University Seminar in Economic History
Co-chairs 2023-2024:
Alan Dye, Barnard College (adye@barnard.edu)
David Weiman, Barnard College (dweiman@barnard.edu)
Susie Pak, St. John's University (paks1@stjohns.edu)
RapporteurRohan Shah (rns2143@columbia.edu)
University Economic History Seminar Schedule
Fall 2023
Oct 5
Andrew Bossie, NJ City University
Nov 2
Roger Horowitz, University of Delaware
Dec 7
Thomas Zuber, Columbia
Weathering Life’s problems: Living standards and income inequality
in 20th century Burkina FasoSpring 2024
Feb 1 José-Antonio Espín-Sánchez, Yale Mar 7 Murat Iplikci, Columbia Center for Turkish Studies Apr 4 Susie Pak, St. John's TBA May 2 Gavin Wright, Stanford TBA
The seminars for Spring 2024 will be held in-person at the faculty house and on Zoom from 7:30 to 9:00 EST. We will meet for dinner in Faculty House at 6:30 before the seminar. (NOTE the change in time and format.) You must register (that is, RSVP) in advance with our rapporteur, Rohan Shah, to receive an invitation with the Zoom link and passcode.
The concerns of this seminar are wide ranging in time, place, and method. Emphasis is on the logic of European and American economic growth from feudal times forward with regular, but less frequent, contributions on Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Topics range from microeconomic studies of firms undergoing rapid technical change and households changing their interaction between home and market to more macroeconomic topics concerned with national and regional economic growth performance, the economics of imperialism, and the political economy of the Great Depression. Given the breadth of the seminar’s membership and interests, comparative economic history is often a central element in seminar discussions. Pre-circulation of papers permits vigorous discussion.