Academic

My observations about teaching a shareholder activism course in the midst of ongoing changes regarding such activism reminded me of a New York Times article on the manner in which college campuses are incorporating the financial crisis into their curriculum.  The article notes that such incorporation is not just occurring in the settings that you would expect such as economic departments and business schools, but it is also happening across the curriculum in courses such as political science, sociology and even English literature.  The article struck me as having a couple of different take away points.

First, the fact that college campuses are incorporating issues related to the financial crisis, and doing so across the curriculum, could mean that we will see a different student population in law school--one that is potentially more cognizant of corporate/business/financial issues, and hence more interested in such issues.  Or at the very least, perhaps a population that has a more sophisticated vocabulary related to such issues.   Any or all of that certainly cannot hurt, and could in fact have a positive impact on the financial literacy of young adults--which, as I noted previously, appears to be a problem.

Second, as the article notes, "the extreme behavior of the economy has provided the ideal talking points for age-old theorems."  I think this is a very important point.  That is, incorporating the financial crisis into the curriculum is not all about developing new courses and/or totally revamping existing ones.  Instead, it may be the perfect opportunity to bring to life seemingly stale doctrine.

Third, the crisis may present an opportunity for students to develop better, or at least different, research and analytical skills.  As the article notes, books simply cannot come out fast enough to address all of the changes occurring.  This means that we must look at other sources for learning in this area.  And this may mean looking more closely at primary sources.  For example, wading through proposed legislation. Because that sometimes may mean upwards of a thousand pages, it also may mean a tedious process.  Yet, if it occurs with greater frequency, it may expose more college students to reading and interpreting statutes before they hit a corporations or securities law course.  Certainly not a bad thing.

Ultimately, while the article concludes that students may be becoming more cynical about our ability to respond to the economic issues we are confronting, students nevertheless seem to be energized by course changes that encompasses the economic crisis.  And I must admit that while these times are challenging and even frustrating, it is certainly nice to see students (and college campuses for that matter) energized around the type of subjects on which we focus.