The department is launching a few new events this fall that we hope you'll join us for! The first is a Fall Soiree: today, on the fourth floor of Burdine from 4:00 - 6:30pm, Dr. Shirley Thompson and Ph.D. candidate Elissa Underwood will be giving short talks about their research, followed by discussion and food and drinks.Shirley Thompson: #BlackLivesMatter and My Year of Economic ThinkingDuring this past year, as a widespread, coordinated resistance to anti-Black state violence crystallized in various US locales and on social media, I was able to embark on a systematic study of economic theory and methods for my project on Black Americans and the problem of property and ownership. I will discuss the implications for my work of both this formal study and a newly invigorated insistence on the value of black life.Elissa Underwood:  Pop-Up Prison Kitchens: A Food-Based Challenge to the Prison Industrial ComplexI will be discussing non-traditional prison cookery and exploring its role as a counter-narrative to the personal and structural misery experienced by incarcerated individuals.Should be a great conversation!