Teaching Philosophy

I believe that quality economics instruction involves more than simply having a command of the subject matter. It involves developing a feel for the interests and backgrounds of the students in order to convey the course material in ways that are familiar to them. It involves developing a rapport with students so that they are comfortable asking questions. It involves thinking quickly so that most of these questions can be related to the topic under discussion in a meaningful way. In short, it involves encouraging students to ask more questions. I also believe that quality teaching of economics requires the instructor to make the subject timely and relevant to the students' lives. This requires constantly monitoring the news to show the relevance of the topics being taught. It also requires the instructor to be enthusiastic about what he or she is teaching. I was always more interested when my instructors took the time to do these things, and this is why I believe the best teaching requires them all. 

Research Interests

Health Policy, Medicare Part D, Economics of Long term care, Health and Economic impacts of local smoking bans, Determinants of health in Uganda.

Recent Research:

• "The relationships between housing quality and occupant health in Uganda" (with W.E. Herrin and A.M. Balihuta) http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953612008404
• "Medicare Part D Roulette: Potential Implications of Random Assignment and Plan Restrictions" (with R. A. Patel, M.P. Walberg, J.A. Woelfel, and P. Varesh)http://www.cms.gov/mmrr/Articles/A2013/mmrr-2013-003-02-a01.html

Introductory Microeconomics
Introductory Macroeconomics
Health Economics
Mathematical Economics
Computer Applications/Empirical Methods
Pacific Seminar 2 - Media and Social Class
Pacific Seminar 2 - Economic Policy in the News.