Economics (B.A.)
School of Policy Studies
The Program
The undergraduate major in Economics was one of the first majors offered at Roosevelt University. Roosevelt's hundreds of graduates are now pursuing successful careers in business, law, government, labor, and education. The program aims at providing students with a solid understanding of contemporary economics from both traditional and non-traditional points of view.
Course offerings regularly include courses addressed to the theory of the market economy, the business cycle, economic policy, international trade and development, the economics of women, contemporary labor problems, the economics of the public sector, the economics of money and banking, and economic statistics.
Our majors may earn either the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) or the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (B.S.B.A.) degree. General requirements for the B.A. are listed in the Roosevelt University Undergraduate Catalog under the College of Arts and Sciences. General requirements for the B.S.B.A. are listed in the Catalog under the Walter E. Heller College of Business Administration.
Requirements
A minimum of 33 semester hours in economics with grades of C or higher are required. At least nine semester hours in must be completed at Roosevelt. The 33 semester hours must include:
Our senior seminar. A capstone course in which students apply economics to selected problems in a seminar setting.
Four electives in Economics.
Electives are regularly offered in labor economics, the economics of the public sector, the history of economic thought, the economics of the minority experience, economic geography, money and banking, econometrics and statistics, mathematical economics, industrial organization, international trade and finance, economic development, and comparative economic systems.
The Program
Currently, graduate programs in Economics are dominated by very conservative faculty and curriculum. Roosevelt is one of the few Universities in the United States to provide students with an opportunity to study alternative schools of thought. M.A. students at Roosevelt University may study economics from Post Keynesian, Institutionalist, and Marxist points of view, as well as from the more conventional Keynesian and Neoclassical views.
Economics students at Roosevelt may also pursue Ph.D degrees in economics from the University of East London (U.K.) while in residence at Roosevelt University.
The program is designed for students whose career goals include: (i) graduate studies leading to the Ph.D. degree; (ii) working as business, financial, government, or labor economists; (iii) teaching in secondary schools, community colleges, and universities (with the Ph.D.); or (iv) the satisfaction of knowing what makes the world go round.
An undergraduate degree in economics is not required for admission.
Faculty Research
Economics faculty at Roosevelt University are actively pursuing research in areas such as poverty and discrimination, entrepreneurship for the poor, feminist economics, political economy of deregulation, and alternatives to World Bank policies.
Requirements for Admission
Normally, a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited college or university and a grade point average of 2.7 (B) are required for admission.
Students may elect to write a master's thesis in lieu of some of the requirements listed above. If so, only 30 semester hours are required, including Econ 490 (Thesis). Under this option, students are required to take only two 400-level economics electives, are not required to take Econ 446, and need only take either Econ 440 or Econ 465, not both. Students pursuing the thesis option must obtain a thesis advisor from among the regular economics faculty early in their studies.
Baiman, Ron Paul, Assistant Professor of Economics
B.Sc., Math/Physics, Hebrew University; M.A., Ph.D., Economics, New School for Social Research
Interests: Radical political economy, microeconomics, regional development, telecommunications
Office: Robin: 600D; Downtown: 880
Phone: Robin: 847/619-8573
E-mail: rbaiman@roosevelt.edu
Balkin, Steven, Professor of Economics
Director, Self-Employment Research Project
B.S. (Finance), M.A., Ph.D. (Economics), Wayne State University
Interests: Entrepreneurship, criminal justice, poverty alleviation, economic development, outdoor markets and street vendors
Office: Downtown room: 880
Phone: Downtown: 312/341-3696
E-mail: eco@interaccess.com
Website: www.openair.org
