The story behind the economics: Providing context by using story-telling to illustrate economic theory

Narrative economics is making headlines these days as economists are beginning to delve into literary and historical works and analyse them in the ways that economists do best, using quantitative and numerical tools to make interpretations. Turning that notion around however, can be equally illuminating, by using the art of narrative to tell a story that illustrates the principles, theories, graphs and equations that economists use. This can be helpful when students become overwhelmed with mastering the technical aspects of economic theory and cannot seem to "see the forest for the trees." The advantage of supplementing these conventional tools with story-telling, is that it provides perspective and gives context which is helpful in understanding economic theory and illustrating its relevance, especially for students.

This paper will describe several narrative assignments that the author regularly uses in classes on international trade and economic development to help make the concepts in those classes come alive. The use of these fictional and non-fictional narratives provides students with an alternative mode of delivery and class discussions on the readings enabling them to process the information in a collaborative environment. The books are assigned as readings in addition to the standard textbooks used in most economics classes. Students write short essay answers to questions about the readings and discuss them in small and large group settings. Student assignments using digital humanities tools to create a story which demonstrates desired learning outcomes in international trade theory, will also be discussed. Sample student products from the assignment will be reviewed.