Department of Economics, 1936-1987, n.d. | Oberlin College Archives

Oberlin College Department of Economics

ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

1830s to 2000   

Oberlin College ("Collegiate Institute" before 1850), ever since its founding in the 1830s, offered economics as part of the College's social science curriculum.  Listed in the earliest course catalogues is economics (a subject separated off from moral philosophy), as a course of study in a student’s third year for the Collegiate Department's General course, Scientific course, and Teacher's course.  In 1842 the general faculty moved economics from a student's third year to the fourth year.

As economics was a relatively young subject, there were few individuals who were qualified to teach it.  Oberlin recruited Amasa Walker (d.1875) as professor of political economy and history.  He taught from 1842 to 1850; however, during his tenure, he only lectured in Oberlin for a few months every year.  He gave a total of 47 lectures in Oberlin, and they were based on the "national and individual obedience to the law of God...".  After he left, however, it is unclear who taught the regular course in political economy.  Henry Peck taught the course in 1855.  Although the catalogue continued to list this course as a requirement for a student's senior year, it was left to Asa Mahan and Charles G. Finney to sustain the tradition of social sciences at Oberlin.   

The College's appointment of James Monroe (1821-1898) to an endowed chair of political economy and modern history between 1883-1896 was the first step towards establishing a social science curriculum at Oberlin.  Monroe taught the regular offering in political economy during his first years here.  In 1887 he offered an advanced economics course in addition to the traditional “political economy” course.  The political economy course's content would probably be what is now called the “literary” approach, in which economics is tied in with history, politics, and sociology.  This approach, which uses verbal descriptions to prove arguments and theories, most likely used Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, John Stuart Mill, David Ricardo, and the like for texts.

Monroe also started an economics club to discuss various contemporary issues, such as "the labor question: is there a solution", "theory and method of taxation", and "railroads, their origins and problems".  The advanced class in economics studied labor-saving machinery and protection and free-trade issues, among others.  Monroe's experience in government and foreign diplomatic services as U.S. Consul to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1863-1870, provided him with examples and experiences for his teachings.  For example, one unit in the economics course focused on "banking in Brazil".  By making use of contemporary examples, Monroe's students found ways to apply the theories learned in classes and relate them to the lives of American citizens. Monroe's pedagogical method, which remained in place until the end of the decade, fostered a regular social science curriculum at Oberlin.  Among his more prominent students were John R. Commons, Guy Stevens Callender, and R. T. Miller.

Oberlin appointed John R. Commons (d.1945) as associate professor of political economy in 1891.  A young man who studied under Richard Ely of Johns Hopkins University for graduate work, Commons absorbed the new scholarship and new teaching methods while he was there.  Upon arriving in Oberlin he set out to reform the social sciences curriculum using his experiences from Johns Hopkins.  In his one year tenure in Oberlin he expanded the course offerings in social sciences, and he also introduced newer methods and materials into the curriculum, such as the seminar.  He selected more up to date teaching materials by recent authors for his classes, such as texts by his teacher Richard Ely.  This was in sharp contrast to Monroe's personalized teaching.

James W. Black (d. 1934), 1892-1894, replaced Commons after the latter took a post at Indiana University.  Like Commons, Black earned his Ph.D. in Johns Hopkins University.  To no one's surprise, he carried out the educational reforms initiated by Commons.  By 1893, the course offering in economics expanded to nine classes, covering basic topics such as “Money and Banking” and “History of Economic Thought”.  However, he was only able to offer these courses at intervals given the lack of teaching staff.

The economic depression in the mid-1890s created a financial crisis for the college that led to cost cutting measures. The dismissal of Black in 1894, after only two years of teaching at Oberlin, was one such measure.  Because economics was by then a very popular subject in the school, however, students succeeded in forcing the administration to hire a replacement.  In Black's place, the College appointed Thomas N. Carver, 1894-1900.  Trained in both sociology and economics at Cornell University, Carver found himself teaching both disciplines at Oberlin.  However, when Monroe retired in 1896 and was not replaced, Carver was required to teach all the economics, sociology, and politics courses.  Although he tried his best to provide a full social sciences offering with limited resources, the economics offerings declined for want of balance among the three disciplines.

The economics department continued to experience instability for the next few years. When the able and popular Carver left in 1900 to take a professorship at Harvard University, enrollment in economics stood at about 120 students.  Total college enrollment at the time was between 400-500; an enrollment of 120 students in one department clearly indicates the popularity of that department.  As the replacement for Carver the College recruited Ernest L. Bogart (d.1958), who oversaw the continued expansion of the course offering in economics between 1900 and 1905.  In the annual reports to the president, Bogart constantly stressed the under-staffing and under-funding of the economics department--a problem existing since Monroe’s death in 1898.  Responsibility for teaching courses in sociology, economics, and politics was left to one professor.  The expansion of the College's enrollment in the same period put tremendous stress on Bogart as the sole social science teacher.  He felt that he was not doing justice to the social sciences, but was unable to offer any more courses.  He also complained about the inadequacy of library materials, which were out of date for general reading in other economics courses and for a departmental emphasis on individual research in seminar.  When these questions were left unanswered by College administration, Bogart left the department in 1905.  He was replaced by Albert B. Wolfe, 1905-1914, while the same problems of staffing and funding persisted.  In his reports to president Henry Churchill King, Wolfe, like Bogart, repeatedly complained about the lowly state of affairs.  Eventually, in 1909, a new chair was approved.

