Hampshire College
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Economics
Students at Hampshire College often make political economy a core component of their academic concentration, which may address such areas as “Public Health in Latin America,” “Economics and the Environment,” or “Women and Social Change.”
Students who plan graduate study in economics will take the expected courses in economic theory and mathematics.
We teach economics in a historical and social context, challenging the narrowness of mainstream approaches, drawing on economic reasoning and concepts that bridge orthodox and heterodox modes of inquiry.
We encourage students to enroll in Five College courses in economics and in broader aspects of political economy. Division III projects in economics have drawn on such topics as globalization, labor organizing, campaign finance, prisons, international economic development, and alternative business.
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Globalization and Africa |
Multinational institutions such as the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank are widely recognized as leading forces behind neo-liberal globalization. What is less clear is the role each plays in the process. This course is an introduction to and critical examination of the African experience with multinational institutions and globalization. Topics will include overall economic performance throughout the continent in the past 30 years; the impact of the IMF and World Bank programs; challenges confronting agricultural development; the rise and recent success of developing country coalitions within the WTO and their potential for increasing the power of African nations within the global arena; an exploration of viable development alternatives; and a discussion of the democratic reforms that took place in the 1990s and their implication for proposed solutions to poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa.
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Five College Resources The Center for Popular Economics, a nonprofit collective of political economists, is a welcoming resource for Five College students interested in economics. They examine root causes of economic inequality and injustice including systems of oppression based on race, class, gender, nation, and ethnicity. The center offers internship opportunities as well as resources for students. The national headquarters of the Union for Radical Political Economics (URPE) is now located in Amherst. URPE, founded in 1968, has as its core purpose to be an alternative professional organization for left political economists and an intellectual home for academics, policy-makers, and activists who are interested in participating in a left intellectual debate on theoretical and policy issues. It publishes a newsletter, the Review of Radical Political Economics (RRPE), and sponsors a summer conference and a program at the annual economics meetings, which are open to undergraduates and graduate students as well. |
Contact Us
Hampshire College
893 West Street
Amherst, MA 01002
413.559.5378
Fax 413.559.6081
dof@hampshire.edu