Sat 15 May 2004
It isn’t that I object to the existence of the amazing Williams sports web site or to knowing about all the latest breaking news in Williams athletics. Congratulations to Jabe Bergeron ‘04 for a marvelous baseball season.
What I object to is the lack of anything comparable for so much of the academics that goes on at Williams. I would expect that there are at least as many people (alumni and others) who would be interested in reading about the senior honors economics presentations at 4:00 PM today as there are about Bergeron’s exploits. Alas, there seems to be no information available about it.
Who are the seniors that did theses in economics this year? What were the topics? When are they defending them? I am not asking for fancy webcasts, just basic information. This is, obviously, connected to my suggestion that theses should be posted on-line, but need not wait on it. I would worry less about the emphasis that Williams places on athletic success if it put more (public) emphasis on academic accomplishment.
May 15th, 2004 at 12:37 pm
A side benefit to posting theses on line would be the extra incentive to do well. Anything out in the market place of ideas has the possibility of receiving harsh criticism and seniors might take theses that much more seriously.
I don’t know who would read the theses on-line. Maybe there is an alum with a PhD in economics who dreams of teaching at Williams and even reads students blogs and the Berkshire Eagle to keep up with his alma mater. Possibly this person exists, but I doubt it.
May 16th, 2004 at 7:50 pm
This is an excellent suggestion. This year I have been in charge of organizing the honors thesis defenses and meeting regularly with the students writing theses.
I don’t want to post them publicly without their permission, but I have written to them requesting permission to post a copy of the preliminary version of their thesis. As I hear back from them I will post the theses on the web and let your blog know.
I agree with your point that we should be proud of the first rate academic work being done here at Williams, and should do a better job letting people know about it.
– Steve Sheppard
May 17th, 2004 at 9:33 pm
All of the names of honors students, and the titles of their theses are now available on the web. There is a link towards the lower left of the department home page (www.williams.edu/Economics) or you can go directly to:
http://www.williams.edu/Economics/Honors/2004/Honors2004Presentations.htm
Each title is linked to a pdf copy of the thesis. As each student presents their research, we raise questions and challenge them, and this sometimes identifies wording or portions that require change. As such changes are made I will update the files so that the latest version I have will be on the web as well.
There is some interesting research being done by our students, and I hope your readers will get a chance to look (and read) for themselves.
– Stephen Sheppard