Economics, a social science, studies the production, distribution, and consumption of products and services. The scarcity of human, natural, and other material resources requires that these activities be well-directed to enhance the general welfare of the global population. In the process of learning how human societies could accomplish such goals, economics has come to include a core of widely accepted general theory, techniques for using data to test hypotheses and draw inferences, and skills that are often refined by experience in the application of theory to particular problems. Like many related disciplines in a liberal arts curriculum, Economics emphasizes oral, written, and quantitative methods in courses and seminars.

     The Department of Economics offers students a program that requires a balance of theory and application in its curriculum. The offerings are a combination of theory courses, quantitative work, and a number of field courses that are also accessible to non-majors and minors. It is a program designed to provide a liberal educational foundation for citizen and voter, for advanced study in Economics, or other professions, and careers such as international affairs, law, business, finance, education and public policy.