FACULTY - Kevin Bowman
Assistant Professor
What courses do you teach at Augsburg? In which program(s)?
I will
be teaching international economics, economic development, intermediate
macroeconomics, and principles of microeconomics in the day and weekend
programs.
Tell me about a memorable classroom experience.
I was in the classroom with my students after the
planes hit the World Trade Center while another plane was still in the
air. Students were anxious because the classroom was so close to the
Sears Tower in Chicago, which became, again, the tallest building in
the U.S. that day. Some students were concerned that it could be a
target. I let them go, but the next time we met was a unique
opportunity. Students were understandably worried about future
terrorists strikes in and of themselves in addition to their effect on
the economy. It was useful to discuss our feelings and how we were
going to move through, rather than denying or being blindly directed
by, those feelings. It was a time that we could discuss the value in
recognizing opportunity in any challenge and the self-correcting
tendencies that both the psyche and the economy share.
Why should someone study in your area at Augsburg?
With
each new stage of economic development, the economy tends to be
integrated in a broader and deeper way. The information-age economy
will be associated with globalization. This is evident. Yet this is
causing great challenges for public policy makers, business leaders,
and many types of workers. Economic theory in the fields of
international economics and economic development speak to these trends
and needs helping students navigate a changing economy with greater
clarity.
Augsburg also has a mission to serve the city and
society. The field of economic development pays close attention to poor
countries and the underprivileged in rich countries allowing students
to contribute meaningfully to foster better opportunities for these
groups.
The small classes at Augsburg and its encouragement of
faculty-student research collaboration allow faculty and students here
to engage one another's interests. There will be opportunities for my
students to be involved in my research including a field this I am
helping to pioneer, integral economics. This field provides an
orienting map for students to bring tools and information they learn
from other courses into their economic analysis while also using tools
from economics more broadly. I also look forward to encouraging
students to pursue their own interests whether or not they coincide
with mine.
In what areas do you conduct research?
I
conduct research in economic growth and development and integral
philosophy. I have some models that explore the relationship between
technological change and wage inequality for advanced and developing
countries. One provides a theory of a transition to the information age
that helps explain the technological slowdown of the 1970s and '80s and
its connection to the increase in wage inequality since 1980. Another
shows that wage inequality adversely affects developing countries
because of its associated education inequality, which prevents adequate
diffusion of new technologies throughout a developing economy.
In
another research track, I have extended the influential neoclassical
economic growth model so that it can be interpreted and informed by
recent breakthroughs in integral philosophy that orient development
data and theory from many disciplines such as psychology, sociology,
cultural studies, and organizational management.
I have papers
published or accepted and forthcoming in the peer-reviewed Economics of
Innovation and New Technology, The Journal of Integral Theory and
Practice, and The Journal of Asian Economics. I was awarded an external
grant from the American Economic Association to participate in Teaching
Innovations in Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
A paper from my dissertation was a finalist for the Illinois Economic
Association Graduate Student Paper Contest.
What else would you like students to know about you?
From most to least recent, I've worked as an
economic consultant, a community development planner, and a loan
officer prior to becoming a professor. I like to share my work
experience with students to give them examples of positions that
economics majors are qualified to pursue, and how my education has
helped me.
I also have a creative side. I've written some songs
and a children's book (where the book stars my two corgi dogs and
incorporates some interdisciplinary development theory). I'm an indie
rock fan. I like to see my students pursue their interests even if they
are not going to be a source of income. Balance in one's life is of
great value whether or not that value is monetary, yes?
Personal Homepage: http://web.augsburg.edu/~bowmank