The joint major in economics and history makes an important contribution to liberal education at Vanderbilt by helping students understand the origins and organization of modern society. It also provides a unique preparation for careers in business, the professions, and other fields by combining all the analytical tools of the regular economics major with history's emphasis on clear and effective writing and on developing skills in gathering, assessing, and synthesizing information. The program consists of 45 credit hours of course work: 9 credit hours in an economic history core, and an additional 18 credit hours in economics and 18 in history. Students declare their major through the Department of History office.
Note: One semester of calculus is a prerequisite for ECON 1500 and 1510. MATH 1201 (or MATH 1301) is a prerequisite for Economics courses numbered 3000 and above.
The description of the Concentration in Economics and History below will apply to students who matriculate at Vanderbilt in August 2018 and thereafter.
Course work for the major is distributed as follows:
Economic History Core (9 credit hours)
Three of the following courses, one of which must be an economics course above 3000:
HIST 1039, 1352, 1600, 1640, 1660, 1665, 2106, 2107, 2138, 2150, 2255, 2660, 2700, 2710, 3190, 3200, ECON 2150, 3150, 3160, RUSS 2810.
Note: ECON 3012 is a prerequisite for ECON 3150, and 3160.
Economics (18 credit hours)
ECON 1010, 1020, 1500 or 1510, 3012, 3022; one ECON course above 3022 not included in the economic history core.
Note: The following course sequences may be substituted for ECON 1500 or 1510: Option 1: MATH 2810, 2820L, and either ECON 3032 or 3035.
Option 2: MATH 2820, 2820L, and either ECON 3032 or 3035. In these cases, ECON 3032 or 3035 will also count as an elective.
History (18 credit hours)
No more than 3 credit hours of AP or IB credit in history courses may count toward this total.
- History 3000W or 3980; must be taken by the end of the junior year. 3980 is limited to second-semester juniors who have been admitted to the Honors Program. Students entering the Honors Program who have already earned credit for 3000W will receive elective credit for that course.
- History 4960 (prerequisite: History 3000W), or History 4980–4981 (available only to students in the Honors Program). Note: At the discretion of the director of honors and the director of undergraduate studies in history, a student who has earned credit for 4980 but does not take 4981 may be considered to have fulfilled the capstone requirement for the major.
- Four other history courses. Electives may include any courses, not used to satisfy any of the above requirements, offered by the Department of History, including any courses listed for the history major.
Honors Program (9 more credit hours)
Students apply to the Honors Program in History in the first semester of the junior year.
54 credit hours: students will take the four-course honors sequence, HIST 3980, 4980–4981, 4999. Because HIST 4980–4981 satisfies the capstone requirement, honors students will not be required to take HIST 4960, though they may enroll for 4960 as an elective. Students will write an interdisciplinary thesis under the direction of an adviser from each department.