Curriculum Economics
The six-semester degree program (3 years, 180 credit points) begins with the Leuphana Semester, which all students take together. Specialization in a major and a minor begins in the second semester. The major forms the subject concentration of the program with five academic semesters whose core consists of the required modules (of the concentration). The minor complements the subject concentration with a second field of knowledge. In addition to the academic fields of the major and minor, all students, from the second semester on, complete the interdisciplinarily structured comprehensive studies program together.
The modules in the major include a series of courses in the first semesters that introduce students to the fundamental methods of economics, particularly the basics of mathematics and statistics, without which a secure analysis of economic problems is not possible.
The academic foundations for the prospective economist are also laid in the first two specialized semesters. They include fundamental courses in “macroeconomics” and “microeconomics”:
- Macroeconomics tries to explain aggregate economic phenomena such as inflation, unemployment and economic growth. Typical questions in this field of economics are “Should the central bank lower the prime rate?” or “How much sense does state intervention make?”
- Microeconomics tries to explain the behavior of individual economic agents (i.e. a household, a business) and to analyze their actions on various markets (i.e. the job market). Typical microeconomic questions include, “Should there be a minimum wage in the postal sector?” or “Why do men earn more than women?”
The fourth and fifth semester elaborate on this basic framework. In their elective courses, students have the opportunity to deepen their own interests and to concentrate on specific subjects. The elective courses can, for example, cover the topics of monetary policy, economic policy, economic growth, happiness research, the economic analysis of law and many more.
Students come into contact with current research topics from the practical world of an economist at the latest in the module “researchers in action” and in the research teaching project. “Researchers in action” shows students which occupational fields are open to them after graduation. In the research teaching project, students actively participate in the formulation of a research questions and help choose a theoretical model, collect and evaluate data, etc. This direct practical application serves to prepare them for the first major academic assignment—the Bachelor’s essay.
The Bachelor thesis rounds out the B.A. in economics. Here students can show that they can apply the foundations and methodologies, which they have learned to a topic of their own. Over the course of a nine-week working period, they demonstrate that they can carry out an academic assessment of a contemporary question.
After students have completed the relevant modules (in the economics concentration as well as in the minor and the comprehensive studies program), they can graduate from Leuphana as economists with the academic degree, “Bachelor of Science.”
Students with a concentration in economics will complete the following required modules as part of their major in economics:
- Mathematics/Statistics for Economists I and II
- Introduction to Regression Analysis
- Introduction to Economics
- Macroeconomics I and II
- Microeconomics I and II
- Economics Researchers in Action
- Research Teaching Project
- Contemporary Economics
Thematic modules on mathematics, statistics and regression procedures form the methodological foundations for the basic analysis of economic questions. Sufficient mathematical foundations help to explain the theoretical foundations and models of economics, which can then be examined with the help of statistical and econometric tools. Without these tools, most questions can be approached only intuitively, without being able to produce reliable results.
In addition to the basic methodological knowledge that is provided in the Leuphana Semester (1st semester), the introduction to economics module brings students closer to the primary concepts of economics, for example by working with models. Next, students will take the specific academic modules in “macroeconomics” and “microeconomics.” These two subfields of economics represent the cornerstones of the degree. These modules will enable students to see the problems that arise in contemporary political-economic debates through the eyes of an economist and to represent the basic relationships of economic affairs in simplified form.
The modules mentioned above, “Researchers in action,” “Contemporary Economics,” as well as the research teaching project bring students closer to current economic practice by (a) putting them in contact with economists from academia and business, who will speak about contemporary topics or research fields (Researchers in Action), (b) undertaking their first research project by collecting data and analyzing it with the guidance of a professor (teaching research project) and (c) investigate a contemporary topic in economics within the context of a seminar and completing an essay.
The combination of methodological skills, discipline knowledge and academic practice offers a modern and practically oriented education in economics, which concludes with the Bachelor essay.
As part of the requirements for the degree in Economics, students complete a number of elective modules. These are taken in the fourth and fifth semesters. Students have the opportunity to choose a concentration with in the majors and to individualize their studies.
The topics of these electives are geared toward contemporary economics questions and the research areas of the faculty. In this manner, economic foundations and relevant political-economic aspects are connected with each other and set in an explicitly practical context. Core topics, covered in these electives include monetary policy, happiness research, economic growth, foreign trade, finance, labor economics and many more.
Parallel to the required and elective modules, there are additional course offerings wherein attendance is not required but which are nevertheless valuable. These include lectures and discussion groups at Leuphana, in which prominent persons from the sciences, business and politics speak on specific topics. In addition students can choose further courses from the many disciplines of the Leuphana Bachelor. In the past, for example, a lecture series on the current economic and financial crisis was held in which the guest list included, among others, the economic expert, Prof. Dr. Christoph Schmidt, and the Director of the Institute for Employment Research, Prof. Dr. Joachim Möller.
Students in the economics major compose the Bachelor essay in the last semester within a nine-week work period and defend it in a colloquium. This represents the conclusion of the academic education of a prospective economist.
In the Bachelor essay, a student can show that he can apply the methods and theories he learned to a specific economic topic, evaluate the results and draw the appropriate conclusions. The particular topic that the student chooses to investigate in the Bachelor essay sets a course for his future career by investigating for the first time a particular problematic. With the Bachelor thesis, the student also demonstrates that he can undertake an academic investigation, in other words, prove his assertions and to maintain academic standards.
Information for students
You can find information concerning the actual writing of the Bachelor essay on the general examination guidelines (RPO), as well as in the most recent specific guidelines for the discipline (FSA) in economics.