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Mellby lecture to focus on Latin American trade

By Tom Vogel
March 7, 2007

Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for Innovation in the Liberal Arts David Schodt will present the spring Mellby Lecture Thursday, March 8, at 7:30 p.m. in Buntrock Commons, Viking Theater. Schodt's lecture, "Commodity Connections: Latin America and the United States," will focus on how the production of commodities commonly produced in Latin America -- copper, cacao, coffee and bananas -- have contributed to the development of the region.

SchodtDavid
"As someone who teaches courses with an international focus, I am particularly interested in how commodities may be vehicles for connecting the familiar with the foreign," says Schodt.
Inspiration for the lecture's theme came from Schodt's work with the Peace Corps in Ecuador during the 1970s. Later, when Schodt began research for a book about Ecuadorian economic and political history, he developed a more invested interest in the subject. "I began to appreciate the ways in which successive commodity booms -- in Ecuador's case cacao, bananas and petroleum -- had shaped the country's economic and political development," he says.

Schodt's focus on Latin American economic development has been interwoven into much of his work since his time there with the Peace Corps three decades ago. Since then he has returned to Ecuador as a Fulbright Research Fellow, written Ecuador: An Andean Enigma (Westview Press 1987) and co-authored The Administration of Justice in Ecuador (Centro para la Administracion de Justicia 1993), as well as numerous articles on Ecuadorian political economy. Schodt also edits the Ecuador: Economy section of the Handbook of Latin American Studies for the Library of Congress.

"I'd like the Mellby Lecture audience to leave with a different understanding of commonplace commodities, such as coffee and bananas," says Schodt. He notes that St. Olaf consumes a great quantity of these commodities every day, and he hopes his lecture will provide new insights into the consumption of these goods.

Schodt has been a member of the St. Olaf faculty since 1977. He earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Cornell University and his master's of public administration/policy analysis and his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His primary teaching responsibilities include microeconomics, economic development and several courses on Latin America.

The Mellby Lecture series was started in 1983 in memory of St. Olaf faculty member Carl A. Mellby. The lectures were established to let St. Olaf faculty share their research with others. Mellby, known as "the father of social sciences" at St. Olaf, started the first courses in economics, sociology, political science and art history at the college. He was professor and administrator from 1901 to 1949, taught Greek, German, French, religion and philosophy, and is credited with creating the college's honor system.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.