The international business major is designed to provide students with the sound understanding of international business principles and the languages and cultures of other regions that are essential for success in today's global economy.
Students who major in international business must declare another major in business, as functional business skills such as accounting, marketing and finance are important for initial career placement and emphasized more in the early stages of business careers. International skills are generally utilized after mastering functional skills.
Students must choose a region of emphasis and select language and area studies courses accordingly. Currently, regional tracks are established for Asia, Europe, and Latin America. A student must complete a minimum of 43 credits, distributed as follows.
International business course work, 12 credits selected from:
Intl Bus 200 International Business, 3 cr
Intl Bus 365 Contemporary Topics, 3 cr
Intl Bus 403 Global Issues in Management, 3 cr
Intl Bus 407 International Accounting, 3 cr
Intl Bus 420 Global Marketing, 3 cr
Intl Bus 430 International Real Estate, 3 cr
Intl Bus 445 Multinational Business Finance, 3 cr
Intl Bus 462 Economic Problems of Latin America, 3 cr
Intl Bus 463 Comparative Analysis in Latin American Development, 3 cr
Intl Bus 615 Doing Business in Emerging Markets, 3 cr
AAE 344 The Environment and the Global Economy
AAE 374 The Growth and Development of Nations in the Global Economy
Econ 364 Survey of International Economies or
Econ 464 International Trade and Finance, 4 cr
Econ 365 Issues in Comparative Economics, 4 cr
Econ 467 International Comparisons—Industrial Firms and Industrial Organizations
Econ 473 Economic Growth and Develop in Southeast Asia
Econ 474 Economic Problems of Developing Areas
Foreign language taught in the region, 22 credits, maximum of two languages. Retroactive credits apply. Students are strongly encouraged to take language courses beyond the minimum requirement in order to maintain proficiency, particularly if planning to take study abroad courses in the language. Business language courses are strongly recommended (French 313, 314, 315, German 331, Italian 313, and Spanish 329, 359).
Approved languages include:
Asia: Chinese, Hindi, Hmong, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Pali, Filipino, Sanskrit, Telugu, Thai, Tibetan, Turkish, Urdu, Uzbek, Vietnamese
Europe: Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
Latin America: Spanish, Portuguese
Area studies, 9 credits. Courses taught in a foreign language will also count toward the foreign language requirement. Students are encouraged to take area studies courses that also fulfill the social studies and humanities pre-business requirements.
A list of approved courses is available. Since this list is periodically revised, the most up-to-date information can be found at www.bus.wisc.edu/undergrad/majors/international.asp.
Semester abroad on a School of Business-sponsored program in the region. Students are strongly encouraged to take courses abroad in the local language. See www.bus.wisc.edu/international for study abroad options.