President’s Welcome
Richard Gosselin
Houston City College / NETA
About your host & videoAbout this session
Join Richard Gosselin for the opening welcome. This takes place in the same Zoom room as Wayne Geerling’s session.
22nd Economics Teaching Conference
Thursday, October 22, 2026 · Live online
All times shown in Eastern Time.
Richard Gosselin
Houston City College / NETA
About your host & videoJoin Richard Gosselin for the opening welcome. This takes place in the same Zoom room as Wayne Geerling’s session.
Wayne Geerling
University of Texas at Austin
Speaker bio & videoSocial Media and Pop Culture in the Classroom. Explore how television, music, social media, and sport can make economic concepts engaging and memorable.
Brian Domitrovic
Laffer Center
Speaker bio & videoConnect turning points in American tax history to incentives, investment, entrepreneurship, and growth.
Linda S. Ghent & Alan P. Grant
Eastern Illinois University / Baker University
Speaker bios & videoUse alliances, credible commitments, cooperation, and conflict in Game of Thrones to bring strategic thinking into the classroom.
Florencia Gabriele
Berklee College of Music
Speaker bio & videoA hands-on working lunch about turning classroom ideas into interactive simulations while keeping learning goals and instructor judgment at the center.
Jadrian Wooten
Virginia Tech
Speaker bio & videoExplore the incentives, budgeting, public choice, regulation, and policy tradeoffs behind life in Pawnee.
J. Brian O’Roark
Robert Morris University
Speaker bio & videoConsider what the Harry Potter universe reveals about institutions, technology, trade, incentives, and everyday economic choices.
Stephen Chew
Samford University
Speaker bio & videoDraw on cognitive psychology to understand students’ assumptions about learning and help them develop more effective study habits.
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The people behind the ideas
Get to know the educators, explore their work, and watch a preview of the day.
Welcome
Houston City College / NETA
Richard Gosselin is a professor of economics at Houston City College, founding president of the National Economics Teaching Association, and holder of the Ewing Endowed Chair of Teaching Excellence. He has taught since 1989 and served in a variety of academic leadership roles.
His teaching brings together classroom experiments, simulations, storytelling, and reflective writing. His work emphasizes the conversations and reflection that help students turn an engaging activity into lasting economic understanding.
Opening
University of Texas at Austin
Wayne Geerling is a Professor of Instruction in Economics at the University of Texas at Austin. His work spans economics education, economic history, and the use of multimedia in teaching. He has also coauthored principles of economics textbooks.
He draws on television, film, music, social media, and online video to connect economic ideas with students’ everyday lives. His approach helps instructors use familiar cultural moments to make abstract concepts clearer and more memorable.
Session 2
Laffer Center
Brian Domitrovic is the Richard S. Strong Scholar at the Laffer Center. An economic historian, he studies American taxation, economic growth, and supply-side economics. He earned his doctorate in history at Harvard University, where he also pursued graduate study in economics.
His books include Econoclasts and The Emergence of Arthur Laffer. He coauthored JFK and the Reagan Revolution with Lawrence Kudlow and Taxes Have Consequences with Arthur Laffer and Jeanne Sinquefield. His work connects tax history with incentives, investment, entrepreneurship, and growth.
Session 3
Eastern Illinois University / Baker University
Linda S. Ghent is Professor Emeritus of Economics at Eastern Illinois University. Her work includes economics pedagogy, voting, and aging. She has served as an editor of the Journal of Economics Teaching and as a leader in NETA.
Alan P. Grant is Professor Emeritus of Economics at Baker University. His writing explores lotteries, public economics, and the use of popular culture in teaching.
Together, they are the authors of Seinfeld and Economics and the forthcoming Game Theory of Thrones. They use familiar stories to explore incentives, credible commitments, cooperation, conflict, and strategic decision-making.
Working lunch
Berklee College of Music
Florencia Gabriele is an Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music, where she teaches economics, finance, taxation, and music business. She earned her doctorate in political science at Northeastern University and pursued graduate study in international economics and finance at Brandeis University.
Her interests bring together political economy, instructional design, and active learning. She explores how artificial intelligence can support faculty creativity and the development of classroom simulations while keeping learning goals and instructor judgment at the center.
Session 5
Virginia Tech
Jadrian Wooten is a Collegiate Associate Professor of Economics and Director of Undergraduate Studies at Virginia Tech. His teaching and scholarship focus on economics education, pedagogy, and applied topics including sports economics.
He is the author of Parks and Recreation and Economics and directs the Econ Media Library. He uses television, film, sports, and popular culture to help students connect economic models with public policy and everyday decisions. His session explores the economic lessons behind life in Pawnee.
Session 6
Robert Morris University
J. Brian O’Roark is a University Professor of Economics and B. K. Simon Fellow at Robert Morris University. He earned his doctorate in economics at George Mason University. His work includes public finance, information security, sports, and economics education.
He is the author of Potternomics: Why Wizards Still Live in the Dark Ages and Why Superman Doesn’t Take Over the World, and edits the Routledge Economics and Popular Culture series. He uses fictional worlds to help students examine institutions, incentives, and tradeoffs.
Closing
Samford University
Stephen Chew is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Samford University. A cognitive psychologist, he taught at Samford for more than three decades and chaired its psychology department from 1993 to 2019. He is nationally recognized for his work on teaching and learning.
His video series How to Get the Most Out of Studying helps students develop more effective study habits. His work examines metacognition, misconceptions about learning, and the strategies students need to monitor their understanding, study effectively, and persist through challenges.
Biographies adapted from the NETA 2026 conference program. Video previews require an internet connection.
The economics game room
Two challenges. Play at your own pace.
Twenty questions about the economists, books, and theories that shaped the discipline.
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Play economics triviaOpen the original on econteach.comTest what you know about Silicon Valley Bank, the panic, and the policy response.
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Thursday, October 22, 2026
Free, live online conference.
40-minute presentations + 10-minute Q&A, with a 10-minute break between sessions.
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