Economist's Toolkit
Instructors
MARSZALEC Daniel Janusz
Term / Language / Credits
A1A2 / English / 2
Objectives
This course aims to teach skills that will help you along your career path to being a successful economist. We will cover a range of research skills, advice on writing, presentation and effective delivery of your work.
Keywords
Research skills, academic writing, presentation skills, effective delivery
Schedule
The writing and research-skills component will cover:
- Refresher of essay-writing basics
- Where, and how, to look for ideas for your first (or tenth!) paper
- “Do”s and “Don’t”s of the early stages of research
- Advice for writing your first draft, and structuring your paper
- Revision, refinement and re-writing
- Academic writing style in economics
- Journal submissions, dealing with journal feedback and writing referee reports In the presentation component, we will cover:
- Differences between academic and non-academic presentations (and advice on how to structure both)
- How NOT to present your paper (i.e. why you rarely follow a whole seminar)
- Designing your slide decks
- Advice on presenting figures, stats, graphs and equations
- How to deal with questions, and interruptions
- Presentation technique (voice use, body language, and managing your audience)
Teaching Methods
Lectures, and student presentations
Grading
TBD (Likely: homework, end-of-term presentation, and possibly timed writing)
Required Textbook
A reading list will be provided at the first lecture
Reference Books
Some useful references are as follows.
For writing and research skills:
Booth, Wayne C., Colomb Gregory G. and Joseph M. Williams, The Craft of Research, University of Chicago Press, 2008
Feibelman, Peter J., A PhD Is Not Enough!, Basic Books, 2011.
Strunk, W. Jr. and E. B. White, Elements of Style, Longman, 1999
McCloskey, Deirdre, Economical Writing, Waveland Pr., 1999
For presentations and delivery:
Reynolds, Garr, Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery, New Riders, 2011
Pink, Daniel, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, Marshall Cavendish, 2008
Williams, Robin, The Non-Designer’s Design Book, Peachpit Press, 2003
Notes on Taking the Course
Please bring a notepad and a pen - we will occasionally do some writing in class. Though the main topics in the syllabus are as outlined, there is scope for covering additional topics that are of student interest. If there is something you would like to cover, and it is not listed above, please contact me.
Course-Related Websites
daniel.marszalec.com