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:

1) International Business coursework - 12 credits to include a minimum of 6 International Business credits. Selected from:

Note: Intl Bus 399 coursework will NOT satisfy this requirement.

• Intl Bus 200 International Business
• Intl Bus 320 International Business Communications
• Intl Bus 365 Contemporary Topics - course must be minimum of 3 credits
• Intl Bus 403 Global Issues in Management
• Intl Bus 407 International Accounting
• Intl Bus 420 Global Marketing
• Intl Bus 430 International Real Estate
• Intl Bus 445 Multinational Business Finance
• Intl Bus 462 Latin American Economic Development
• Intl Bus 463 Comparative Analysis in Latin American Development
• Intl Bus 615 Business in Emerging Markets
• AAE 344 (Agriculture and Applied Econ) The Environment & Global Economy
• AAE 374 The Growth and Development of Nations in the Global Economy
• Econ 364 Survey of International Economics OR
  Econ 464 International Trade and Finance
• Econ 365 Issues in Comparative Economics
• Econ 467 International Comparisons-Industrial Firms & Industrial Orgs.
• Econ 473 Economic Growth and Development in Southeast Asia
• Econ 474 Economic Problems of Developing Areas

 

2) 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.

 

3) Foreign language taught in the region - 22 credits:
22 credits, in a 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 study abroad and take courses in the language. Business language courses are recommended (French 313, 314, 315, German 331, Italian 313, and Spanish 329, 359). Approved languages include:

• Asia: Chinese, Filipino, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Pali, 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

 

4) Area studies - 9 credits.
Students are encouraged to take area studies courses that also fulfill the social studies, ethnic studies and humanities graduation requirements.

A list of approved courses is available. Since this list is periodically revised, the most up-to-date information can be found on the individual track pages found below.

 

Approved Area Studies and Language Courses by Track:

• Asia
• Europe
• Latin America