2024-2025 Edition

Economic and Social History

This program is supervised by the Committee on Economic and Social History:

Program Committee: Alan Dye (Economics), Gergely Baics (History), David Weiman (Economics), and Carl Wennerlind (History).

Requirements for the Major

The Economic and Social History track requires a minimum of 12 courses (39 minimum credits).

Economics
Theoretical Perspectives:
ECON BC1003Introduction to Economic Reasoning3
ECON BC3041THEORETICL FOUNDTNS-POLIT ECON3
ECON BC3033INTERMEDTE MACROECONOMC THEORY *4
Economic History
Select two of the following, including at least one course (at the 3000 level or higher):6
Economic History of Western Europe
MEASURING HISTORY
Economic History of the United States (another upper-level economic history course may be substituted, subject to economics adviser's approval)
Economic History of Europe
Topics in Economic History
History
Introductory Course in field of historical specialization:
Select one of the following:3
INTRO TO LATER MIDDLE AGES
EUROPEAN HISTORY 1500-1789
EUROPEAN HISTORY SINCE 1789
INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN HISTORY TO 1865
INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE 1865
INTRO AFRICAN HIST:1700-PRESNT
Colonialism and Nationalism in South Asia
Lecture Courses:
Select two of the following:6
HIST BC2116The History of Money3
HIST BC2180Merchants, Pirates, and Slaves in the Making of Atlantic Capitalism3
HIST BC2321COLONIAL ENCOUNTERS3
The Rise of American Capitalism
Workers in Industrial and Post-Industrial America
Merchants, Markets, Modernity - China
Seminars:
Select two of the following:8
The Atlantic Slave Trade
HIST W4518
Other appropriate courses may be substituted subject to the history adviser's approval
HIST GU4569American Nuclear History, 1940s-1960s4.00
Senior Thesis Requirement
ECHS BC3066
 - ECHS BC3067
RESEARCH SEM ECONOMIC HISTRY I
and RESEARCH SEM ECONOMIC HIST II
8
*

ECON BC3035 INTERMEDIATE MICROECONOMICS, ECON UN3213 INTERMEDIATE MACROECONOMICS, or ECON UN3211 INTERMEDIATE MICROECONOMICS may be substituted for ECON BC3033 INTERMEDTE MACROECONOMC THEORY

ECHS BC2590 MEASURING HISTORY. 4.00 points.

This course examines big themes in economic and social history-population history and human well-being, inequality and poverty, and gender differences. Using these themes, it adopts a hands-on data-driven approach to introduce tools and concepts of empirical reasoning. Datasets related to each theme create opportunities for learning by doing

Fall 2024: ECHS BC2590
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ECHS 2590 001/00490 T Th 4:10pm - 5:25pm
516 Milstein Center
Alan Dye 4.00 19/23

ECHS BC3056 HISTORY OF WOMEN'S WORK. 3.00 points.

ECHS BC3066 RESEARCH SEM ECONOMIC HISTRY I. 4.00 points.

Must be supervised by a faculty member approved by the program adviser. This is the 1st semester of a two-semester course sequence

Fall 2024: ECHS BC3066
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ECHS 3066 001/00491 W 4:10pm - 6:00pm
407 Barnard Hall
Alan Dye 4.00 7/8

ECHS BC3067 RESEARCH SEM ECONOMIC HIST II. 4.00 points.

Must be supervised by a faculty member approved by te program adviser. This is the 2nd semester of a two-semester course sequence

Spring 2025: ECHS BC3067
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ECHS 3067 001/00777 W 4:10pm - 6:00pm
613 Milstein Center
Alan Dye 4.00 0/9

Cross-Listed Courses

Economics (Barnard)

ECON BC1003 Introduction to Economic Reasoning. 4 points.

Covers basic elements of microeconomic and marcoeconomic reasoning at an introductory level. Topics include Individual Constraints and Preferences, Production by Firms, Market Transactions, Competition, The Distribution of Income, Technological Progress and Growth, Unemployment and Inflation, the Role of Government in the Economy.  Note: Students cannot get credit for ECON BC1003 if they have taken the Columbia introductory course ECON W1105 Principles of Economics.

