Is it theoretical? hands on? interactive? how close is the professor with the teachers? could any student please give me some insight into this!
I know that one of the professors (hughman) loves to apply economic theories into science and government based on what hes written. Are all professors who teach economics like that?
CMC’s economics department appears, by faculty publishing, to be among the most scholarly in the nation. By this standard, the department places a rarefied seventh (after Williams, Wellesley, Middlebury, Wesleyan, Hamilton and Colgate) among 197 liberal arts colleges:
CMC student here. I don’t know what a “scholarly economics department” would look like.
That aside, economics professors here are really great (as I’m sure you’ve heard).
It’s not solely theoretical in that professors consistently look to apply the concepts to real world situations, but they are teaching theory as it is an economics course. The upper-levels are where you will find non-theoretical courses like Labor Economics, Public Finance, International Political Economy, Econometrics, Corporate Finance, Financial Statement Analysis, etc. We have a huge number of econ courses in almost any area you can think of.
I’m not sure what you mean by “hands on.” Courses are small (largest classes are 25ish) so it’s very easy to ask questions or get help.
Professors are of course very close with the students. What’s really important to remember, especially in light of merc81’s post is that, although our professors do incredible research like professors at many other “elite” institutions, they chose to come and teach at a school that only has undergrads. Thus their focus and motivation, in contrast to many professors at large research universities or the Ivies, is to teach students. This is consistent across all departments. Professors teach classes, hold frequent office hours, meet with students outside of scheduled hours, are readily accessible by email, host students at their houses, etc.
Best of luck, feel free to PM me with more questions.