting
• ECON-129. Cities, Inequality, Innovation*
• ECON-130. Public Policy*
• ECON-131. Economics of the Environment
• ECON-132. Energy Economics
• ECON-138. Economics of Discrimination*
• ECON-140. Economics of Health Producers*
• ECON-144. Economics of Conservation
• ECON-145. Economics of Ocean Resources
• ECON-164. The Indian Economy
• ECON-165. Middle East Economics
• ECON-168. Economics of Modern Israel*

All three (3) courses must be upper-division, 4 units and taken for a letter grade of C- or better.

Interdisciplinary Electives (3 Courses)

• Three (3) courses from approved Interdisciplinary Elective Course List.
• Courses must be from outside the Economics Department
• Students are responsible for meeting all departmental pre-requisite courses.  Please refer to the General Catalog for additional information.

Regional Requirement

• Of the eight (8) upper-division Economics courses and three (3) Interdisciplinary Electives courses, three (3) of those courses must focus on one (1) region.
  • Possible regions include:
    
    • Africa
    • East Asia
    • Europe
    • Latin America
    • Middle East
• Regional Course List

There are several minors that complement the International Studies - Economics major.  Due to large course content overlap, International Studies - Economics majors cannot declare the following minors:

• Economics Minor
• Business Economics Minor
• Management Science Minor

International Studies - Economics majors can double major in most majors on campus including:

• Business Economics

Due to large amounts of overlap, International Studies - Economics majors cannot double major in the following:

• Any other International Studies major
• Economics
• Management Science