Overview
The Capitalism Studies graduate minor is offered through The New School for Social Research.
This minor introduces students to foundational texts that have informed approaches to the study of capitalism. It will ground their understandings of capitalism as both an intellectual formation and as a historically and geographically contingent object
of empirical enquiry and will allow students to familiarize themselves with the major debates animating the study of capitalism, both past and present. The minor provides a robust architecture for exploring the multiple disciplinary insights and methodological
resources that scholars have brought to bear in understanding the multivalent, historically contingent, and geographically diverse formations of capitalism.
Students in the minor also have access to a wide range of resources and activities through the Robert L. Heilbroner Center for Capitalism Studies — from lectures and seminars by visiting scholars to research fellowship opportunities.
Curriculum
This graduate minor requires successful completion of 9 credits. Students are encouraged to select one course from each of the subject areas in the chart below, and may shape their course selection to match their research interests.
Course availability may vary from semester to semester. Some courses may be in development and offered at a later time. Students seeking to pursue alternative coursework in other subject areas to fulfill the minor should consult with their advisors.
Fall 2024 courses are listed below. Please consult this spreadsheet for an archive of past courses.
| Subject Area | Course Options | Requirements |
|---|
| Theories and Critiques of Capitalism | GECO 6270: Labor Economics I: Labor, Development, and Gender GECO 6290: Development Economics: Theory and History NINT 5460: Worst/Better Humanitarian Aid Practices UTNS 5154: Future of Work, Futures of Labor GHIS 5106: Settlers, Natives, Migrants: A Global History of Racialized (Im)mobilities GECO 5041: Institutional Political Economy GANT 6079: Deep Futures: Feminist Ecological Imaginaries from Latin America GPHI 6162: Frantz Fanon | 3 credits |
| Histories of Capitalism | GHIS 5106: Settlers, Natives, Migrants: A Global History of Racialized (Im)mobilities GECO 5104: Historical Foundations of Political Economy I GECO 6290: Development Economics: Theory and History NEPS 5022: Environmental Justice: Race, Class, and the Environment GHIS 5322: Wealth and Power in U.S. History GHIS 5193: Power and Domination in the Middle East | 3 credits |
| Approaches to Contemporary Capitalism | NINT 5109: Economics in International Affairs: Understanding the Global Economy Today NINT 5000: Theories, Histories, and Practices of Development: Decolonizing International Affairs NPUP 7005: Political Economy and Public Policy Analysis: Economics of the Welfare State NINT 5112: Human Rights in Global Fashion: Value Chains, Workers, Corporate Accountability, and System Design PGHT 5543: Fashion Practices: Making and Meaning NINT 5001: Global Flows | 3 credits |
Learning Outcomes
A student who has completed this graduate minor will be able to:
- Distinguish between a variety of disciplinary approaches to the study of capitalism and identify the key theoretical frameworks and political positions that have influenced and continue to shape the field of capitalism studies
- Demonstrate, through written work and oral presentations, knowledge of capitalism's historical emergence and pivotal transmutations
- Employ insights from interdisciplinary scholarship to engage in informed debates and discussions about contemporary issues ranging from inequality to the regulation of markets and corporations to the global ecological implications of capitalist development
- Apply both research techniques and theoretical insights to produce original scholarship on capitalist formations, both past and present
Faculty
Julia Ott, Associate Professor of History, The New School for Social Research
Eligibility
The Capitalism Studies graduate minor is available to graduate degree students across The New School.
Students can retroactively apply successfully completed courses toward a minor upon declaring or applying.
After a student successfully completes a minor's requirements, the minor will appear on the student's academic transcript at graduation.
For questions about this minor, please contact Julia Ott, Associate Professor of History at The New School for Social Research, at [email protected].