Undergraduate Programs
Political Economy Major
     

Regulations amended, effective September 1, 2009

The Political Economy program at Athabasca University is designed for both beginning students and professionals to understand and engage with Canadian and global political and economic issues. The course selection provides students the opportunity to develop a greater appreciation and understanding of diverse polities, economies, cultures, and regions of the world. Additionally, it offers to professionals the retooling skills and the academic credential necessary for successful employment in an era of globalization.

Students may focus their studies in either Global Political Economy or Canadian Political Economy. For more information visit the website.

Athabasca University has developed program learning outcomes that describe the career options that may be available to you upon graduating. Students complete the program regulations in effect at the time of their enrolment.

     
Requirements within the 120 credits required for the four-year BA with major.
     
     
1.  
60 Political Economy major credits outlined below including a minimum of 36 senior (300 or 400) level credits from major courses (a minimum of 12, 400-level credits):
     
2.  
15 credits in required core courses.
     
3.  
21 credits in one of the two Political Economy areas: Global Political Economy or Canadian Political Economy.
     
4.  
12 credits from the designated elective Political Economy major courses.
     
5.  
12 credits from the Political Economy designated elective program courses in Communications, History, Labour Studies/Industrial Relations, and Women's Studies/Indigenous Studies. Students may transfer in a maximum of 30 credits of courses applicable to the requirements of the major.
     
     
  Required Core Courses (15 credits)
     
ECON 247 Microeconomics (3)
ECON 248 Macroeconomics (3)
MATH 215 Introduction to Statistics
or
(3)
MGSC 301 Statistics for Business and Economics I  
POEC/GLST 230 Globalization and World Politics (3)
POEC 302 Introduction to Political Economy (3)

 

   
Of the 21 credits required in the area of focus, students must take at least one course from each of the following areas: Economics, Political Economy, and Political Science. Select courses from only one area of focus.
     
     
  Area of Focus 1: Global Political Economy
     
ECON 401 The Changing Global Economy*
*Students who have taken ECON 301 may not take ECON 401
(3)
ECON 366 Economic Development in the Third World (3)
ECON 475 International Trade (3)
ECON 476 International Finance (3)
ENVS/GSLT 243 Environmental Change in a Global Context (3)
ENVS 435 Case Studies in Environmental Protection:
Popular Education, Community Sustainability,
and Global Connections
(3)
FNCE 370 Overview of Corporate Finance (3)
GLST/HIST 307 The Pacific Century (3)
GLST 308 Americas: An Introduction to Latin America and the Caribbean (3)
GLST/HIST 381 Modern China (3)
HIST 486 The Industrial Revolution (3)
MKTG 414 International Marketing and Exporting (3)
POLI 330 International and Global Politics (3)
POLI 342 Introduction to Comparative Politics (3)
POLI 480 The Politics of Cyberspace (3)
POEC/GLST 395 Global Development Strategies
(3)
POEC/GLST 483 International Political Economy:
Power, Production and Global Order
(3)
SOCI 435 Theories of Social Change
(3)
     
  or  
     
  Area of Focus 2: Canadian Political Economy  
     
CMNS 380 Corporate Communications (3)
CMNS 401 Cultural Policy in Canada (3)
ECON 385 Money, Banking and Canadian
Financial Institutions
(3)
FNCE 322 Personal Finance (3)
GEOG 310 Canadian Urban Development (3)
GOVN 390/POLI 392 Public Policy and Administrative Governance (3)
HIST 326 Contemporary Canada: Canada after 1945 (3)
IDRL 307 Public Sector Labour Relations (3)
IDRL 320 Labour Relations and the Law (3)
LGST 310 The Impact of the Canadian Charter on
Labour Relations
(3)
LBST 332 Women and Unions (3)
POEC 393 Canada and the Global Political Economy (3)
POLI 309 Canadian Government and Politics (3)
POLI 311 Aboriginal Politics and Governments (3)
POLI 325 Canadian Environmental Policy and Politics (3)
POLI 383 Canadian Political Economy in a Global Era (3)
SOCI 321 The Sociology of Work and Industry (3)
SOCI 445 Selected Topics in Canadian Society (3)
TAXX 301 Taxation I (3)
     
