I have created this blog to support the classes I teach at University of Richmond. Current events play a substantial role in my courses and I find that the world cooperates quite nicely . . always providing content for discussion. It is here that I will attempt to organize current events and my thoughts in some meaningful way. Posts will be categorized by course.
It may be helpful to offer a little background about my world. I stumbled onto the wonderful world of economics, after trying on several other majors. First there was sociology, which is still an interest of mine. In fact, there is quite a bit of sociology in econ. But I decided that sociology majors made no money, so that wasn’t for me. Then there was pre-law. As my teenage cousin would say, that was simply EPIC FAIL. Computers. That is where the money would be. So I decided to major in information systems. After a year of that, it became clear that I did not want to sit behind a computer all day. Most people would agree that I am far too social for that! (more on this in a moment) Then I took a micro course – and that was that. It all made sense. I was hooked.
After graduating, I started my first career in economic development – international trade and foreign direct investment, to be specific. During that time, I also started volunteering with Junior Achievement . . . I was placed in an 8th grade classroom and charged with teaching 13 year olds economics. Within five minutes, I was hooked. After three years in the real world, I went back to complete my graduate degree in econ and I taught high school economics for 12 years. Taking a little longer than most folks, I finally graduated high school and now I teach economics at the university level. A little more than a year ago I was approached with the idea of offering a few economics electives online. Instructional technology has always been an interest, so I figured why not? In addition to teaching traditional and hybrid courses, I now also present economics courses completely online. So much for not being interested in sitting behind a computer! Thank goodness for the evolution of social media!
