Spring Registration 2012
January 23, 2012
Welcome back, everyone, and welcome especially to our new concentrators! All of us who are part of the Harvard Economics Department’s undergraduate program look forward to working with you during this semester. We hope everyone can continue the momentum of Fall term courses through a fruitful and enjoyable Spring.
As you know, all economics concentrators have an assigned advisor. You should already have received a welcome email from your advisor and been alerted to the self-serve list serves organized by class on our website. The website is a great resource for many of your basic questions about requirements, advising, study abroad, honors, and thesis writing. You should also feel free to consult me with particular questions about your program or the department in general. We also encourage you to speak with any of our advisors during daily walk-in office hours at Littauer 111, though you should view your assigned advisor as your primary contact with the concentration and we encourage you to get to know him/her to enhance your sense of place in this large department.
Sophomores (and everyone who needs to take Ec 970): The Sophomore Tutorial this spring will offer many interesting topics from which you can choose. All of the tutorial leaders will give brief descriptions of, and answer questions about, their tutorials at the required course-wide Sophomore Tutorial meeting on Monday January 23rd at 2:00 pm in Emerson 105. Syllabi are available on the course web site: http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k85469&pageid=icb.page483241. Information about choosing and signing up for your Sophomore Tutorial section will be distributed at the course-wide meeting. (Please note that the department does not permit tutorial “shopping.”) Your new class T-shirts with the winning slogan “I joined Economics and all I got was this invisible hand-me-down” will be available in the advising office (111) soon after the semester starts. Sectioning will be completed by Wed January 25th at 5:00pm and first meetings will take place beginning Monday, January 30th. Your section leader will email you any relevant readings that need to be completed for the first class meeting by Friday January 27th. Prerequisites for enrolling in sophomore tutorial are completion of Stat 100/104/110 and either Ec 1010a or 1011a, and concurrent enrollment in (or completion of) Ec 1010b or 1011b.
Also, as a means of welcoming you into the department, you will be invited during the course of the semester to have a small catered lunch with Professor Miron in Littauer to meet a few other concentrators and chat about your concerns, interests, current events, etc.. Please look for an Evite from the department that will contain RSVP instructions for attending one of the lunches offered throughout the Spring. We hope you will take the opportunity to socialize as 'economists' in a more intimate setting!
Juniors: The week after Spring Break, we will hold a meeting for all juniors interested in writing a thesis next year. Thinking seriously about the thesis process in the spring of your junior year gives you an opportunity to explore various topics, make an informed choice, and find an advisor before you leave Harvard for the summer – all of which will give you a great head start on the senior thesis in September.
Graduating Seniors: We have largely automated the process by which we monitor whether you have met all the requirements necessary to graduate as expected. If you have not already done so in the Fall, we require you to make an appointment to meet with your Ec advisor at the beginning of the term and declare which track you plan on pursuing in the concentration (basic, honors, thesis,) and to double check at that time whether you have met the requirements to graduate as expected. In order to take the honors exam and graduate with honors, you must have declared formally that you intend to pursue the honors track. Most of you have already responded to your advisors regarding this, but if you have not, please do!
All Concentrators:
The Department continues to expand the set of cross-listed courses that will count for concentration credit at the Kennedy School and elsewhere at the college. You can always find a current list of those cross-listed course offerings on our website under the Courses tab: http://www.economics.harvard.edu/files/Crosslisted%20Courses_2011-12.pdf
The Department has also worked to make it easier for students to satisfy the writing requirement by having additional courses offer this option. Please see the Writing Requirement tab on the website for a full listing: http://www.economics.harvard.edu/files/Writing11.pdf
The Department is offering 3 new undergraduate electives this Spring including a new Junior Seminar: EC 980w*, Policy Options in Health and Environmental Economics, taught by Professor Ariel Pakes; EC 1310*, The Economy of China, offered by visiting professor Terry Sicular of University of Western Ontario; and EC 1760*, Behavioral Finance, taught by Owen Lamont.
We
all wish you the best of luck with your upcoming semester.
Jeffrey A. Miron
Senior Lecturer
Director of Undergraduate Studies
*Indicates courses meet a writing requirement
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