The Economics Department is pleased to announce the following new courses for Academic Year 2026-2027. For the latest information on offerings, meeting times, and locations, please visit https://internet3.trincoll.edu/ptools/CourseListing.aspx
Fall 2026
Econ 251: Artificial Intelligence, Economics and Society
Professor Hasan Cömert
This course examines recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI) through a political-economy lens. We trace AI’s history and hype cycles, and analyze the techno-economic motives and incentives behind the current wave of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). We compare the dynamics of this period with earlier episodes of technological change, including the first Industrial Revolution, and use this comparison to sharpen our understanding of what is genuinely new and what is not in today’s automation debates.
The course then turns to applications and institutions. We explore near-term impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) in science and medicine, armament and security, finance, and media, and we examine the international political economy of AI: semiconductor supply chains, export controls, standards, and the broader context of United States–China rivalry. Throughout, we connect technological change to core political-economy questions about market power, rents, labor markets, inequality, governance, and crisis dynamics. Prerequisite: C- or better in Economics 101.
Econ 431-70 Money, Inflation, and Financial Instability
Professor Armando Álvarez
This seminar discusses different views on the nature of money, prices, and credit in allocating resources in a self-organized market economy, as well as their connection with sustained inflation and financial instability. The course combines theoretical readings with discussions of the Great Recession and recent episodes of persistent inflation. Among the discussions that we will explore are: what is money? What role do money and prices play in a market economy? Is money a creature of the state or a creature of the market? Is money neutral to economic activity? In modern economies, is the supply of money exogenous or endogenous? Is the interest rate fully controlled by the monetary authority, or does it evolve endogenously with the economy? Is inflation supply-led, demand-led, or potentially either? Why might inflation be problematic? Are financial crises shocks or inherent features of the economic system? What is the current role of monetary policy, and what alternatives exist? Prerequisite: C+ or better in Economics 301 and 302. This course is open to senior Economics majors only.
Spring 2027
Econ 431-03 Religion and Economic Behavior
Professor Randy Cragun
Religious institutions and beliefs shape economic behavior for a large share of the world’s population, influencing decisions related to education, labor supply, fertility, migration, political participation, and social insurance. This seminar examines research at the intersection of economics, sociology, and political economy that studies religion as an economic institution. Drawing primarily on applied microeconomic research, the course explores how economists measure religiosity, identify causal effects of religious participation, and evaluate the role of religious organizations in providing social capital and public goods. Topics include religious competition and regulation, church attendance and social insurance, religion and human capital formation, religious norms and health behaviors, and the economic consequences of religious change and secularization. Emphasis will be placed on empirical strategies that exploit policy reforms, historical shocks, geographic boundaries, and quasi-experimental variation to estimate causal relationships. Prerequisite: C+ or better in Economics 301 and 302. This course is open to senior Economics majors only.
Ec0n 431-72 Ecological Economics & Policy
Professor Valeria Jiménez
Ecological Economics understands the economy as a subsystem of the biosphere, inherently constrained by planetary boundaries and ecological tipping points. This seminar critically explores how these constraints call for an ecological bifurcation—a deliberate and systemic shift in the trajectory of coupled economic and ecological systems—and the role of public policy in guiding this transformative process. Emphasizing the non-substitutability of social, economic, and ecological objectives, it investigates potential pathways toward strong sustainability. We will engage with up-to-date debates on the limits to growth, the role of finance and macroeconomic policy, innovation and socio-technical change, including digitalization and artificial intelligence, international cooperation and geopolitical challenges, and the role of social organizations and civil society in supporting the bifurcation. Prerequisite: C+ or better in Economics 301 and 302. This course is open to senior Economics majors only.
