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| Photo by Thomas Robinson, '09 |
In the midst of the worst financial catastrophe to hit the U.S. in decades, Whitworth Associate Professor of Economics & Business Walter Hutchens launched a new Jan Term course, Global Financial Crisis. During the seminar-style class, students learned about the events that led up to the economic meltdown as well as relevant technical terms, financial concepts and key players. They also engaged in lively discussions about who's to blame and what should be done to resolve the crisis, and they tied those arguments to longstanding debates among differing economic schools of thought.
Students explored the effects of the economic turmoil on the Spokane region. They heard presentations from a prominent local real estate executive and from Whitworth Vice President of Finance and Operations Brian Benzel, who explained how the financial crisis is affecting the university. Students from China and Europe contributed international perspectives by sharing how the crisis has affected their home countries.
Hutchens says the class was successful partly because it synchronized so well with unfolding events. Students viewed congressional hearings of prominent financial leaders on YouTube, read the official summary of the stimulus bill, and watched clips from a speech that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave at the London School of Economics about the Fed's response to the crisis. In addition, students interviewed their parents about the percentage declines in their 401ks, the number of houses for sale on their streets, and whether layoffs or other cutbacks had affected their companies.
Participants in the class ranged from freshmen to seniors, and included students majoring in economics and business, accounting, physics and sociology.
"Of course, my ebullience over all the students learned, the success of the class, and how fascinating the crisis is as an intellectual matter is overshadowed by grim economic realities," Hutchens wrote in his blog about the course. "(The future) is unclear to me. But…the students who participated in my class understand the causes, consequences and government responses to the ongoing economic turmoil as well as any undergraduates in America."
To read more about the course on Hutchens' blog, visit
www.walterhutchens.net/blog/archives/2009/01/29/global-financial-crisis-class/.
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