GPED Forum
About the GPED Forum
Each fall and spring, the M.A./GPED program hosts influential economists and policy experts to present seminars on their important research or development activities. The GPED Forum provides students the opportunity to attend an interesting seminar, learn from the experiences of our speakers, and network. We typically host 2-3 seminars per semester, and each lasts about an hour. Students usually have the opportunity to meet and attend a social event with our visitors while they are here. The GPED Forum is open to current M.A./GPED students and Economics department members as well as to all GPED alumni and members of the Vanderbilt community.
Seminars
Fall 2023
Markus Brunnermeier
Director of the Bendheim Center for Finance, Princeton University
“Resilience”
Past Speakers
Spring 2020
Charles Becker
Research Professor of Economics, Duke University
"Bride Kidnapping in the Kyrgyz Republic: Causes, Consequences, and Assortative Mating"
Fall 2019
Caleb Espinoza, Aaron Ferguson, Arika Kayastha, and Maria Silat
GPED second-year students
"Overview of Economics 7930 course and experiences conducting fieldwork in Chile"
Lorez Qehaja
Senior Consultant, UBO Consulting
"Employment Programs and the Effect of Institutions: The Case of Kosovo"
Hanchen Jiang
Economics Ph.D. candidate, Johns Hopkins University
"Ignorance is Bliss? Rent Regulation, Policy Awareness, and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from New York City"
Collette Wheeler
Economist, The World Bank
"The Global Economy at a Crossroad: Policy Action and Challenges"
Spring 2019
Rebecca West
SEO Content Strategist, Toptal
"L.E.T.S. Play and Experiences Working in Chile"
Enver Guney
Executive Managing Director and Board Member, Uni-Mar Energy Investments
Fall 2018
Ambassador Djani
Indonesia Permanent Representative to the United Nations
"Global Change and the Role of the Multilateral System"
Dr. Damir Esenaliev
Development Economist and Senior Researcher, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
"Researching Social Cohesion in Kyrgyzstan: Lessons form Two Impact Evaluation Studies"
Khaliungoo Ganbat
External Relations Manager, Centerra Gold Inc.
"Making Community Development Agreements in the Mining Sector"
Wondimu Manalew
Economics Ph.D. candidate, Purdue University
"Does Education Reduce Child Marriage? Evidence from an Education Policy Reform in Ethiopia"
Spring 2018
Claudio de Moura Castro
Chair, Advisory Council of Pitagoras College and Director, Faculdaded da Saude e Ecologia Humana
"Does the profit motive hurt the quality of higher education?"
Fall 2017
Panicos Demetriades
Former Governer, Central Bank of Cyprus and Member, ECB Governing Council
"A Diary of the Euro Crisis in Cyprus"
Hanchen Jiang
GPED alumnus and Ph.D. candidate, Johns Hopkins University
"Human Capital Formation in Early Childhood: Implications for Poverty, Inequality and Policy"
Dante Mossi
Senior Operations Officer for Energy Global Practice for West and Central Africa, The World Bank
"Poverty and Paraguay: What works, and why"
Jeff Nugent
Professor of Economics and Business, University of Southern California
"Business Associations in Developing Countries: What Can they Do, How and When?"