DUS Letter


January 18, 2024

 

Dear Ec Concentrators,

 

The spring semester is here! We hope you had a restful break, and all of us in the Economics Department are excited to welcome you back.

 

As you know, Spring 2024 was the first semester that followed the prior term registration model and course registration was held last November. Open add/drop for Spring 2024 began on January 8th and will continue until January 29th. During this period, you can add and drop courses without needing instructor permission for most courses. After January 29th, add/drop continues until February 20th but requires instructor permission for all course-adds. If you have any questions about this or anything at all, please come talk with an advisor in Economics Advising Office Hours.

 

Advising Office Hours open for the semester on Monday, January 22nd and provide 30 hours a week of drop-in, one-on-one advising with our Ec Advisors.

 

As a reminder, you can find advising details, course information, job opportunities, and loads of other information on the Economics Department website.

 

First-Years: Please visit our office hours anytime to discuss your interest in Economics! We would love to talk with you.

 

Sophomores: If you were hoping to take Ec 970 in Spring 2024 but did not enter the lottery in November during course registration, please reach out to Anne Le Brun and Justine Johnson to see if there are available slots. See the Ec 970 Canvas site for details and contact information.

 

If you are a first-semester sophomore, your Declaration of Concentration is due on March 27th.

 

Juniors: If you were hoping to take an Ec 980 Junior Seminar in Spring 2024 but did not enter the lottery in November during course registration, please reach out to the course instructor to see if there is space in the course. Junior seminars are a great opportunity to work closely with an Ec faculty member, take a deep dive into an economics research question, and apply all the economics knowledge you've learned over the previous 2.5 years.

 

Still need to take an Ec 970 Sophomore Tutorial but didn’t register in November? Check out the information above (“Sophomores”) and see the Ec 970 Canvas site for details.

 

In March (date TBD), we will hold a meeting for juniors interested in writing a senior thesis. Starting the thesis process during your junior year can help give you a great head start for your senior year! For now, if you have questions about potentially pursuing a senior thesis, please reach out to me or any of your Ec advisors.

 

Seniors: If you have questions about whether you have completed your Ec degree requirements and have not yet spoken with an Ec Advisor, please reach out to your advisor as soon as possible. Make sure your concentration advisor knows your track choice (Basic, Advanced Course Track, Thesis). You will not be registered for the Honors Exam unless you declare an honors track (ACT or Thesis). Please note that the Honors Exam will be held on April 3, 2024. 

 

If you are first-semester senior (Spring 2024 is your seventh semester), you have the option to pursue an “off-cycle” Ec Senior Thesis for Spring 2024-Fall 2024. If you are interested in pursuing a Spring-Fall 2024 thesis, please write to econundergrad@fas.harvard.edu as soon as possible.

 

Courses to Note

There are many excellent economics electives on offer this semester, which you can browse here.

GH 726, “Economics of Global Health and Development” with Dr. Matthew Basilico, is a new course this semester and will count as an economics elective. If taken for a letter grade, this course can be used to meet the economics writing requirement. To ensure that GH 726 gets counted for your Economics concentration (since it is a cross-registered course), you will need to fill out this petition and have it signed by an advisor in office hours. Dr. Basilico has previously taught Econ 1343 “The Economics of Development and Global Health.”

 

Finally, Economics Department’s statement and initiatives on Diversity and Inclusion can be found on the Department website.We also have a private email address (letECknow@fas.harvard.edu) for anyone to report issues related to diversity, inclusion, racism, or any concerns related to your experience of, in, and with the Economics Department. We promise to take your concerns seriously and, when appropriate, discuss them with others to improve the well-being of members of our community.

 

If you have any questions, please contact us or visit us in Ec Advising Office Hours.  We wish you all the best for the coming semester, and we look forward to seeing you soon.

 

Warm regards,

Jeffrey A. Miron

Senior Lecturer

Director of Undergraduate Studies