Economic development is the focus of the next Social Sciences Today Forum at the University of Colorado Boulder.

The event, titled “The Opportunities and Challenges of Economic Development,” features three experts and is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 23, at noon in Old Main Chapel on the CU Boulder campus. Each faculty member will speak for about 15 minutes and then answer questions. The panelists are:

• Andy Baker, professor, political science, and director of the Program on International Development
• Jennifer Fluri, associate professor, geography 
• Keith Maskus, professor of distinction, economics

Maskus will discuss recent global trends in economic development, asking why the process has been so successful in some countries and so stalled in others, including among the major advanced economies. He will also address how economists think about the social problems that often accompany rapid development and what policies might effectively address them. 

Baker will present some of the benefits and costs of economic growth. He will present the human-development approach, which is an alternative vision of developmental goals that favors the expansion of human choice over increased productivity or the preservation of traditional cultures.

Fluri will discuss gender and economic development programs with a focus on the business of international development and post-conflict/disaster development. 

The event is free and open to the public and is sponsored by the Center to Advance the Research and Teaching in the Social Sciences (CARTSS) and the College of Arts and Sciences. The event is organized by the Program on International Development at the CU Boulder Institute of Behavioral Science.

The Social Sciences Today Forum, a series during the school year, is designed to help the public gain broader perspectives and deeper understanding of human society and how individuals relate to the community and one another. This forum brings the knowledge and expertise of social-sciences faculty to the greater community and allows the community to ask questions of leading scholars.