The educational goals of the Economics Department at Sewanee may be described as serving a constituency which is tripartite: the general student population, the Department''s majors and the community at large.
With regard to the general student population, we strive to inform the liberal arts student about the meaning of the abstractions "the economy" and "economic system", the defining and unique characteristics of "capitalism", the particular characteristics of the U. S. economy and its somewhat unique version of capitalism, (with some attention to how that "unique version" has evolved through time), and the necessary language and analytical devices to critically evaluate the debates in the public arena about appropriate policy responses to perceived contemporary economic problems. We also strive, to the extent that this is consistent with other goals, (particularly that of service to our majors), to make economics instruction beyond the introductory level reasonably available to non-majors.
Sewanee''s Economics majors tend to proceed to graduate study in business administration, in law, or in Economics, or to immediately take up employment in an extraordinary variety of fields. We try to structure our major program to meet the increasingly rigorous standards of graduate programs in Economics and in Business, hoping that, by default, we also meet the needs of those with other plans. This requires a familiarity with the theoretical apparatus of (ever changing and evolving) "mainstream" economic theory as well as with its principal detractors. Recent trends have, in particular, required us to increase the quantitative skills of our majors.
With regard to the larger community, and consistent with our resources, the Department seeks, through the provision and support of public lectures, panel discussions and the like, to expose that community to the variety of economists'' perspectives on the economic "issues of the day".
The University of the South
Department of Economics
735 University Avenue
Sewanee, Tennessee 37383
931-598-1000
