SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES

1. Normally, a student should have taken a regular course relevant to the topic—indeed, topics often arise from regular courses.

2. A student should prepare an outline of the proposed study.

3. By the tenth day after classes begin, a Study Plan Form, signed by the supervising faculty member who is currently teaching economics courses at Vanderbilt and approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies, must be submitted to the Department main office, 415 Calhoun.

4. Any student whose Study Plan is not approved by the Department by the tenth day of classes will be reported as “enrolled, but not attending” and will be dropped by the Registrar from enrollment in independent study.

5. An independent study course should result in a written report or paper(s) each semester a project is pursued. Two copies must be prepared and submitted, one for the supervising faculty member and one for the Department's main office, before the final grade in the course can be reported.

1. Most courses in economics are readily creditable. They need not have a counterpart at Vanderbilt. Indeed, avoid courses elsewhere that overlap substantially with Vanderbilt courses that you have taken or plan to take in the future.

2. Unless an economics course elsewhere requires the equivalent of our 231, 232, or 150, it will probably qualify for transfer credit below the 250 level. But it should carry a principles of economics prerequisite—unless it is a course in principles.

3. To transfer as equivalent to Econ 150, 231, or 232, a course taken elsewhere must require calculus.

4. See the Office of Managerial Studies, 258 Buttrick for approval of transfer credit in managerial studies including accounting and finance.

Vanderbilt’s Summer Program in London is particularly popular. Apply early because it is first come, first served and demand often exceeds capacity. It includes a course in international economics and one in international finance. These courses in London have only Econ 100 and 101 as prerequisites. The courses on campus with similar content, Econ 263 and 264, have intermediate theory courses as prerequisites and they are taught at a more intensive level. We give credit in the economics major for the two courses in London as electives numbered below 250. A student who takes both of the international courses in London may receive credit subsequently for either Econ 263 or Econ 264 if taken at Vanderbilt, but not both.

Summer internships provide valuable experience and inform career choices. Most sponsors of internships do not expect the University to award academic credit. (The University charges tuition for academic credit.) See the Departmental website for more information about internships. Contact the Career Center for help in finding an internship. The College offers a one-hour, interdisciplinary (not economics) credit course on a pass/fail basis when internship sponsors insist on academic credit. See the Dean’s Office for more information.

The honors program in economics serves highly motivated students interested in doing independent research.

Honors candidates must

take two semesters of calculus and
36 hours of work in economics,
            including all 15 hours of required courses, plus
            Econ 253 Introduction to Econometrics.

They also take 6 hours of regular electives along with
12 hours of work in policy seminars,
            Independent Study (Econ 291), and
            Senior Thesis (Econ 292).

Students who are not sure whether they wish to complete the honors program should take an additional 3-hour elective. The honors program also requires candidates

to write a senior thesis, and
to defend it in an oral examination.

On satisfactory completion of this program, a student will graduate with Honors or with High Honors in economics.

Interested students who meet the College's requirements for honors candidacy as set forth in the College Catalog should consult the Director of Undergraduate Studies no later than the middle of the fall term of their junior year.

Students normally begin work in the Honors Program in the spring semester of their junior year. To be eligible for consideration, students should have:

1. completed two semesters of calculus and

2. all 15 hours of courses in the required major core (100, 101, 150, 231, and 232) by the end of the fall semester of the junior year;

3. have earned an average grade of at least A- in Econ 150, 231, and 232.

4. a minimum GPA of 3.0 overall and in economics.

By the end of the Junior year, students will usually complete:

1. Econ 253 (Econometrics),
2. one of the policy seminars,
3. two upper-level economics electives in subjects related to the prospective topic of the student's senior thesis, and
4. one hour of Independent Study (Econ 291A) in which the student writes a detailed prospectus for the thesis.

In the Senior year, the student's work will include:

1. six-credit hours of Senior Thesis Econ 292 A & B,
2. a final economics elective;
3. one-credit hour of Honors Seminar each term, Econ 295 A&B
4. and the oral defense of the completed dissertation.

For more information, please see Professor Mario Crucini, the Director of the Honors Program or go to http://www.vanderbilt.edu/econ/faculty/Crucini/Honors-main.html.

2007
Burcu Basaran, The Law of One Price and the Width of the Border
Professor Crucini

Christopher Handy, External Capabilities
Professor James E. Foster

Judith Ricks, Explaining the Variation in the Proportion of Women Who Major in Economics
Professor Siegfried

Jamin D. Speer, National Evidence on the Effects of Unions on Teacher Salaries Professor Buckles

Joshua L. Taylor, Diffusion of Innovation: Precision Agriculture Services: An Analysis of Limiting Factors in the Distribution Channel
Professor Ahlin

Brian Waters, Overcoming Adverse Selection in Lending Using Dynamic Liability Professor Ahlin

2006
Anne Arlinghaus, Productivity Spillovers from Education in Brazil
Professor Buckles

Frank E. Corrigan III, Is Arson an Economic Crime?
Professor Siegfried

Patrick Hely, The Appearance of Sheepskin Effects for College Women
Professor Siegfried

Jocelyn Lin, The Effect of Macroeconomic Factors on the Financial Performance of Microcredit Institutions

2005
Natasha Adams, Historical Wage Discrimination among Irish Immigrants and the Foreign-born
Professor Atack

Ashley Cargill, Optimal Currency Areas and the Eurozone
Professor Hughes-Hallett

Ryan Thomas Holt, The Effect of Recording Industry Lawsuits on the Markets for Recorded Music*
Professor Getz

Heather Lowman, Industry Pension Benefits: The Effect on Worker Retirement Age Professor Margo

Jonathan Thornhill, Investigating Mixed Strategy Equilibrium in Football
Professor Siegfried

Julia Warren, Re-Examining Richard Easterlin’s Birth and Fortune Hypothesis
Professor Margo

*Essay published in the Vanderbilt Undergraduate Research Journal
http://ejournals.library.vanderbilt.edu/vurj/ vol. 1, Spring 2005