LEARNING BY TOURING
EOTM partners with universities and community organizations worldwide in formulating economics courses that take students on behind-the-scenes tours showcasing how economics gets used in everyday business operations. Our tours not only give students examples of textbook concepts and theories put into practice but also introduce them to cutting-edge innovation, best business practices, and exciting career opportunities.
Panteka Industrial Cluster, Nigeria
Panteka Industrial Cluster in Yola, Nigeria, is comprised of talented artisans who recycle waste into everyday items such as deep freezers and spare automobile parts. Panteka not only provides students with a contextual example of sustainable development but also offers opportunities for capstone projects in development engineering, marketing, occupational safety, and microfinance. EOTM Executive Director Dr. Daniel Barkley (pictured) has led the American University of Nigeria students on numerous Panteka tours.
Sony Pictures, Los Angeles
EOTM collaborated with Community Build, Inc. of Los Angeles, on a course designed to prepare South LA high school students for taking advanced placement (AP) economics. Taught and developed by Dr. Titus Levi (pictured wearing a hat), this course included a behind-the-scenes tour of Sony Picture’s backlot studios and a panel discussion on the marketing and production aspects of the movie industry led by Sony's Senior VP of Production Administration, Andy Given. These students subsequently completed at least one AP economics course by the end of the academic school year.
Machu Picchu Citadel, Peru
Economics On The Move recognizes the value of interdisciplinary studies and offers tours that blend economics with multiple disciplines. For example, in 2019, EOTM Vice President Dr. Humberto Caspa (pictured, red shirt, no hat) and his students from Universitaria Juan de Castellanos in Colombia toured the Machu Picchu Citadel to learn how economics influenced and shaped the institutional development of Incas society as well as contemporary Peruvian legal institutions. Dr. Caspa notes, "academic readings helped my students learn a lot about Institutional Incas society, but visiting the Machu Picchu sites complemented our texts giving students a real-life, interactive learning experience.”
See You Again, Beijing
SYA (See You Again) is a 24-hour restaurant created by econ and business students attending the International College Beijing and Beijing Forestry University who wanted to give Beijing college students a place where they could study late at night and enjoy midnight snacks. Students designed the restaurant decor, the menu, and even the bathrooms. Students financed SYA from the contribution of 400 college students, and each invested 1,000 RMB. SYA tour (pictured, featuring China Agricultural University Managerial Economics students) offered excellent examples of Microfinance, Break-even analysis, Shut-down decisions, Pricing, Investment decision, and Hold-up problems.
The Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati
Today’s Learners, Tomorrow’s Leaders (TL2) is a Microeconomic Principles course EOTM developed with the Economics Center at the University of Cincinnati to give local high school students a jumpstart on their college education. TL2 featured behind-the-scenes tours that showcased how Greater Cincinnati area enterprises used economics in their everyday operations. TL2 tours included P&G, Citibank, Luxottica, Toyota, General Electric, Cincinnati Association for the Blind, and The Great American Ball Park (pictured). Students who successfully completed TL2 earned three transferable college credits from the University of Cincinnati.
Sapphire Energy, San Diego
Sapphire Energy (pictured) developed the world's first commercial green crude farm capable of producing 91-octane gasoline using nothing more than sunlight, carbon dioxide, and algae. This Sapphire tour was part of a Microeconomics course EOTM Executive Director Daniel Barkley (pictured) developed with the University of California, San Diego’s Academic Connections (AC). AC is a summer enrichment program that connects high-achieving high school students with college subject matter courses. The Sapphire tour gave students examples of how marginal costs drive production and investment decisions and how the company’s strategic planning allowed for expanding its network to include business agreements with industry-leading oil & gas refiners. Other Academic Connections tours included Qualcomm, San Diego County Board of Supervisors, San Diego Civic Center, San Antonio Winery, Sony Pictures, and the San Diego Water Reclamation plant.
