The course will involve paper presentations by graduate students. We will choose papers that we feel represent exciting new research in various areas of economic theory. Of course, your original research is also welcome but not mandatory.
The workshop will contain both students at a more advanced level in their research as well as new students coming in for the first time (usually second year students). This second group of students must register for credit. No new student can simply sit in on the course.
We will divide our two hours of time each week into two presentations of 40-45 minutes each, with a break in the middle. (We might also experiment with three presentations of 30 minutes each.) Students will begin by presenting "referee reports" on papers that they read --- not summaries --- and subsequently move on to presenting research proposals and papers.
This course is a requirement for anyone taking Economic Theory as a field, but it will also be a good course for anyone broadly interested in theory (micro, macro, applied). The idea is to push aggressively towards developing and implementing research ideas.
If you are declaring a Field in Economic Theory, this course is a requirement. To pass the course on its own you have to show satisfactory performance. To obtain the Field you will also develop and write an original paper, and regularly attend the Economic Theory workshop on Wednesdays.