Washington Area Economic History Seminar (WAEHS)

Upcoming Speakers

Dinner at 6:00 PM; Seminar to follow, 7:00-8:30 PM

April 26, 2024: David de la Croix, UCLouvain
Title TBA
Location: Mercatus Center at George Mason University
RSVP to Dr. Ginnie Choi (gchoi@mercatus.gmu.edu) by Monday, April 22

Past Speakers

Spring 2024 Speakers

March 1, 2024: Zach Ward, Baylor University
"Like Grandparent, Like Grandchild: Multigenerational Mobility in American History?"
Location: University of Maryland Baltimore County

Fall 2023 Speakers

November 3, 2023: Allison Shertzer, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
"The Long Run Impact of Zoning"
Location: Mercatus Center at George Mason University

December 15, 2023: Andrea Ferrara, University of Pittsburgh
"What Makes Effective Leaders: Evidence from Civil War Captains and their Soldiers"
Location: University of Maryland Baltimore County

Spring 2023 Speakers

April 7, 2023: Vellore Arthi, University of California Irvine
"Financial Scarring and the Failure of the Freedman's Savings Bank"
Location: University of Maryland Baltimore County

April 28, 2023: Luigi Pascali, Universitat Pompeu Fabra
"The Dawn of Civilization: Metal Trade and the Urban Revolution"
Location: Mercatus Center at George Mason University

Fall 2022 Speakers

October 28, 2022: Walker Hanlon, Northwestern University
"A Penny for Your Thoughts"

December 2, 2022: Maggie Jones, Emory University
"Competition and Discrimination in Public Accommodations: Evidence from the Green Books"

Spring 2020 Speakers

February 28, 2020: Craig McMahon, Villanova University
"Can the Government Run a Bank?"

Fall 2019 Speakers

October 4, 2019: Nancy Qian, Northwestern University
"Choosing Racial Identity in the United States, 1880-1940"

November 1, 2019: Felipe Valencia, UBC

Spring 2019 Speakers 

April 5, 2019: Jose Espin-Sanchez, Yale University
"La “Doña” è Mobile: the role of Women in Social Mobility in a Pre-modern Economy"

April 19, 2019: Taylor Jaworski, University of Colorado at Boulder
"Spillover Effects of IP Protection in the Inter-war Aircraft Industry"

May 3, 2019: Leticia Arroyo Abad, City University of New York - Queens College
"The Long Shadow of History? The Impact of Colonial Labor Institutions on Economic Development in Peru"

Fall 2018 Speakers 

September 28, 2018: Petra Moser, NYU Stern
Location: GMU Mercatus Center

November 2, 2018: Eugene White, Rutgers
Location: American University
Sponsored by: Federal Reserve Board 

November 16, 2018: Vincent Geloso, Bates College
Location: American University 

Fall 2017 Speakers

September 1, 2017: Dave Donaldson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Location: George Mason University

October 6, 2017: Eric Hilt, Wellesley College
Location: American University

November 3, 2017: Lisa Cook, Michigan State University
"Violence, Segregation, and Economic Activity, 1880-1940"
Location: American University

Spring 2017

February 3, 2017: Werner Troesken, University of Pittsburgh
Location: University of Maryland

March 3, 2017: Farley Grubb, University of Delaware
Location: American University

April 21, 2017: Joel Mokyr, Northwestern University
Location: George Mason University

May 12, 2017: Debin Ma, London School of Economics
Location: George Mason University

Fall 2016

September 30, 2016: Noel Maurer, George Washington University School of Business
Location: George Mason University

November 4, 2016: Amanda Gregg, Middlebury College
Location: American University

Spring 2016

February 5th, 2016: Nic Ziebarth, University of Iowa
Location: American University

February 26, 2016: John Tang, Australian National University
Location: University of Maryland, College Park

April 8th, 2016: Murat Iyigun, University of Colorado-Boulder
Location: George Mason University

For a list of speakers from 2001-2015 please contact econ@american.edu.

A Brief History

Founded in the mid-1970s by Cynthia Taft Morris, the Washington Area Economic History Seminar (WAEHS) holds monthly meetings throughout the academic year. The seminar traditionally meets on the first Friday of the month and invites prominent economic historians to present their current work. Past speakers include Nobel laureates Douglass North and Robert Fogel.

The late Cynthia Taft Morris, who taught for many years at American University, hosted the seminars at AU before it expanded to include other sites such as the University of Maryland, College Park, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Johns Hopkins University, and George Mason University.

The current organizers of the WAEHS are Mary Hansen and Gabriel Mathy (AU), Michael Andrews (UMBC), and John Wallace (UM).