Besides the collection and careful transcription of historical course syllabi and examination questions from leading centers of economics education in the United States, Economics in the Rear-view Mirror also shares information on the structure of undergraduate and graduate economics programs as well as the granular detail found in the transcripts of individual students.
Recently I posted the Harvard graduate transcript of Edward Chamberlin. Today’s post provides us the Harvard course record of that economist’s economist, Jacob Viner, later of Chicago and Princeton fame.
__________________________
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Record of Jacob Viner
Years: 1914-15, 1915-16
[Previous] Degrees received.
A.B. McGill 1914
First Registration: 28 Sept. 1914
1914-15 |
Grades |
|
| First Year | Course |
Half-Course |
|
Economics 11 |
A |
|
|
Economics 12 |
|
A- |
|
Economics 17 |
A |
|
|
Economics 33 (full) |
A |
|
|
Economics 34 |
B+ |
|
|
German A |
B+ |
|
| Division: History, Government, & Economics | ||
| Scholarship, Fellowship: University | ||
| Assistantship: | ||
| Austin Teaching Fellowship: | ||
| Instructorship: | ||
| Proctorship: | ||
| Degree attained at close of year: A.M. | ||
1915-16 |
Grades |
|
| Second Year | Course |
Half-Course |
|
Economics 2a1 |
|
A- |
|
Economics 2b2 |
|
abs. |
|
Economics 81 |
|
A |
|
Economics 14 |
“excused” |
|
|
Economics 18a2 |
|
cr. for[…] |
|
Economics 31 |
“exc.” |
|
|
Philosophy 182 |
|
abs. |
|
Philosophy 25a1 |
|
A- |
| Division: | ||
| Scholarship, Fellowship: Henry Lee Memorial | ||
| Assistantship: | ||
| Austin Teaching Fellowship: | ||
| Instructorship: | ||
| Proctorship: | ||
| Degree attained at close of year: Ph.D. 1922 (Feb.) | ||
Source: Harvard University Archives. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Record Cards of Students, 1895-1930, Sun—Walls (UAV 161.2722.5). File I, Box 14, Record Card of Jacob Viner.
__________________________
Courses Names and Professors
1914-15
Economics 11. Economic Theory. Professor Taussig.
Economics 121. (half course) Scope and Methods of Economic Investigation. Professor Carver.
Economics 17. Economic Theory: Value and Related Problems. Assistant Professor B.M. Anderson, Jr.
Economics 33. International Trade and Tariff Problems in the United States. Professor Taussig
Economics 34. Problems of Labor. Professor Ripley.
German A. Elementary Course (prescribed for students who cannot show that they have a satisfactory knowledge of Elementary German)
1915-16
Economics 2a1. European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century. Professor Gay, assisted by Mr. A.H. Cole and Mr. Ryder.
Economics 2b2. Economic and Financial History of the United States. Professor Gay, assisted by Mr. A.H. Cole and Mr. Ryder.
Economics 81. Principles of Sociology. Professor Carver, assisted by Mr. Bovingdon.
Economics 14. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848. Professor Bullock.
Economics 18a2. Analytical Sociology. Asst. Professor Anderson.
Economics 31. Public Finance. Professor Bullock.
Philosophy 182. Present Philosophical Tendencies. A brief survey of contemporary Materialism, Pragmatism, Idealism, and Realism.
Philosophy 25a1. Theory of Value. Professor R.B. Perry.
Sources: Harvard University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Course of instruction. 1879-2009; Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1826-1995.
__________________________
Ph.D. in Economics Awarded 1922
Jacob Viner, A.B. (McGill Univ.) 1914, A.M. (Harvard Univ.) 1915.
Subject, Economics. Special Field, International Trade. Thesis, “The Canadian Balance of International Indebtedness, 1900-1913.”
Assistant Professor of Political Economy, University of Chicago.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1921-1922, p. 65.
Image Source: Jacob Viner (pipe smoker in the center) playing cards with Messrs. Grabo, Prescott, and Ralph Sanger (mathematician). University of Chicago Photographic Archive apf1-08487, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.