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:

• 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 10A-B-C or MATH 20A-B-C

Economics

• ECON 1. Principles of Microeconomics
• ECON 2. Market Imperfections & Policy
• ECON 3. 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*

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