COURSES REGULARLY TAUGHT:

Each semester, information on my courses can be found on Hofstra’s Blackboard course websites. In addition to Economic Principles courses, I most often teach the following:

ECO 120. African Labor Economics
3 s.h. Periodically

Work, working people, and working class movements in modern Africa are the focus of this introductory course. Through contemporary and historical cross-country studies of workers in a wide variety of economic, political and institutional settings, we will evaluate rival perspectives on a host of interesting and controversial topics. These include: changing occupational and industrial formations, gender and racial gaps in jobs and income, poverty and inequality, immigration, urban informal employment, worker training and health care, labor unions, and government’s regulatory and job creation roles. Cross-listed as LABR 120 and AFST 120, this course is an elective in Economics, in Labor Studies, and in Africana Studies. Credit given for this course or ECO 120 or AFST 120, not both. This is both a Behavioral Social Science Distribution course and a Cross-Cultural Distribution course.
Prerequisite: one introductory economics course, or LABR 1, or instructor’s permission.

ECO 121. Economics of Discrimination
3 s.h. Periodically

An inquiry into the distribution of income and wealth, with an emphasis on opportunities and returns of minority groups, the economics of discriminatory practices, alternatives in providing greater equity and welfare to victims of discrimination. . This is an elective both in Economics and in Labor Studies. The course is also a Behavioral Social Science Distribution course.
Prerequisite: one introductory course in economics.

ECO 141c. Labor Economics
3 s.h., Periodically

The centrality of work in most people’s lives has made labor issues like job growth, unemployment, skills training, pay and benefits, occupational safety, work force diversity and inequality, immigration, trade unions, labor-management relations, and government employment and labor market programs subjects of great importance and debate around the world. This course introduces students to the main theoretical perspectives and empirical tools used by economists to explain and analyze the multifaceted interactions of workers, employers, labor unions, regulatory agencies, and other institutions. Through both historical and current cross-country studies, the course develops a comparative global framework for analyzing earnings and employment problems and policies. Cross-listed as LABR 141c, this course is required for the B.A. in Labor Studies and for the Certificate in Labor Studies. Credit given for this course or ECO 141c, not both. This is both an Economics elective and a Behavioral Social Science Distribution course
Pre-requisites: ECO 1 or ECO 2 or LABR 1, or the instructor’s permission.

ECO 184. Introductory Research and Report Writing
3 s.h. Spring

Interdisciplinary course in practical methods of empirical analysis of a wide variety of social science issues. Basic techniques of data collection and verification, descriptive presentations in tables and graphs. Introduction to government, business, economic and social science computerized data banks and to the use of the most popular spreadsheet and statistical software for desktop computers to organize data, present them graphically and to test hypotheses. Emphasis on applications to a range of sociological, political, and economic questions, culminating in a term paper based on independent empirical research of one such question. Required for completion of B.A. in Economics.
Prerequisites: QM 1 or BIO 100 or MATH 8 or PSY 140 or SOC 180.

LABR 180. Senior Seminar in Labor Studies
3 s.h. Fall, Spring

An interdisciplinary course focusing on a changing series of labor issues. Each semester, the course will be conducted by a full-time faculty member from the Labor Studies Advisory Committee, aided by occasional guest lecturers. Students produce a substantial research paper by the end of the course, after regular consultation with a member of the Labor Studies Advisory Committee.Required for completion of B.A. in Labor Studies. Prerequisite: senior standing.