Fall 2024: ECON BC1003
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ECON 1003 001/00039 M W 10:10am - 11:25am
408 Zankel
Rajiv Sethi 4 102/120
ECON 1003 002/00040 T Th 10:10am - 11:25am
405 Milbank Hall
Mulu Gebreyohannes 4 94/100
Spring 2025: ECON BC1003
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ECON 1003 001/00775 T Th 11:40am - 12:55pm
263 Macy Hall
Alan Dye 4 0/50
ECON 1003 002/00774 M W 2:40pm - 3:55pm
418 Barnard Hall
Mulu Gebreyohannes 4 0/60

ECON BC2012 Economic History of Western Europe. 3 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Historical Studies (HIS).
Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

The course is an introduction to the transformative economic developments that began in Western Europe and spread globally. It applies economic and empirical reasoning to analyze the underlying forces of modern economic development from pre-modern Europe to the Industrial Revolution and the emergence of a global economy.

ECON BC3013 Economic History of the United States. 3 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Historical Studies (HIS).

Prerequisites: ECON BC3035 or ECON BC3033, or permission of the instructor.

Economic transformation of the United States from a small, open agrarian society in the late colonial era to the leading industrial economy of the 20th century. Emphasis is given to the quantitative, institutional, and spatial dimensions of economic growth, and the relationship between the changing structures of the economy and state.

ECON BC3023 Topics in Economic History. 3 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: ECON BC3035 or ECON BC3033, or permission of the instructor

Topics vary in content.  Fall 2011 topic: The American Century.

ECON BC3033 INTERMEDTE MACROECONOMC THEORY. 4.00 points.

Prerequisites: An introductory course in economics and a functioning knowledge of high school algebra and analytical geometry or permission of the instructor. Systematic exposition of current macroeconomic theories of unemployment, inflation, and international financial adjustments

Fall 2024: ECON BC3033
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ECON 3033 001/00046 M W 10:10am - 11:25am
405 Milbank Hall
Martina Jasova 4.00 97/100
Spring 2025: ECON BC3033
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ECON 3033 001/00755 M W 11:40am - 12:55pm
302 Barnard Hall
4.00 0/50
ECON 3033 002/00756 M W 1:10pm - 2:25pm
418 Barnard Hall
4.00 0/50

ECON BC3035 INTERMEDIATE MICROECONOMICS. 4.00 points.

Prerequisites: An introductory course in microeconomics or a combined macro/micro principles course (ECON BC1003 or ECON W1105, or the equivalent) and one semester of calculus or ECON BC1007, or permission of the instructor. Preferences and demand; production, cost, and supply; behavior of markets in partial equilibrium; resource allocation in general equilibrium; pricing of goods and services under alternative market structures; implications of individual decision-making for labor supply; income distribution, welfare, and public policy. Emphasis on problem solving

Fall 2024: ECON BC3035
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ECON 3035 001/00481 M W 11:40am - 12:55pm
152 Horace Mann Hall
Elizabeth Ananat 4.00 53/60
ECON 3035 002/00482 T Th 1:10pm - 2:25pm
323 Milbank Hall
Lalith Munasinghe 4.00 33/60
Spring 2025: ECON BC3035
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ECON 3035 001/00754 T Th 1:10pm - 2:25pm
418 Barnard Hall
Lalith Munasinghe 4.00 0/50

ECON BC3041 THEORETICL FOUNDTNS-POLIT ECON. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: An introductory course in economics or permission of the instructor. Intellectual origins of the main schools of thought in political economy. Study of the founding texts in classical political economy, Marxian economics, neoclassicism, and Keynesianism

Fall 2024: ECON BC3041
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ECON 3041 001/00048 T Th 8:40am - 9:55am
504 Diana Center
Kurt Semm 3.00 69/65
ECON 3041 002/00049 T Th 10:10am - 11:25am
323 Milbank Hall
Kurt Semm 3.00 75/65

History

HIST BC1062 INTRO TO LATER MIDDLE AGES. 4.00 points.

