Global Economics and Management – (B.A.)

At the beginning of the 21st century the world is facing complex economic challenges. These challenges include global financial and economic crises, environmental devastation and catastrophes, poverty and inequality. Successful management of these challenges will have to come from many different institutions, especially from innovative national and multinational firms, from governments and from international organizations. Economic decisions made in these institutions are closely related to societies’ preferences, to the functioning of political systems and to efficient communication and cooperation. Successfully confronting economic challenges requires not only knowledge from the two academic disciplines of management and economics, but an interdisciplinary education that incorporates contributions from many other disciplines. The curriculum of the Global Economics and Management program responds to these demands by combining modules in economics and management with courses in history, political science, sociology and communication science as well as as courses in engineering and the natural sciences. Elective courses can be used for self-defined areas of specialization such as International Political History, Energy and Environmental Policy, Quantitative Methods, International Logistics, Intercultural Behavior and Social Entrepreneurship.

The GEM curriculum not only prepares students intellectually for the challenges of cooperation across disciplinary borders, but also socially and culturally for the challenges of working in cross-cultural and international environments. Currently, students from about 100 countries are enrolled at Jacobs University. They represent a wide range of experiences and concerns from different regions, cultures and traditions. Students live and work together on an English-speaking campus. In their daily lives, in extra-curricular activities as well as in their studies, they define and re-define ideas and concepts for responsible leadership and sustainable development in the 21st century.

Besides a transdisciplinary curriculum and a cross-cultural learning experience, the third dimension of the BA in Global Economics and Management is an orientation towards practical applicability of knowledge. Most courses are taught in a problem-oriented style. Specific GEM seminars feature guest lectures from academics and practitioners. Students are encouraged to do two internships. Since experience shows that quite a few international students from Jacobs University become interested in their host country Germany and, in a later phase of their studies, in European and especially German labor markets, students are expected to acquire basic German language skills in their first two years of study. For German students four courses in a foreign language are mandatory.