economics at warwick open day april 22 nd 2009 dennis leech professor of economics
TRANSCRIPT
This talk
• Programme for today• The Economics department• Research • Teaching and learning• Our degree courses• What our students go on to do• Notable Warwick economics graduates
Open Day programme
• 2.00-2.45 Talk in ACCR
• 2.50-3.30 Small group Q&A meetings with academic staff and students in Social Studies Building
• 3.55-4.45 Campus tours led by students from Social Studies foyer
• 4.45 Final questions in Arts Centre Café
Economics department
• Academic Staff – Professors 29– Associate Prof (SL/Reader) 13– Assistant Prof (Lecturer) 10
• Graduate Students– Doctoral 60– Masters 80
• Undergraduates 600
Distinguished ex Warwick economists • Nick Stern (Lord Stern)
– Author of Stern Report on Economics of Climate Change
• Robert Skidelsky (Lord Skidelsky)– Biographer of Keynes
• John Williamson– Influential International Economist. Coiner of term “Washington
Consensus”
• Avinash Dixit– President of the American Economic Association 2008
High quality research
• Research Assessment Exercise 2008 (official rating): ranked in the top five• Third equal with Oxford and Essex • LSE and UCL ranked first and second• 40% of research assessed rated as 4* (‘world leading’)• 95% either 4* or 3* (‘internationally excellent’) – equal
first place
Why research matters
• Our reputation brings a lot of cash– Research income subsidises our teaching
• More resources for learning– Better campus, library, computing facilities …..
• Better academic staff, more of them• Better class tutors, etc• Teaching more authoritative
Our degree courses
1. Economics department based– Economics
– Econ, Politics & International Studies (EPAIS)
– Industrial Economics
– Economics and Economic History
Our degrees are popular• Student numbers for Economics degrees
2009/10
Home/EU Overseas
Places 130 110
Applications 2466 1282 (so far)
Our degree courses
2. Joint degrees based in other departments
– Philosophy, Politics & Economics (PPE)
– Maths, OR, Stats & Econ (MORSE)
– Maths and Economics
BSc Economics course• A professional training
• A specialised programme– aims to make you think like an economist– also develop transferable skills
• Flexibility is limited– Only a little each year that’s NOT economics
• no more than 25% of load can be non-economic• E.g. finance, maths, a language, …..
• But: possibility of a year of study abroad
Teaching
• We teach from first principles– A-level Economics is NOT required
• We assume that you are clever– and mathematically competent (geometry,
algebra, calculus)
• So it moves fast– You have to work hard to keep up
• But support is available– Staff are generally accessible
The course structure• Year 1: Foundations (5 modules)
– Micro, Macro, Quant Tech, Econ Hist – Option: eg Industrial Econ, Math Econ, Language,
WBS …
• Year 2: Core (4 modules)– Micro, Macro, Econometrics – Option: eg Industrial, Public, …, Language, WBS …
• Year 3: Specialisation (4 modules)– Research Project – 3 options: Labour, Econometrics, Development,
Game Theory, International, Industrial, Language, WBS …
Year of study abroad
• After second year (making 4 year degree)• Good partner institutions
– EU • Amsterdam , Madrid , Munich, Paris, Barcelona, Milan,
Lille, Antwerp
– USA• California
• Complements regular Warwick studies• Some help with fees and expenses• Numbers limited therefore selective
Some distinguished alumni• Cabinet Secretary: Gus O’Donnell • Chief Economist, BOE: Spencer Dale• Professors: 2 @ Harvard; many other leading
academics• Christian Wolmar, Writer, transport policy• Liam Halligan, economics journalist• Steve Heighway, Liverpool footballer