Christie Swanepoel

Nothing is as strong as gentleness, nothing is so gentle as real strength. ~ Saint Francis de Sales

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa. I have taught at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels which included responsibilities like coordination of modules and moderation of other courses. The courses I have been involved with are: Principles of Economics 133/134; Macroeconomics 152; Microeconomics 151; Macroeconomics 232; International Economics 335; Mathematical Economics 739 and Economic History 740. I was solely responsible for the curriculum design and development of the Economic History 740 course and it was first presented in 2020. I have also been responsible for various administrative duties and served as the primary representative for the Teaching and Learning Committee. More information about my teaching experience can be found on the Teaching page of this site. On the various pages, I outline various aspects of teaching and learning like my teaching philosophy, the evaluation of my teaching, and teaching responsibilities. There are various links to videos and images as evidence of my teaching in various forms. 

My research is mainly focused on economic history, with a specialization in financial history and macroeconomic history. My PhD dissertation investigated the private credit transactions in the Cape Colony for the late seventeenth, eighteenth and early nineteenth century. It focused on the role of wealth, social networks and property rights in these financial transactions. The research aims to understand the long-term development of South Africa's financial institutions. Other completed research includes research about South African monetary policy during the interwar period and the establishment of the savings banks during the nineteenth century. New and continuing research includes expanding on the work done in my PhD by investigating the long-term trends of the integration among European settlers, the network structure of credit trading and networks among freed slaves in the probate inventories. I am also involved in research on the long-term development of education in South Africa. New developing research studies the welfare outcomes of the indigenous population before and during colonisation. The details of my research can be found on the Research page of the site.

I completed my undergraduate and graduate studies at Stellenbosch University and spent time in Amsterdam for both my Masters and Doctorate degree, at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VUA) and the University of Amsterdam (UvA) respectively. In January 2019, I also visited Queen's University Belfast (QUB) on a staff exchange visit. This demonstrates an ability to maintain and build networks outside of South Africa. I am currently working on research papers with co-authors from the United Kingdom, United States, Spain and other local scholars. I am a part of various academic societies and further information on my professional and community engagement can be found on the Professional Networks and Community Engagement page.

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