For the new chair the college appointed Harley L. Lutz, 1909-1923.  With the rapid expansion of the department, the College also appointed Edith Scott Gray in 1912 as instructor in economics.  The expansion allowed the department to offer some fundamental courses on a yearly basis instead of every few years as was done previously.  The increase in the number of staff and course offerings also resulted in enlarging departmental enrollments.  Between the years 1908 and 1912, the total number of “instruction units” doubled.  (Author note: Instruction unit is calculated by multiplying the number of students taking a class with the credit hours of that class.  For example, a class with 10 students that is worth 5 hours will have 50 instruction units.) 

Apparently, the ability of the department to give more staff time to a variety of courses in economics yielded positive results in enrollment.  Professor Wolfe and Lutz believed in not only theoretical side of the discipline, but also in giving students opportunities to experience practical economics.  Sometimes classes traveled to Cleveland and other neighboring areas to visit factories, banks, and other institutions in the economic sector of life.  The purpose of such visits was similar to the activities of Monroe's economics club a generation earlier; both the club and the visits complemented the students' learning in the classroom with what was happening in the real world.  The field trips were popular among students and the practice was kept alive for quite some time.  There are records of similar visits in the late 1920s, but it is a little unclear as to when this practice ended.

The College instituted the system of majors in 1911-1912.  The economics department, still linked with the sociology department in the person of Wolfe, responded by putting forth major requirements; to graduate, students majoring in economics needed to take a list of required courses, as well as some mandatory courses in sociology.  Sensing that a theoretical curriculum can be impractical for many students, Professor Wolfe wrote to the president in 1913 that perhaps a need existed for a business administration major as well to support students seeking business careers.  The department considered an extensive course offering in accounting, but dropped the idea when it was apparent that no specialist could be recruited without additional funding.

Nevertheless, in 1914, the economics department offered four "tracks" in its major.  They included: general, social service, public service, law and business.  By then classes offered was up to 15, and the department established an honors program.  By the second decade the economics department had three full time staff members and one of the largest enrollments in the school, firmly establishing the importance of economics in the curriculum.

Thanks to the continuity in staff appointments, the department experienced a stable decade between 1914-1924.  The only change of significance was in the academic year 1921-1922 when a "journalism" track was added for the major.  However, on the whole the courses required for "journalism" were similar to the "public service" track.  Lutz left in 1923 and was immediately replaced by Harvey A. Wooster (d.1962), 1923-1952.  In the same year the department abolished the four tracks in the economics major; in its place, the department instituted a general economics major.  Each major was required to take 24 hours in the department and an additional 12 in social sciences.  These credit hours could be in history, geography, political science, and sociology.  There were no required courses except for Economics 1.  Further, the major remained fairly unstructured in terms of course progression.  The new requirements for hours were to stay largely the same for the rest of the department's history from 1923 onward.

After years of turmoil and change—between Commons and Bogart—the department moved to a new status with regard to other departments in the College of Arts and Sciences.  Sparked by the administrative reforms of President Henry C. King, the appointment of an academic dean in 1906, and the improved deliberations of the faculty council, the groundwork was laid for departments to develop and mature.  The Wolfe and Lutz appointments also helped to stabilized a department that underwent frequent changes in curriculum and teaching methods in the preceding decade.  The appointment of Wooster, Ben W. Lewis (d. 1986), 1925-1966, and Arthur E. Nilsson (d.1985), 1929-1948, in the 1920s consolidated the gains of Wolfe and Lutz. These faculty members remained at Oberlin for an average of more than 20 years, giving the department a continuity that it much needed.  By the end of the 1920s the department was offering approximately 20 courses with four full-time staff members. 

For the next thirty years from about 1925-1955, in terms of curriculum offerings and organization, the department maintained the status quo.  The enrollment numbers increased steadily, but not as fast as in the earlier years.  The department's work was interrupted during the Second World War when three faculty members—Lewis,  McPherson, Nilsson—went to Washington, D.C. to work for the National Defense Council.  After 1945 the department strengthened itself by appointing William F. Hellmuth, 1948-1969, Kenneth D. Roose, 1950-1961, and Robert W. Tufts, 1953-1986. Along with senior member Ben Lewis, these four men held prominent places in academia and public policy.  Professionally they enjoyed a national, if not international, reputation.  Also of some importance was the way they, especially Ben Lewis, fostered a collegial atmosphere among younger faculty.   

In terms of the curriculum between the 1930s and the 1960s, the most significant change was probably the introduction of Keynesian views in the late 1950s.  Oberlin College, like other economics departments in higher education, began offering courses with a Keynesian emphasis in macro-economic theories.  Also, the department offered a business administration major again in 1942.  The basic curriculum only underwent minor changes largely due to staff appointments.

