Mads Barbesgaard

Despite the centrality of economic theories (including political economic theories) in human geographic research, there is a massive shortage of courses covering this topic in many human geography departments. In this paper, we use the example of a third-semester elective MSc course in political economic theory designed for students in human geography to contribute to this point. The course aims to introduce some essential elements of economic theory, map competing trends and paradigms in economic theory, and teach how economic theories are operationalized in geographic research. As such, it seeks to provide students with a compass to be able to navigate the sprawling field of economic geography. Lakatos’ theory of science and an interpretation of Kolb’s cycle influenced the pedagogical approach used to design (and structure) this course. The course treats paradigms in a competitive and intellectually contextual environment, and students engage with them in a reflective process culminating in the operationalization of economic theories into geographic research. In this paper we reflect on the challenges we have come across in teaching this course and whether we have managed to live up to the aim of providing a compass.