Emphasis in Teaching

A university in transformation

Due to the recent introduction of the new Bachelor’s/Master’s programs at WU (in accordance with the European Union’s Bologna initiative to harmonize university education), our Institute is faced with the challenge of meeting the needs of students both in the pre- and post-Bologna study programs. Students in the expiring pre-Bologna programs are offered a wide range of general and advanced lectures and seminars, most of them dealing with global economic developments since the industrial revolution from a comparative perspective. Special attention is given to Austria’s economic relations with its EU-partners, and with the emergent democracies/economies of East-Central and Southeast Europe which, in earlier times, used to share a common history and similar cultural traditions with Austria.

Bachelor’s programs

Pre-Bologna students in Business Administration and Economics can choose from a sample of introductory lectures offered by Institute faculty, focusing on various aspects of general economic and social history. The bachelor programs at WU last six semesters (as opposed to eight for the expiring first-degree programs), and offer students the opportunity to get an introduction to economic history in two courses, Business in a Social-science Context (held jointly by historians, sociologists, and representatives of other relevant social sciences), and Social Aspects of Economic Activity.

Master’s programs & history

WU is currently in the process of designing its new master’s programs, at least three of which will be launched by the fall of 2009. Economic and Social History will be making a considerable contribution to at least one of the future master’s programs (the Master’s Program in Socio-Economics, scheduled for launch in 2010), but the specific content of the courses and seminars has not yet been determined.