Economics students will soon be able to specialize their education by enrolling in a concentration that focuses on a particular goal or academic interest.
The economics department is launching concentrations this quarter, which will be optional and consist of sets of suggested upper division courses that students in the department can take to focus on a specific area of economics, according to the department’s website.
According to the website, the first two concentrations the department is launching will focus on value investing in a market economy and risk and wealth management. If the pilot concentrations are successful, the department plans to add additional concentrations covering public finance and economic policy, corporate strategy and competition, global economics and data analytics, according to the website.
Natasha Levy, the manager of undergraduate student affairs in the department of economics, said the program is still being developed and course lists for the pilot concentrations have yet to be finalized. She added concentrations will not appear on students’ transcripts or diplomas.
“They can put it on their resumes, but it won’t show up on their diplomas (or) transcripts,” she said. “A lot of students may say (they) want to declare it, but there’s nothing to declare.”
Students do not need to apply to the concentrations and are not required to complete them, Levy added.
Yesenia Farfan, a third-year economics student, said she thinks the concentrations will help economics students figure out what they want to do with their major.
“Whenever people talk about economics they’re like ‘oh it’s so broad, I don’t know what to do,’” she said. “I feel like having courses that kind of introduce all these different things that we can do would definitely help economics (students) guide their path because I know a lot of economics (students) are kind of lost.”
Martha Martinez, a third-year economics student, said she thinks the concentrations could help students learn skills that are more applicable to their chosen career paths.
“Right now, (economics) is a very general course … it’s not very applicable” she said. “But now that they have concentrations, it’ll be a lot easier.”
Here’s where you need the Oxford comma or semi-colons.
“public finance and economic policy, corporate strategy and competition, global economics and data analytics”
Is it: public finance and economic policy, corporate strategy and competition, global economics, and data analytics (in other words four, which is how I would interpret that last section)
If not, it would have been better as: public finance and economic policy; corporate strategy and competition; global economics and data analytics