     
 

Electives (select 12 credits from the following)

     
ANTH 307 The Inuit Way (3)
ANTH 362 Aboriginal Cultures of North America (3)
ANTH 375 The Anthropology of Gender (3)
ANTH 394 Urban Anthropology (3)
CMNS 385/
SOCI 378
Media Constructions of Social Movements and
Issues
(3)
CMNS 402 International Media Systems I–The Americas (3)
CMNS 421 Personal Implications of the Internet (3)
CMNS 423 The Television Age (3)
ECON/HADM 321 Health Care Economics (3)
ENTP 212 Starting a Small Business (3)
ENVS 435 Case Studies in Environmental Protection:
Popular Education, Community Sustainability,
and Global Connections
(3)
FREN 100 French for Beginners I (3)
FREN 101 French for Beginners II (3)
GEOG/GLST 200 World Regional Geography
(3)
GEOG 201 Introductory Human Geography (3)
GEOG 302 The Canadian North (3)
GERM 202 Introductory German I (3)
GERM 203 Introductory German II (3)
GERM 306 German for Reading Knowledge I (3)
HADM 336 Community Health Planning (3)
HADM 339 Organization of the Canadian Health
Care System
(3)
HIST 336 History of Canadian Labour (6)
HIST 470 Pre-Industrial Origins of Labour and
Socialist Thought
(3)
HIST/LBST 471 Labour and Socialist Thought in the Early Industrial Revolution, 1800-1850 (3)
HIST/LBST 472 Labour and Socialist Thought in the Later Industrial Revolution, 1850-1917 (3)
IDRL 201 Labour Unions (3)
IDRL 308 Occupational Health and Safety (3)
INST 111 Introductory Cree I (3)
INST 112 Introductory Cree II (3)
MATH 244 Business Math (3)
MATH 265 Introduction to Calculus I (3)
MKTG 406 Consumer Behaviour (3)
MKTG 440 Marketing Strategy (3)
PHIL 371 Ethics, Science, Technology, and the Environment (3)
SOCI/WMST 345 Women and Work in Canada (3)
SOCI 381 The Sociology of Power and Inequality (3)
SOCI 450 Social Theory and the Environment (3)
SPAN 200 First Year Spanish I (3)
SPAN 201 First Year Spanish II (3)
WMST 400 Feminism in the Western Tradition (3)
WMST 401 Contemporary Feminist Theory (3)
     
 

12 remaining elective credits selected from the
following:

  Communication Studies (CMNS) (3)
     
  History (HIST) (3)
     
  Labour Studies (LBST) and/or (3)
  Industrial Relations (IDRL)  
     
  Women's Studies (WMST) and/or (3)
  Indigenous Studies (INST)  
     
  Recommendations
     
1.  
Students who may pursue graduate work in political economy or international affairs are strongly recommended to include POEC 499 Directed Studies in Political Economy, among their electives.
     
2.  

Language proficiency: Students in Canadian studies areas who may pursue employment in the federal civil service or foreign affairs, are strongly recommended to take French as an elective or option. Students interested in North American integration should take Spanish. Students interested in the economic integration of Europe should consider taking German. Students interested in governance capacity-building for First Nations communities should take Indigenous language courses.

“Language proficiency” generally refers to one of the following:

     
•  

the ability to read French, Spanish, or German at a level consistent with the usual requirements of a junior French language course. This ability may be proven by one of the following: either by completing six junior language credits in French (for example FREN 200 and 201) or by passing a reading proficiency examination in French, Spanish, or German;

     
•  

speak fluently one of Canada's Indigenous languages
(for example, Cree or Inuktitut);

or

     
•  
read one of Canada's Indigenous languages (for example, Cree or Inuktitut), at a level consistent with the usual requirements of a second-year university language course.
     
3.  

Writing proficiency: Students for whom English is a second language are strongly encouraged to take ENGL 177 English for Academic Purposes and ENGL 189 English for Business.


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 • Information effective Sept. 1, 2009 to Aug. 31, 2010.
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