BSc in Economy and Society

Programme overview

How can economic change in the past help us understand future sustainable development? The programme is taught in English and aimed at recent high school graduates with a strong academic background, international career ambitions and the drive to gain knowledge and skills in global context analysis, both in the public and private sector.

Economic history is concerned with how an economic change in the past can help us understand the future. It uses concepts and theories from the social sciences to study the development of different economies and understand them in their social, political and cultural contexts. It combines the skills of the economist and the historian, the statistician and the sociologist. Meanwhile, economics tackles a broad range of problems, from economic development barriers to international financial crises.

This programme combines the two complementary fields of economic history and economics. It will appeal if you want training in the application of economic theory and quantitative methods to real problems. You will examine important global issues, for example, mechanisms driving economic growth and development over time at both national and regional levels, and the importance of education and human capital in economic change. While the scope is global, the Scandinavian experience will be central when identifying lessons to be learned.

The BSc in Economy and Society offers:

• A vast, yet focused curriculum in economic history and economics, combined with complementing electives in other social sciences.
• International perspectives from faculty members and students.
• Team-based projects enhancing cross-cultural learning.
• Opportunities of internships in companies and/or exchange studies abroad at one of our partner universities.
• Study and career advice.

Programme structure

The programme starts by introducing basic concepts and theories within central areas of the programme, including general skills such as for example working in teams, academic writing, and oral presentations.

The courses that follow after the first semester add additional perspectives and models that provide further, in-depth insights into the practical and theoretical areas that are related to the broad field of Economy and Society. This is combined with further training in more practical skills such as written and oral presentations. You can customise semester 5 according to your own preferences.

As a final part of the programme, you will conduct your own research and demonstrate the ability to independently apply the different ideas and theories introduced by the different courses. This will result in a Bachelor’s degree project (thesis).

Year 1, semester 1:

• The Rise of Europe and the Atlantic Economy (7.5 credits)
• Colonialism and Economic Change in Africa, Asia and Latin America (7.5 credits)
• Economic growth in Modern Europe, North America and the OECD Club (7.5 credits)
• The Global South: Comparative Economic Development since 1945 (7.5 credits)

Year 1, semester 2:

• Microeconomics (10 credits)
• Financial Economics (5 credits)
• Demographic Challenges (7.5 credits)
• Skill Training 1: Statistics and Data (7.5 credits)

Year 2, semester 3:

• Business and Society – a Dynamic Perspective (7.5 credits)
• Skill Training 2: The Art of Writing and Reporting (7.5 credits)
• Macroeconomics (10 credits)
• International Economics (5 credits)

Year 2, semester 4:

• Regional Development and Growth (7.5 credits)
• Global Sustainability (7.5 credits)
• Two elective courses (15 credits in total, 7.5 credits each)

The course packages are pre-set and include courses from the School of Economics and Management and the Social Science faculty.

Year 3, semester 5:

• Electives (30 credits): International exchange studies; or internship; or elective courses at LUSEM or Lund University.

Year 3, semester 6:

• Research Design, Methods and Data Collection (15 credits)
• Bachelor’s thesis (15 credits)

Career prospects

The skills you will develop by studying economy and society are attractive to a range of employers. Our graduates are likely to find work in a variety of industries, including politics and government, banking and finance, NGOs, charities and international development as well as press and media.