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Greetings from Hipp Hall.

Some exciting changes have taken place recently, which will affect our economics program.  As of September 1, 2004, what was the Economics and Business Administration Department became two new departments: the Department of Economics and the Department of Business and Accounting.

Initially, the changes that you observe within our department are likely to be subtle: a few changes in our Hipp Hall signs, bulletin boards, and departmental website.  Some will be less subtle.  For example, we will be hiring our own Economics Department Assistant this fall.  

More importantly, as time passes, we believe that the greater agility and focus of the new Department of Economics will lead to new opportunities for students of economics and mathematics-economics at Furman, and we invite you to join us in imagining what some of these possibilities might be.  Needless to say, we are excited about this new structure.

An event-filled year lies ahead for our students and faculty.  We will begin with an informal drop-in for current and prospective economics and mathematics-economics majors on September 23.  On  November 2 and November 3, we will host David Barkley of Clemson, our 2004 Hollingsworth Visiting Scholar.  In addition to presenting some of his own work, David will critique the work of our five Hollingsworth Undergraduate Research Scholars, who worked diligently on their research projects throughout this past summer.  Sometime during the fall, we hope to launch a new political economy forum, in which students and faculty will share short assessments of current economic problems or issues.  During the Winter term, we will organize activities that focus on careers in economics.  Finally, in the Spring term, we will host our annual Marsh and McLennan Lecturer and conclude with our picnic for economics and mathematics-economics majors.

We hope that you find our new website informative and useful, and we encourage you to browse around at your leisure.  If you would like more information about our department or our programs, please don't hesitate to contact me or any of our excellent faculty members in the Department of Economics.

Best wishes,
Ken Peterson
Chair, Department of Economics
(864)294-3043
ken.peterson@furman.edu