Social environment, political, and religious institutions, and the main intellectual currents of the Latin West studied through primary sources and modern historical writings

HIST BC1101 EUROPEAN HISTORY 1500-1789. 4.00 points.

Political, economic, social, religious, and intellectual history of early modern Europe, including the Renaissance, Reformation and Counter-Reformation, absolutism, Scientific Revolution, and Enlightenment

Fall 2024: HIST BC1101
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
HIST 1101 001/00024 M W 11:40am - 12:55pm
Ll002 Milstein Center
Dale Booth 4.00 26/70

HIST BC1302 EUROPEAN HISTORY SINCE 1789. 4.00 points.

Emergence of revolutionary and counter-revolutionary mass political movements; European industrialization, nationalism, and imperialism; 20th-century world wars, the Great Depression, and Fascism

Spring 2025: HIST BC1302
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
HIST 1302 001/00128 M W 11:40am - 12:55pm
304 Barnard Hall
Lisa Tiersten 4.00 0/90

HIST BC1401 INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN HISTORY TO 1865. 4.00 points.

Themes include Native and colonial cultures and politics, the evolution of American political and economic institutions, relationships between religious and social movements, and connecting ideologies of race and gender with larger processes such as enslavement, dispossession, and industrialization

Fall 2024: HIST BC1401
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
HIST 1401 001/00025 M W 2:40pm - 3:55pm
323 Milbank Hall
Andrew Lipman 4.00 45/70

HIST BC1402 INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE 1865. 4.00 points.

Examines the major social, political, economic, and intellectual transformations from the 1860s until the present, including industrialization and urbanization, federal and state power, immigration, the welfare state, global relations, and social movements

HIST BC1760 INTRO AFRICAN HIST:1700-PRESNT. 4.00 points.

Survey of African history from the 18th century to the contemporary period. We will explore six major themes in African History: Africa and the Making of the Atlantic World, Colonialism in Africa, the 1940s, Nationalism and Independence Movements, Post-Colonialism in Africa, and Issues in the Making of Contemporary Africa

Spring 2025: HIST BC1760
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
HIST 1760 001/00130 M W 11:40am - 12:55pm
504 Diana Center
Abosede George 4.00 0/70

HIST BC1801 Colonialism and Nationalism in South Asia. 3 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Historical Studies (HIS)., BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Cultures in Comparison (CUL).
Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Introduction to South Asian history (17-20 c.) that explores the colonial economy and state formation; constitution of religious and cultural identities; ideologies of nationalism and communalism, caste and gender politics; visual culture; and the South Asian diaspora.

HIST BC2116 The History of Money. 3 points.

Examining the history of money and the history of ways of thinking about money. We investigate how different monetary forms developed and how they have shaped and been shaped by culture, society, and politics. Tracing money from gift-giving societies to the European Monetary Union, the focus is on early modern Europe.

HIST BC2180 Merchants, Pirates, and Slaves in the Making of Atlantic Capitalism. 3 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Historical Studies (HIS)., BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Cultures in Comparison (CUL).

Examines how the Atlantic Ocean and its boundaries were tied together through the flow of people, goods, and ideas. Studies the cultures of the communities formed by merchants, pirates, and slaves; investigates how their interactions and frictions combined to shape the unique combination of liberty and oppression that characterizes early modern capitalism.

HIST BC2321 COLONIAL ENCOUNTERS. 3.00 points.

Examines the shaping of European cultural identity through encounters with non-European cultures from 1500 to the post-colonial era. Novels, paintings, and films will be among the sources used to examine such topics as exoticism in the Enlightenment, slavery and European capitalism, Orientalism in art, ethnographic writings on the primitive, and tourism

HIST BC3062 Medieval Economic Life and Thought ca 1000 to 1500. 4 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Historical Studies (HIS).

Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 15. Preregistration required.

Traces the development of economic enterprises and techniques in their cultural context: agricultural markets, industry, commercial partnerships, credit, large-scale banking, insurance, and merchant culture. Examines usury and just price theory, the scholastic analysis of price and value, and the recognition of the market as a self-regulating system, centuries before Adam Smith.

HIST BC3119 Capitalism and Enlightenment. 4 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Historical Studies (HIS).

Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 15. Preregistration required.

Traces the lively debates amongst the major European Enlightenment figures about the formation of capitalism. Was the new market society ushering in an era of wealth and civilization or was it promoting corruption and exploitation? Particular emphasis on debates about commerce, luxury, greed, poverty, empire, slavery, and liberty.

HIST BC3332 The Politics of Leisure in Modern Europe. 4 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Historical Studies (HIS).
Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 15. Preregistration required.

Transformations in the culture of leisure from the onset of industrialization to the present day. Relations between elite and popular culture and the changing relationship between the work world and the world of leisure will be among the topics considered in such settings as the department store, the pub, the cinema, and the tourist resort.

HIST W3411 The Rise of American Capitalism. 3 points.

E-Commerce & Internet Technologies Track, Managing Emerging Technologies Track, Project Management Track, Discussion Section Required, Lab Required

Examines the social conflicts that accompanied the transformation of the United States from an agrarian republic and slave society to one of the most powerful industrial nations in the world. Particular attention will be paid to the building of new social and economic institutions and to cultural and visual representations of the nation and its people. Readings include major secondary works and primary documents. Formerly: American Society in the age of Capital, 1819-1897. Field(s): US

HIST W3503 Workers in Industrial and Post-Industrial America. 3 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

The history of work, workers, and unions during the 20th century.  Topics include scientific management, automation, immigrant workers, the rise of industrial unionism, labor politics, occupational discrimination, and working-class community life. Field(s): US

HIST BC3886 Fashion. 4 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Historical Studies (HIS)., BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Cultures in Comparison (CUL).
Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: At least one course in a Non-U.S. Area in History, Literature, Anthropology, Film Studies or Art History. Permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 15. Preregistration required.

Investigates the cultural, material and technological conditions that facilitated the development of "fashion systems" in early modern Europe, Japan and contemporary Asian diasporic communities. In the global framework, "fashion" serves as a window into the politics of self-presentation, community formation, structure of desires, and struggles over representation.

HIST BC3905 Capitalism, Colonialism, and Culture: A Global History. 4 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Historical Studies (HIS).
Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: Permission of Instructor. Enrollment limited to 15. Preregistration required.

From Indian Ocean worlds of the seventeenth century, to Atlantic world slavery, to the establishment of colonies in Asia and Africa during the nineteenth century, colonization was critical to the development of metropolitan ideas regarding politics and personhood. This seminar will examine these histories, along with emerging constructions of race and gender, as precursors to debates about human rights and humanitarianism in the twentieth century.

HSEA W4884 Merchants, Markets, Modernity - China. 4 points.

From Marx's Asiatic Mode of Production to contemporary notions of Confucian capitalism, theories abound to explain China's divergence from Western patterns of political and economic development. This course critiques these theories and looks at the Chinese economy starting with its own internal logic to explore the social, cultural, institutional and political forces that underlay Chinese economic practice, the role of markets, merchants, labor, and the state in the making of modern China. No prerequisite.

HIST W4434 The Atlantic Slave Trade. 4 points.

This seminar provides an intensive introduction to the history of the Atlantic slave trade. The course will consider the impact of the traffic on Western Europe and the Americas, as well as on Africa, and will give special attention to the experiences of both captives and captors. Assignments include three short papers and a longer research paper of 20 to 25 pages. Field(s): INTL 

HIST W4569 American Consumer Capitalism: 1800-Present. 4 points.

This seminar studies the history of consumer capitalism in America from the early 19th century to the present. It will establish when capitalism emerged, what it meant, and how it challenged and transformed American Civilization