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About the Program

The Drew Economics Department has established three broad objectives for its economics curriculum. It teaches students analytical tools for understanding the functioning of economic systems, familiarizes them with the origin, character, and operation of economic institutions, and enables them to make informed judgments about economic policy.

Faculty

• Chair: Bernie Smith, Associate Professor
• Professor: Jennifer Olmsted
• Associate Professors: Miao Chi, Maliha Safri, Yahya Madra
• Assistant Professors: Gerard Pinto

Advanced Placement (AP) Examinations

A student receiving a score of 4 or 5 on the examination in economics may exempt either ECON 101  or ECON 102 , with the appropriate course for exemption selected in consultation with the department. See pages 15-16 for further information about AP credits.

Off-Campus Programs

The Social Entrepreneurship Semester

The Social Entrepreneurship Semester, offered in the spring, provides students with the opportunity to study the concept of social entrepreneurship through both an experiential and an interdisciplinary lens.  The course meets twice a week, primarily in New York City, and involves guest speakers, field trips to both non and for-profit organizations with a social mission, skills workshops, and a hands-on group project with a non-profit. The field trips include visits to arts institutions, cooperatives, rights as well as international development and relief organizations, religious institutions, research and policy institutes and foundations, among others. The skills workshops may tackle such diverse topics as how to design a mission statement, fundraising strategies, project implementation, cost benefit analysis, and steps for building an advocacy campaign. The main philosophical question tackled in the course is an examination of whether and how non-profits are feeling pressure to become more entrepreneurial while at the same time for-profit firms are feeling pressure to behave more socially responsibly.  Students who participate in the program must enroll in two 4 credit courses: BST/ECON/PSCI 287 and 387.

The Wall Street Semester

The Wall Street Semester, offered in the spring, gives students a thorough introduction to financial markets and institutions. Students spend two days per week in New York City, attending presentations and discussions by prominent executives, government officials, institutional shareholders, economists, and other members of the financial community, and participating in a course offered by the program director, a member of the Drew faculty. This eight-credit program focuses on the operation of the financial sector located in the Wall Street area and considers the impact of Wall Street on the U.S. economy at all levels (local, state, national, and global). It offers students a solid background in the relationship of Wall Street to the rest of the economy, centering on finance but also including macroeconomic, historical, and ethical dimensions. Two semesters of introductory economics are prerequisites for participation in the Wall Street Semester, which is open to students majoring in any discipline.

Programs

• Economics Major

• Economics Minor

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