Center for the History of Political Economy

at Duke University

The Center for the History of Political Economy was established in Fall 2008. The purpose of the Center is to promote and support research in, and the teaching of, the history of political economy.

To those ends, we will have in residence each year a number of Center Research Fellows, at Junior (pre- and post-doctoral) as well as Senior levels, who will pursue their own research projects; an active workshop series; as well as small conferences and special events. Fellows will have access to the many archival and other scholarly resources that are available at Duke, among them the Economists' Papers Project (an impressive archival holding that contains, among other things, the papers of seven Nobel laureates), a substantial archival microfilm collection (which includes the Goldsmith’s-Kress Library of Economic Literature and the F.A. Hayek papers), and the extensive holdings of the combined Triangle Universities system (which includes the Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, and N.C. State Universities libraries). To support teaching, Fellows may participate in a space available basis in the many courses offered at Duke in the history of political economy. We also envisage a summer teaching institute, staffed by specialists in the history of political economy, where prospective teachers will gain familiarity with the classic literature and latest teaching techniques to prepare them to become effective classroom guides to this exciting area. Finally, Junior Research Fellows who arrive in the summer may have the opportunity to work together with professional archivists in processing materials within the Economists Papers collection, thereby gaining first-hand knowledge of how an archival collection is put together.

Though housed within the Department of Economics, the Center is interdisciplinary in its focus, as is fitting given the subject of interest. Its Steering Committee and its list of Faculty Affiliates include faculty from Departments of Economics, Political Science, Philosophy, History and English.  

The Center was founded with a significant grant from the John W. Pope Foundation.

For additional information, please contact us.