An e-learning platform to change economic thinking
Disappointed by the one-sided and narrow approach to economics teaching at most universities, students and young scholars created the online learning platform Exploring Economics, a virtual university for pluralism in economics. The platform’s mission is to offer an alternative to neoclassical teaching by presenting theories and themes of different economic schools of thought. It has a unique way to systematise the diversity of economic approaches by comparing theories based on scientific categories, which are visualized in graphs. The platform consolidates materials such as videos, texts and dossiers which allow a creative analysis of economic issues surrounding inequality, financial crises, money and debt, and the environment and resources, to name a few. Exploring Economics strives to enrich economic teaching as well as to promote self-criticism, reflection and openness within economics. As an open educational resource, the use of Exploring Economics’s material is free of charge.
Since the launch of Exploring Economics in December 2016, we received terrific feedback and had more than 41,000 pageviews in the first month, as well as visitors from over 160 countries until now. Professors around the world have recommended Exploring Economics to their students and some have integrated the platform into their curriculum. In addition, Exploring Economics has organized an international writing workshop for students and young scholars, and has begun cooperating with two universities and the Summer Academy for Pluralist Economics.
But it is not enough. We want to reach more students, lecturers and interested people. But to do this we need your help: #changeeconomics
With the initial target of € 20,000 we will be able to finance Exploring Economics and carry out the following activities until December 2017: integrate new materials and courses into the website, expand our partnerships with universities and offer writing workshops on plural economics for students and young scholars. In order to achieve this, we need financial support for the IT infrastructure, the employees who maintain and update the website, and coordinate volunteer work and partnerships, as well as funds to support the writing workshops. The aim of a writing workshop is that the participants critically deal with current problems in the economy and society and analyze them from the perspective of different economic schools of thought. These reflections lead to the creation of an essay, text, video or podcast, which is published on Exploring Economics.
And what if we raise more money? Each additional € 66,66 will be used to finance another day of keeping Exploring Economics active and updated from January 2018 onwards.
You can help us out by spreading the campaign with the assets you will find in our Mobilization Kit.
Join, share and #changeeconomics
Exploring Economics was born in 2015, as the idea of a group of students and young scholars from the German-speaking Network for Plural Economics (Netzwerk Plurale Ökonomik) which forms part of ISIPE, the international student mouvement for pluralism in economics. When the founders saw that their economic teaching at university had little to say about what they observed in their daily lives or in regards to global challenges such as rising inequalities, economic crises, climate change, they realised they had to create and compose a virtual university to provide the space for critical economic thinking they wished they had.
So that was why, some fiveteen students and young scholars joined together and started to meet in order to conceptualize a virtual university for plural economics. What started as a first informal scattered meeting, became a project with a heavy workload that incorporates many people. Thanks to the funding of a German public research institution, the Institute for Societal Advancement (FGW) and the Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK), it was possible to employ a small team, to pay the coding of the webpage and eventually to launch the platform in December 2016 after a year of intense work.
What is the mission of the project team of Exploring Economics? To reach more students, lecturers and interested people in order to, eventually, change economic teaching into an economics where people and the planet actually matter.
Find out more at exploring-economics.org.
Exploring Economics in the media
2017
May, 15: Handelsblatt Orange online (German): Warum lerne ich in VWL so wenig über Wirtschaft? [ Why do I learn in economics so little about the economy?]
May, 14: WirtschaftsWoche online (German): Plurale Ökonomen. Neue Lehren für die Volkswirtschaft [Plural economist. New teaching for economics]
May, 11: DIE ZEIT (German): Denken können wir selbst! [translation: We can think ourselves!]
May, 9 taz (German): Bildungskanon an der Uni. Crowdfunding gegen Neoklassik [Curriculum at the university. Crowdfunding against neoclassic]
May, 5: Frankfurter Rundschau (German): Einseitige Lehre [The one-sideness of teaching]
May, 5: WirtschaftsWoche (German): Der Volkswirt (only print) [The economist]
March, 14: Blog Postwachstum (German): Vielfalt für den Wandel: Exploring Economics [Diversity for Change: Exploring Economics]
2016
December, 20: Institute for New Economic Thinking (English) : A New Tool for Teaching Pluralist Economics
December, 19: Netzpolitik (German): Plattform „Exploring Economics“ und Buch „Wirtschaft neu denken“: Offene Lernunterlagen für Öffnung der Ökonomie [Platform “Exploring Economics” and book “Rethinking the economy”: Open learning materials for opening up the economy]
Contact us
info@exploring-economics.org