Research, Extension, and Education Policy
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The Department of Economic Science was founded in 1898 to teach economic theory as a truth of industrial life, and was very much concerned with applying economics to business and industry, particularly agriculture. Between 1910 and 1967 it showed the growing influence of other social studies, such as sociology, history, and political science. Today it encompasses the majors of Agricultural Business (preparing for agricultural finance and management), Business Economics, and Economics (for advanced studies in business or economics or for careers in financing, management, insurance, etc).
History
The Department of Economic Science was founded in 1898 under the Division of Industrial Science (later College of Liberal Arts and Sciences); it became co-directed by the Division of Agriculture in 1919. In 1910 it became the Department of Economics and Political Science. In 1913 it became the Department of Applied Economics and Social Science; in 1924 it became the Department of Economics, History, and Sociology; in 1931 it became the Department of Economics and Sociology. In 1967 it became the Department of Economics, and in 2007 it became co-directed by the Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Business.
Dates of Existence
1898–present
Historical Names
- Department of Economic Science (1898–1910)
- Department of Economics and Political Science (1910-1913)
- Department of Applied Economics and Social Science (1913–1924)
- Department of Economics, History and Sociology (1924–1931)
- Department of Economics and Sociology (1931–1967)
Related Units
- College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (parent college)
- College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (parent college)
- College of Business (parent college)
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Abstract
The present-day set of research-teachingextension institutions serving U.S. agriculture and households have enjoyed relatively long lives. The leading institution is the land-grant university system with a legislatively mandated mission involving federal-state-local partnerships for research, education, and extension. The secondary institution is the USDA with the Agricultural Research Service and Economic Research Service engaged in agricultural research. The early political recognition that local climates, soils, and environments play an important role in determining the local research and extension needs of farmers and rural people enabled passage of the Land-Grant College Act of 1862, the Hatch Act for state agricultural experiment stations in 1887, and the Smith-Lever Act of 1913 for Cooperative Extension. These institutions had unusual designs that provided the capacity to evolve and change with local needs
Comments
This chapter is from The 2002 Farm Bill: Policy Options and Consequences (2001): 209. Posted with permission.