Economics at Carleton
Our curriculum is designed to teach both economic theory and its practical applications to a diverse student body. You are probably aware of many current economic issues. What can be done to avoid and respond to financial crises? How do we cope with problems of environmental pollution and sustainability? How well do labor markets work in a globalizing economy? How do we help low-income economies achieve their full potential? Economics offers a way to understand these issues, analyze trade-offs, and propose possible solutions.
Our faculty are active researchers specializing in diverse subfields, including international finance and trade, development, labor, law, public finance, race, gender, inequality, natural resources and the environment, history, healthcare, higher education, behavioral, game theory, and macro and micro economic theory. You can explore research and courses we teach on our faculty page. Beyond the classroom, our department offers a biennial winter break program to Bangladesh where students study poverty, migration, microfinance, social business, and development projects.
Faculty members vary in age, background, experience, and personality, but are united chiefly in their abilities to teach well and convey to students the excitement and value of studying economics. They apply the training received in leading graduate programs and in subsequent research activities to the problems facing a variety of economies. Faculty members have received grants for special studies from a variety of foundations, published articles in leading economics journals, and authored books. They have conducted research not only in the United States but also in Africa, Canada, Latin America, Europe and Bangladesh.
Class size in post-introductory classes has ranged from 8 to 30 in recent years, with an average class size of around 20. There are approximately 50 senior economics majors each year, with ten full-time faculty members.