Political Economy Colloquium 

Welcome to the website of the Political Economy Colloquium (PEC) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

Modern political economy may be defined as the study of incentives in group life. The nature of cooperation and competition among individuals and organizations, the role of institutions in structuring individual behavior, and the aggregation of individual preferences into group choice are questions that are central to the study of political economy. Using tools and concepts that originate in economic theory, political economy has grown to encompass theoretical and applied work in economics, political science, sociology, and related disciplines. The Political Economy Colloquium features presentations on a wide range of topics within this field.

Our schedule for 2024/25 can be viewed below. We meet jointly with other Department of Political Science colloquia. In addition to a talk, invited speakers virtually meet with graduate students and faculty members to discuss research. Those who are interested in meeting with speakers are encouraged to contact the graduate student coordinators for the host workshop: Natalie Smith (nlsmith6@wisc.edu) for American Politics, Tatiana Cruz (tdacruz@wisc.edu) and Amit Jadhav (asjadhav2@wisc.edu) for Comparative Politics, Hasaan Parker (hwparker@wisc.edu) and Sloane Ward (skward3@wisc.edu) for International Relations, and Yehzee Ryoo (yehzee.ryoo@wisc.edu) for Models, Experiments, and Data. 

The Political Economy Colloquium is grateful for the generosity of the William R. Keech Fund for Political Economy and the gifts of Department alumni and friends.

2024/25 Schedule

Faculty Director:
Rikhil Bhavnani (bhavnani@wisc.edu)

October 17, 2024: Nicholas Kuipers (Princeton University)


December 5, 2024: Amanda Lea Robinson (The Ohio State University)


January 28, 2025: Cleo O’Brien-Udry (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)


February 21, 2025: Austin Wright (University of Chicago)


February 27, 2025: Vasiliki Fouka (Stanford University)


April 28, 2025: Eunji Kim (Columbia University)



Department of Political Science110 North Hall1050 Bascom MallUniversity of Wisconsin-MadisonMadison, WI 53706
Phone: (608) 263-2414