Economics

5 Lehman Hall  
212-854-3454
212-854-8947 (fax)
economics.barnard.edu
Department Administrator: Robert O'Connor

Chair: Sharon Harrison (Professor)
Professors: Andre Burgstaller, Alan Dye , Perry Mehrling, Lalith Munasinghe, Rajiv Sethi (Ann Whitney Olin Professor), David Weiman (Alena Wels Hirschorn '58 Professor)
Associate Professors: Randall Reback, Ashley Timmer (Adjunct)
Assistant Professors: Stephanie Lofgren (Adjunct), Sonia Pereira (Term), Homa Zarghamee

Other officers of the University offering courses listed below:

Professors: Jushan Bai, Graciela Chichilnisky, Padma Desai, Phoebus Dhrymes, Ronald Findlay, Brendan O’Flaherty, Navin Kartik, W. Bently MacLeod, Massimo Morelli, Serena Ng, Ricardo Reis, Xavier Sala-i-Martin, Bernard Salanié, Stephane Schmitt-Grohé, Martin Uribe, David Weinstein, Michael Woodford
Associate Professor: Lena Edlund, Katherine Ho, Wojcieh Kopczuk, Jon Steinsson
Assistant Professors: Christopher Conlon, Qingmin Liu, Eduardo Morales
Adjunct Professors:  Seyhan Arkonac, Elise Huillery, Carl Riskin, Carlos Seiglie
Lecturers: Sally Davidson, Susan Elmes, Sunil Gulati, Caterina Musatti

Mission

The primary aim of the Barnard Economics Department is to provide undergraduate liberal arts students with a rigorous, broad, and critical program in theoretical and empirical economics. To achieve this aim our curriculum  

• Provides a thorough grounding in neoclassical economic theory, modern statistical method, and their applications in the traditional fields of economic science;
• Embeds that training in a broader conception of economic science and method with special emphasis on philosophical, historical, and institutional approaches that link economics with other social sciences and humanistic disciplines;
• Compares and contrasts alternative methodological approaches and types of evidence as ways of analyzing economic phenomena, evaluating policy debates, and assessing the broader social and political consequences of economic doctrines.

Student Learning Outcomes for the Economics major, Economics and Political Economy tracks

Having successfully completed the major in Economics, the student will be able to attain the following outcomes:

1. Show fluency in the basic concepts, models and tools of microeconomic and macroeconomic theory;
2. Think critically about economic phenomena and economic debates by using multiple kinds of texts, evidence and conceptual approaches;
3. Apply economic reasoning to understand the causal determinants of economic events, empirical regularities, and policy proposals;
4. Apply basic skills of empirical reasoning to economic problems;
5. Demonstrate knowledge of the history of economic thought, including important doctrines, their historical context, transformation over time, and influence on contemporary economic theory and ideas;
6. Demonstrate understanding of institutions, organizations and markets in their roles of coordinating economic activity;
7. Demonstrate knowledge of the historical origins of capitalism, modern economic growth and development, patterns of inequality, and globalization;
8. Articulate a well-defined research question and conduct independent research using economic reasoning and evidence;
9. Communicate economic ideas effectively in written or oral form.

Specific to the Economics Track

1. Understand and apply statistical techniques to make inferences about economic hypotheses.

Specific to the Political Economy Track

1. Use concepts or methods from at least one disciplinary approach other than economics to analyze an economic, political or other social problem.

Barnard will allow a total of 3 points AP credit in Economics only if the following conditions are satisfied: an AP score of 4 or 5 in either Macro or Micro (or both) plus a passing score on the Economics Department’s Placement Exam, or an International Baccalaureate (IB) score of 5 or higher, and a passing score on the Department’s Placement Exam. The Placement Exam is offered during the program filing period at the beginning of each semester. Contact the department chair in advance to arrange to take it. Students may not receive credit for Econ BC 1003 or equivalent if they have AP or IB credit for any introductory economics course. For Statistics, Barnard will allow 3 points credit with a score of 5 on the Statistics AP exam. Economics track majors, however, will not be exempt from the statistics requirement ECON BC 2411 or the equivalent, even if they receive 3 points AP credit for Statistics.