Overview

Professors Riera-Crichton (co-chair) and Shea (co-chair); Associate Professors Goff, He, and Smith; Assistant Professors Bird, Chakraborty, Coombs, Lindsay, Sen, and Subramanian; Visiting Assistant Professors Morrill and Nguyen


An understanding of economics can help foster intelligent citizenship. Policy makers in business, government, and the nonprofit sector frequently evaluate complex economic issues. The goal of the economics curriculum is to educate students, both majors and nonmajors, about the ideas of economics and how they apply to today’s world.

Introductory economics courses at Bates (courses numbered 100–199) emphasize a broad nontechnical understanding of economic institutions, policy, and analysis. Courses numbered between 200 and 249 provide nontechnical introductions to more specialized topics. Courses numbered between 250 and 299 cover intermediate economic theory and introduce students to the methods of empirical analysis. Three-hundred-level courses integrate practical economic issues with empirical and theoretical analyses, enabling students to develop sophisticated insight into both contemporary and historical economic problems. More information on the economics department is available on the website (bates.edu/economics/).