Economics scholar to give talk at W&J
Phi Beta Kappa visiting scholar Dr. Paula Stephan, professor of Economics at Georgia State University, will speak at Washington & Jefferson College at 7 p.m. Thursday in Yost Auditorium of the Howard J. Burnett Center.
Stephan’s lecture, “How Economics Shapes Science,” is free and open to the public.
“We live in a moment in which numerous factors – from claims that research showing the human impact on climate change is not good science to the influence of investors and corporations on academic research to debates over what kinds of research deserve federal funding – illustrate that what happens in the lab or in the field is deeply intertwined with questions that touch on economics and culture,” said David Kieran, Ph.D., associate professor of history and Phi Beta Kappa chapter vice president at W&J. “Dr. Stephan’s work helps us think about those intersections in a way that models the integrated thinking that we privilege here at W&J.”
Stephan’s visit to W&J will include time spent with students in economics and first-year seminar classes, where she will discuss topics including methods of research, risk in research and gender in science.
In addition to her work at Georgia State University, Stephan is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Her research focuses on the economics of science and the careers of scientists and engineers.
She is the author of “How Economics Shapes Science” and co-author of “Striking the Mother Lode in Science.” She serves on the National Academies Committee on the Next Generation of Researchers, and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and member of the Board of Reviewing Editors, Science. She was named ScienceCareers’ first Person of the Year in 2012.