The Department of Economics, in conjunction with Trinity College, is in the midst of a five-year Research Initiative aimed at increasing undergraduate participation in our vibrant research community.

A fundamental feature of research, as opposed to classroom learning, is that it is independent and self-motivated. At the same time, researchers continually share thoughts and ideas with colleagues. This sharing is often at irregular intervals and very informal. However, workshops are one of the main regular, and more structured, venues through which research ideas are developed, disseminated, dissected and refined. In the Duke economics department, as at most research oriented economics departments, weekly workshops are held for faculty and graduate students who share common interests in any of the major fields.

Central to our initiative is the establishment of this workshop tradition at the undergraduate level through the creation of Junior (Econ 201S) and Senior (Econ 202S) Honors Research Workshops in four general areas of research: Finance, History, Macroeconomics/International, and Microeconomics. We want to encourage the interchange of research ideas, problems, and strategies among undergraduates and faculty that is similar to the sort of interchange that now goes on between graduate students and faculty. Resultant research projects may be written up as an honors thesis.

Recognizing that for this interchange to be productive, there has to be a certain amount of shared or common knowledge among participants, the initiative is also engaged in the creation of key field courses intended to deepen students' understanding of specialized topics that may have been only briefly mentioned in economics core courses. Field courses build on the basic economic principles learned in the core sequence but emphasize studying existing work within a particular field, as well as learning the skills appropriate to particular types of research. Field courses are useful for students to gain deeper knowledge within topics that may have been only briefly mentioned in core courses. Field courses are also necessary preparation for anyone wishing to undertake future research as a junior or senior. To help guide students, we provide a table grouping our non-core course offerings by general area of research. In this way students can educate themselves about topics and tools necessary to undertaking significant research on a topic that interests them. For example, a student who might be interested in doing research on job discrimination should take a course in Labor and Public Finance. These field courses will teach the student how to approach a particular topic and properly frame the questions that he/she wishes to answer.

Each semester we will move toward providing the full spectrum of key field courses and research workshops. For Fall 2007 and Spring 2008, we are pleased to offer the following new courses. For a full listing of economics courses offered each term, see ACES.

• Economics 137, Philosophy of Economics, Dr. Hoover (S'08)
• Economics 153, Monetary Economics, Dr. Weinke (S'08)
• Economics 159, Development Economics: Theory, Evidence & Policy, Dr. Kelley (F'07)
• Economics 161, Economic Growth, Dr. Peretto (F'07)
• Economics 168, Asset Pricing & Risk Management, Dr. Rasiel (F'07)
• Economics 170, International Macroeconomics, Drs. Schmitt-Grohe & Uribe (S'08)
• Economics 188, Competitive Strategy and Industrial Organization, Dr. Beresteanu (F'07)
• Economics 195S.32, Monetary Markets -- 4000BC to 2000AD, Dr. Toniolo (F'07)
• Economics 195S.44, Economic History & Modernization of the Islamic Middle East, Dr. Kuran (F'07)
• Economics 195S.48, Economics of Life, Dr. Hotz (S'08)
• Economics 195S.52, Economics of Poverty & Discrimination, Dr. Fang (S'08)
• Economics 201FS, Honors Junior Research Seminar in Finance, Drs. Tauchen & Eraker (S'08)
• Economics 201AS, Honors Junior Research Seminar in Macroeconomics, Dr. Kent Kimbrough (S'08)
• Economics 201HS, Honors Junior Research Seminar in History, Dr. Craufurd Goodwin (S'08)
• Economics 202FS, Honors Senior Research Seminar in Finance, Dr. Tauchen (F'07)
• Economics 202AS, Honors Senior Research Seminar in Macroeconomics, Dr. Kent Kimbrough (S'08)
• Economics 202HS, Honors Senior Research Seminar in History, Dr. Craufurd Goodwin (S'08)

Click here for available course descriptions of all new fields and research seminars.

Students considering pursuing an economics major are strongly encouraged to take core courses (Economics 1D/51D, 55D, 105D, 110D and 139D), and mathematics and statistics prerequisites, as early as possible.   Economics core courses will be offered Fall, Spring and Summer terms.   Early completion will allow for the greatest flexibility in pursuing serious research in the junior and senior years.