Students Shape Energy Economics and Policy Mini-Course
February 21, 2011
A year ago, when looking to enroll in courses focusing on energy policy, second-year MPP student Brett Cullen was hard-pressed to find more than a few offered at the University of Chicago. So he took matters into his own hands.
“There were very few options available to students interested in energy policy at the time,” Cullen said. “So I thought, what would be better than to bring in somebody who knows a lot about the electricity sector to talk to energy economics?”
With support from the Harris School administration, Cullen, along with fellow classmate Josh Hurd, reached out to energy economics expert Donovan Steele about teaching a series of sessions on the topic.
Steele, an associate principal at McKinsey & Company, is a leading industry consultant in climate change and energy policy where his work focuses specifically on the electricity sector. With a PhD in Atmospheric Chemistry and a certificate in financial technology from MIT, Steele advises the top energy, infrastructure, and transportation companies.
The resulting five-week mini-course, Energy Economics and Policy, was the first of its kind at the Harris School and testament to the groundswell of student interest in energy policy. “The first class had 44 people attend,” Cullen said. “Quite honestly, we thought [we’d need] a smaller classroom, but then after we realized how large enrollment was, we had to change.” The class met Wednesday nights from Jan 5 to Feb 9.
Mini-courses are often used to assess student interest in emerging policy fields or provide coursework in areas of policy that are not taught by faculty. Steele's class, which explored economic incentives and challenges to efficient energy policy, also fit nicely into the rapid growth of energy policy offerings at the Harris School.
This year, the School launched its Harris Energy Policy Institute, an initiative that couples science and policy together through new curriculum and biweekly workshops. Its formation prompted the award-winning Bulletin of Atomic Scientists magazine to move to the second floor of the Harris School and spurned new courses on campus, starting with a nuclear policy class taught by Bulletin publisher and former senior adviser to the president Kennette Benedict.
Meanwhile, the School’s newly founded Harris Energy Association, a student policy organization, has also joined the ranks of student-led efforts to continue expanding the energy policy dialogue taking place.
Cullen says he would like to see a forum for energy policy not only at the Harris School, but also as a University-wide debate. His own experience cultivating courses based on policy interests led him to encourage students with specific interests to influence courses offered.
“If they feel there’s a policy area that’s lacking in Harris, whether it’s a quarter or an entire year, I’d really encourage students to take the first step,” Cullen said. “Take the initiative to find out what you’d like to have offered.”
- Susan Parker
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