Rajaram Krishnan, Ph.D.

About me

I teach in both economics and international studies. I have led off-campus programs in Kenya and South Asia and conducted research with students in Singapore. My scholarly interests include issues related to economic development, the environment and globalization. My present research interests are focused on looking at issues related to student preparedness for college and the transition from high school to college. This interest was sparked by a grant I received from a New Directions Initiative sponsored by the Great Lakes Colleges Association.

I enjoy cooking, traveling and reading.

Education

• Ph.D., Boston University
• M.A., Boston University
• B.A., Rkmvivvekanada College

Professional memberships

• American Economic Association

Research projects

Collaborative student research experience

Four students (Kim Hardy, Jonathan Jenner, Virgil Looney and Lukas Manka) took me to Singapore in what I can only describe as a glorious pedagogical exercise. Our project titled ‘Immigrants in Singapore: A Study in Connections, Class and Country’ was a case study of the economic and social transformations that migrants undergo when leaving their home countries to work somewhere else and how these economic and social transformations influence interaction with countries of origin. We surveyed and interviewed a number of groups in Singapore, including American, Bangladeshi, British and Indian immigrants and tried to understand the variances in connections to their places of origin based on class and country.

Off-campus study experience

I have led study abroad programs in Kenya (2002) and South Asia (2005).

The 2005 South Asia Program was Earlham’s first program in that part of the world. The program was centered in South India (mainly Chennai and Bangalore) and Sri Lanka (mainly Kandy). The coursework included courses titled “The Economics and Politics of India (post-1947),” “Issues in Peace Co-existence,” “Conflict Resolution” (a course which looked into the Sri Lankan Tamil crisis), “South Asian Literature,” and “Context, Theory and Practice” where students had the opportunity to study an art form and learn to perform it for a short while. Students also had the opportunity to live with host families in Chennai and Kandy to experience the everyday life of two South Asian families.

Scholarly interest

Over the years I have been interested in issues related to economic development, the environment and globalization. However, my present research interests are focused on looking at issues related to student preparedness for college and the transition from high school to college. This interest was sparked by a grant I received from a New Directions Initiative sponsored by the Great Lakes Colleges Association. In addition, I am interested in and am working on a project in which the aim is to make economic theory comprehensible and relevant to non-economists.

Published works

Presentations

10/2012: High School – College Coordination: The Missing Link in High School to College Transition? – Paper presented at the 19th National Conference on Students in Transition, Philadelphia.

2/2010: What is Global Environmental Governance? – Paper presented at the 51st  International Studies Association Meetings, New Orleans.

7/2009: Economic Theory, Double Vision: The Policy Maker and the Business Person – Invited Lecture at the Thyagaraja School of Management, Madurai, India.

2/2008: Poverty Alleviation and Environmental Degradation –  Paper presented at the 49th International Studies Association Meetings, New York.

Publications

Rajaram Krishnan, Jonathan M. Harris, and Neva R. Goodwin (ed.), A Survey of Ecological Economics (Island Press), 1995.    

“International Economic Relations, Development and the Environment,” in A Survey of Ecological Economics (Island Press), 1995.