Elon University - Department of Economics

Welcome to the tch-econ site. From here you can subscribe, unsubscribe, view the archives of the site and send messages to the discussion list.

Tch-econ resides on a computer at Elon University and is maintained by Jim Barbour of the economics faculty. This is an e-mail based discussion list. The format is deliberate - this technology is most available to those at smaller schools and in remote areas of the world. Additionally, the subscribers have indicated that moving to a web-based discussion list, while more elegant, would be less useful since most of us do not take the time to actively seek out web conversations, but we do all read our email.

To subscribe, unsubscribe, or send a message to the list (subscribers only may send messages), find your circumstance below, and follow the instructions.

managing your subscription to tch-econ

To Subscribe or Unsubscribe an address:

In order to subscribe to the list tch-econ, simply send a message to elon-listserver@elon.edu with subscribe tch-econ "email address you wish to have subscribed", without the quote marks and with the appropriate email address inserted, in the body of the message. For example, I would send a message with subscribe tch-econ barbour@elon.edu in the body of the message.
In order to unsubscribe from the list tch-econ, simply send a message to elon-listserver@elon.edu with unsubscribe tch-econ "email address you wish to have unsubscribed", with out the quote marks and with the appropriate email address inserted, in the body of the message. For example, I would send a message with unsubscribe tch-econ barbour@elon.edu in the body of the message.
In order to send a message to the list tch-econ, simply send a message to tch-econ@elon.edu with the message in the body. Please include a subject line so that the gist of the message is clear to all the subscribers prior to opening.

The archives of tch-econ are maintained by Bob Parks. You may link to the archive here. Thanks Bob!

a brief history of the list

This list grew out of an evening gathering at the Eastern Economic Association annual meeting in 1993. At that time several econ profs were having a conversation about teaching of the "this works and that doesn't" type. As the night wore on and the topics got more and more involved, someone pointed out that it would be nice to be able to continue this conversation over an extended period. This list is the result. Subscription to the list tends to hover in the 250-300 range with representation from all over the world.

the purpose of tch-econ

The topic here is very straightforward. This is a place to discuss ideas related to the teaching of economics. We particularly concentrate on undergraduate university-level teaching, but do occasionally foray into graduate or secondary-school teaching. This is also a place to make contacts and form collaborative teams to work on projects related to the scholarship of teaching and to multi-campus collaborative efforts. For example, several sessions at professional meetings have been initiated from here, at least two collaborative papers began here and there have been quite a few cross-campus teaching activities that began here.

There are only a few rules:
First and foremost - stay with the topic. This list has been very productive in part due to the willingness of the members to take conversations of a dogmatic or pejorative nature elsewhere.

Second - this is not the place to sell anything. It is quite appropriate for a book author to point out how they have dealt with a particularly difficult point in material presentation. It is not appropriate for a book author to post an advertisement for their book.

Third - be civil. We will find ourselves in disagreement (we are economists after all). That is fine. However, these differences are to be aired in civil discourse.

If you ever have any problems with the list, or with anything on the list, please feel free to contact me. I will help in any way I am able.

Jim Barbour, list manager
Department of Economics
Elon University
barbour@elon.edu

+1 336.278.5945