Major shifts in direction in the economics department occurred after 1961, following the 1961 creation of the College of Arts & Sciences as a Division of Administration and the 1967 naming of Donald R. Reich as dean.  First, the experimentation with a business major was scaled back in 1961, and eventually eliminated in 1969 because the program failed to attract quality students.  In a letter to President Robert K. Carr, Lewis wrote that vocationally oriented business programs invariably attracted the worst students in a school.  He also stated that graduate schools in business were often more interested in students who did economics, sciences, or even the arts in undergraduate studies; the last student graduate schools sought was the student who studied business administration in college.  Therefore, Lewis wrote, the resources spent on the business program should be reduced and the department should rather focus on teaching economics.  Second, the department witnessed the departure of William Hellmuth (Academic Dean, 1960-1967) and Kenneth D. Roose.  Third, the department faced some difficulties in maintaining a lively and responsive curriculum at a time when Oberlin's academic landscape required program reviews.  The Education Commission of the early 1970s introduced marginalized disciplines such as Black Studies, Creative Writing, East Asian Studies, Judaic and Near Eastern Studies, and Women's Studies (1974), but because the economics department did not readily tie in with these other disciplines, it seemed to some observers that it promoted an "old fashioned" curriculum.  As a consequence, the economics department became a little isolated.  During the economic difficulties in the 1970s the department suffered considerable hardship in terms of funding.   

In terms of curricular changes after 1961, the department's curriculum moved towards an emphasis on theoretical and technical approaches to economics.  Following the appointments of Thomas F. Dernberg, 1961-1975, and Robert Piron, 1961-2007, new courses used mathematics as the primary analytic tool.  Furthermore, the department developed new major requirements, leading students to take the introductory principles class as well as two advanced theory courses in both micro and macro economic theories.  The removal of the departmental business major freed up valuable resources to allow the department to teach more theoretical courses.  Although applied economics courses were still offered in 1994, they held a less significant place in the curriculum than previously.  The shift in emphasis formed the basis of the department's organization through the 1990s.

Another significant addition to the curriculum was the introduction of econometrics in 1969.  It was originally intended for advanced students to learn the skills necessary for empirical studies in economics using mathematics in economic analysis.  The problem that prompted the introduction of econometrics was that many of the honors students often lacked the skills necessary to carry out individual projects, and the staff felt that many promising honors project were unsatisfactory thanks to the lack of more advanced analytic skills; offering this course would plug a significant gap in the department's curriculum.  Beginning from the academic year 1979-1980, economics majors were required to take either econometrics or its equivalent in the mathematics department.

The number of staff members grew by 75%, from five to eight since 1961 to 2000.  Enrollment increases in the College and the growing reputation of the department contributed to higher enrollment figures in economics.  Courses offered as of 2000 were  approximately 40 each year given by the eight professors. 

Although enrollment in economics increased over the years, the number of economics major graduates who pursued a Ph.D. in economics declined significantly from the late 1980s to 2000.  Instead, many of them pursued a career in business or banking, while others sought advanced degrees in business related fields.  This decline in students interested in obtaining a Ph.D. in economics led the department to decrease its emphasis on mathematics for students majoring in economics.  Although never formally required, advisors strongly recommended students to take five math courses for the major in preparation for graduate studies before the 1990s.  This was no longer done by the mid-1990s, and was only recommended by the advisor on an individual basis for those who showed an interest in graduate work in economics. 

The economics department of 2000 was not as active in the public sphere as it was in the past decades, but much of this decline in public activity can be attributed to changing social circumstances in the past few decades.  By way of illustration, the Second World War and the flurry of government activities in the decades after fostered an environment in which economists took an active role in consulting and policy planning.  Early twenty-first century society no longer had such needs for economists.  Academically, the economics faculty maintained a steady level of output and a reputation of academic rigor among the different departments in the College.  In the past decade the department also offered new courses in environmental economics, game theory, and experimental economics; the experimental economics program was the only undergraduate program in the U.S.  For the year 1999-2000 the department offered a new course in the use of computer spreadsheets for economists as well.  Coupled with the department responding to new directions in the field, the Arts and Sciences Division assigned one of the four Danforth chairs to the Economics Department.  It appointed Gregory Hess in 1997.  With a good number of senior staff members approaching retirement in the decade after 2000, the department will perhaps see new appointments to address curricular changes in the discipline.

On the whole, however, the Oberlin economics department has been productive despite the difficulties it encountered in its more recent history.  Its many graduates held prominent places in American society.  Alumni such as Walter Heller '35, Albert Rees '43, Nancy Teeters '52, and Daniel Orr '54 drew heavily on their Oberlin experience.  Some recent graduates, such as Robert Turner '78, Joshua Angrist '82, and Leah Modigliani '86 continue the strong tradition started by Ben Lewis and others.  The academic work of the staff members, and its graduates continue to make economics one of Oberlin's more important departments.

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