The 2014 Summer Institute ended today and the participants began returning to their next destinations or home institutions, but not before several of them gathered in the common room of the Edens dormitory to watch Spain take on the Netherlands in a World Cup rematch of the 2010 final.
Partipants, who came from all over the globe, were treated to two weeks of lectures on aspects of the history of economics. With a faculty consisting of Bruce Caldwell, Steve Medema, Ross Emmett, and Kevin Hoover, the focus was on twentieth-century economics, with lectures on Frank Knight, Ronald Coase, and Friedrich Hayek, among others.
Durham was a big hit with Institute folks. A Durham Bulls game for the entire group and independent trips to have barbecue at the Q-Shack and at the Hillsborough BBQ Company were some of the highlights. A few participants tried to go to Shooters one Thursday night, wanting to experience the kind of American bar that has a mechanical bull, only to find that it was closed. Closed? This really is a different town in the summer, when Duke is not in regular session.
And speaking of things being closed or at least having limited hours, learning that one cannot get coffee on campus before 8am during the summer was a humorous topic of conversation for one at least participant, who happened to be from New York City. But despite that, she found Duke beautiful and the Summer Institute a thrilling intellectual experience.
On Thursday night, a reception was held at Tyler's Restaurant and Taproom in Durham's American Tobacco district.
Not all participants will be leaving Duke immediately. At least one will spend several weeks here working with collections in the Economists' Papers Project.
For more on the Summer Institute, please visit the Institute's homepage.