Splash Biography

Why can we exchange something called "money" to acquire goods and services? How are prices set? And why does this matter? After a brief overview of the history of money, students will be presented with both orthodox and heterodox theories of money and price. Special attention will be paid to comparing Marx's labor theory of value against more orthodox, supply/demand theories of price and money. This seminar-style course is an invitation for students to question some of the most basic, everyday assumptions underpinning our economic system.

What does it mean to be a social democrat? This course will engage this question from the origins of socialism to the present day. Students will read excerpts from Marx, Bernstein, Kautsky and Lenin and be asked to put these founding texts in conversation with current debates. Students should walk away from the course with a firmer historical understanding of socialism in Western thought. Students should not expect to receive a dogmatic presentation of socialism.

Rational choice theory (RCT) underpins almost all of economics and political science, and is quickly becoming the only framework of thought for our nation's top economic and political leaders. Come for a rousing debate about what drives human nature and its moral and social implications.

So you want to be a scholar, but you don't exactly know what that means. This course covers both practical and philosophical aspects of entering the American professorate: What is the role of academics in society (and is it changing)? What makes someone a successful scholar? How should professors balance their demands of their teaching, research, and intellectual passions? How do you even become a professor in the first place? This class is in a seminar format. We will begin our discussion with close readings of selected philosophy of science and social theory texts, and then move to an open Q&A with the instructor and each other. All disciplines welcome. The instructor is a current PhD student in Sociology with a BA from Yale University in Political Science and Molecular Biochemistry & Biophysics.