Could you please introduce your Pre-University College?
“I am teaching a Pre-University College that gives an introduction to behavioral economics. It is targeted at students in their last years of high school to show them what it is like to study at a university. I have 15 students who will attend four three-hour sessions stretched out over the coming months and who will present their own research projects in the fourth and final session.”
Why did you choose this topic?
“Behavioral economics is at the intersection of psychology and economics where we study and test how humans behave in economical situations in real life. I chose this topic because it is my own field of research, which I am very passionate about. It also gives students a good impression of what studying PPE would look like. While we use an economic approach, we answer questions not only from economics, but also from politics and philosophy. For instance, we will look at how markets shape morality, using experiments from behavioral economics to answer an ultimately philosophical question. We will also have a guest lecture by Sanchayan Banerjee about nudging, a tool from behavioral economics often applied by policymakers and politicians to promote for example sustainable behavior.”
What is the link between the Pre-University College and the John Stuart Mill College?
“Next to the topic, students will also experience at this Pre-University College what small-scale education can be like in practice: We only have 15 students, so it is a very interactive classroom, which allows students to get an impression of how PPE is taught at the John Stuart Mill College.”