Economic History: Department of Economics
Economic History
Center for Economic History The Center for Economic History currently supports the research of a number of graduate students from the Departments of Economics and History, all working on Economic History for their dissertations. Specifically, we support such items as traveling to obtain data from various sources, attending conferences, data processing, and utilizing undergraduate research assistance.
Economic history at Northwestern has a tradition that now dates back more than half a century, to the first years of the "cliometric revolution" that altered the field by combining conventional historical analyses of economic activity with both theoretical rigor and quantitative sophistication. For Ph.D. students interested in economic history as either their primary field or in combination with other fields, Northwestern's faculty, course offerings, and regular seminar series provide a unique preparation for research and teaching in this field. Only a small number of other elite economics departments have similar strength.
The economic history faculty at Northwestern includes a past president of the Economic History Association, and editor of the Journal of Economic History. Other Northwestern economic history faculty members include present or recent members of the editorial boards of all the leading economic history journals, the leading book series in economic history and all of them keep up high-visibility research profiles.
Northwestern currently has two full-time senior faculty members in the economics department specializing in economic history (both with joint appointments in Northwestern's History Department) and one full-time tenured faculty member in the History Department.
Northwestern offers a weekly economic history seminar, heavily attended by faculty and graduate students. In fact, the economic history seminar is the department's longest continuously-operating seminar, having been a staple of the department's diverse workshop schedule since the 1960s. The seminar meets 23 times each year, exposing faculty and students to the current research of scholars from throughout the world and providing students an opportunity to present their own research. The number of meetings and level of student and faculty involvement in the seminar are unequaled.
The placement record of Northwestern economic history students, which includes students who have gone on to tenured or tenure-track positions at top-five economics departments, demonstrates the value that the economics discipline has placed on the experience enjoyed by our students, many of whom came to Northwestern specifically to study economic history.
History & Economics, Master of Arts
The New Master Programme History & Economics
The economy is constantly changing. The latest economic crises have taught us that a long-term perspective can help us to better understand changes in the economy. For this reason, the field of economic history has been experiencing a boom over the past several years. More and more experts are needed to analyse complex economic relationships and develop integrative approaches to achieving solutions on the basis of historical experience.
The master’s programme History & Economics offers you an interdisciplinary education in history and economics that is currently one-of-a-kind in Germany. This unique combination leads to a career-qualifying degree that enables graduates to start a career in the private sector or continue their postgraduate education.
The admissions process for the 2022-23 academic year is now closed. We will begin accepting applications for the 2023-24 academic year on January 15, 2023.
Penn Arts & Sciences Department of History
Economic History Concentration
What makes an economy grow? How can we explain persistent inequality in periods of staggering wealth accumulation? Is capitalism sustainable? What are the ecological consequences of globalization? How should scholars assess indices of well-being, productivity, or value?
These are economic history questions. Historians work to understand the many different economic systems that peoples around the globe have constructed and contested, including changing forms of feudalism, slavery, capitalism, and socialism.
The Economic History major will expose you to significant, enduring, and policy-relevant debates: about the causes of financial crises; the history of movements demanding more racially and socially just societies; the shifting balance of world economic power in the long run; or past and future alternatives to capitalism. Historians engage these questions from a global perspective, and you will find course offerings that address the United States, Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa, whether through a geographic focus or a comparative approach.
By choosing the Economic History concentration inside the History Major, students gain experience with approaches that are methodologically varied and mobilize both qualitative and quantitative evidence. Economic history is inherently interdisciplinary, borrowing tools from fields as diverse as economics, political science, anthropology, archaeology, and literature.
Our economic world has a deep, plural history, one that grounds conversations about the future. Exploring economic history prepares students to engage in debates that are not yet imagined.
Spring 2023 Economic History Courses
Economic History Concentration requirements
The concentration in Economic History consists of six Economic History courses plus ECON 0100 and 0200:
ECONOMIC HISTORY SEMINAR (1 COURSE)
Economic History concentrators must take at least one upper-level seminar (HIST 2100-3799) classified as Economic History on the "Courses" page. Titles of recently offered seminars include: Capitalism and Humanitarianism; Thinking about Capitalism; Taking Off: How Some Economies Get Rich; ¡Huelga! The Farmworker Movement in the United States; and Introduction to Business, Economic, and Financial History.
ECONOMIC HISTORY CORE COURSES (4 COURSES)
Students must take four courses from the following list:
HIST 1400 (formerly 121) Silver and Gold in the Americas from Pre-History to Present
HIST 1203 (formerly 123) Economic History of Europe
HIST 1731 (formerly 131) Financial Meltdown: Past and Present
HIST 1153 (formerly 153) Transformations of Urban America: Making the Unequal Metropolis, 1945 to Today
HIST 1161 (formerly 161) American Capitalism
HIST 1740 (formerly 174) Capitalism, Socialism and Crisis in the 20th Century Americas
HIST 1475 (formerly 175) History of Brazil: Slavery, Inequality, Development
HIST 3965 (formerly 350) The International Monetary System from Sterling to Cryptocurrencies (1720-2020)
HIST 3930 (formerly 372) History of Foreign Aid in Africa
HIST 3960 (formerly 447) Histories of the Information Economy
CONCENTRATION ELECTIVE (1 COURSE)
Students may complete their elective requirement with a second economic history seminar, an additional course from the above list, or with a major-related course.
Major-related Courses
Courses in Economics (ECON), Political Science (PSCI), and Sociology (SOCI), for example, which have core historical content and mesh with courses in the Economic History cluster will be approved. Examples include:
ECON 0440 (formerly 036) Law and Economics
ECON 4420 (formerly 232) Political Economy
ECON 4610 (formerly 271) Foundations of Market Economies
MGMT 2250 (formerly 250) Value Creation and Value Capture in American Business History
PSCI 1402 (formerly 152) International Political Economy
PSCI 4170 (formerly 414) Comparative Politics of the Welfare State
SOCI 1050 (formerly 010) Social Stratification
SOCI 1051 (formerly 110) The Rich and the Poor
LGST 2430 (formerly 243) Other People's Money: the Law, Politics, and History of Financial Institutions
All major-related courses must be approved by your faculty advisor.
ECON 0100 AND 0200
History majors with an Economic History Concentration are required to take ECON 0100 and 0200, both of which count toward the 12 CU’s required for the major. Students are encouraged to complete ECON 0100 and 0200 by the end of their sophomore years.
Special Note: Economic History Majors may use no more than 2 additional outside courses to complete the major, including study abroad and major related courses.
Faculty Advisors