Every year, Kurt Rotthoff heard the same things
from his peers as they looked over their semester
schedules: “Economics … bleh.”
Rotthoff, naturally, saw it differently.
“Economics is a way of studying the world that
made sense to me,” Rotthoff said. “Plus, I had
some really good professors in my undergraduate
classes.
Rotthoff, a Massillon native who recently
earned his Ph.D. in economics from Clemson
University, is planning to shake up the way
students at Seton Hall University look at the
classes he will teach there this fall.
“Most people walk into every economics class
thinking it will be the worst thing in the world,”
Rotthoff said. “I want to show them it’s not.”
He’ll have a unique opportunity to prepare
himself for that challenge this summer.
Rotthoff was selected as one of six instructors
to lead small lectures and discussions at the
American Institute on Political and Economic
Systems at Charles University in Prague, Czech
Republic, July 14 - Aug. 6.
The three-week institute will bring students
together from across the world to explore and
discuss global political science and economic
matters. Rotthoff expects to lead a series of
small discussions daily after a large group
lecture.
Although he will be teaching, Rotthoff said he
is the one who will be doing most of the learning.
“(Americans) think in the same ways because we
all grew up in the same culture,” Rotthoff said.
“There are a lot of countries who were communist
countries they don’t know what it is like to go to
the supermarket and pay different prices for
different goods. I think it will be a great
experience, just to see the way they think.”
One week prior to the start of the institute,
Rotthoff will spend a week in the city of Prague,
visiting with local residents and exploring the
culture around him. Doing so, he said, helps to
make him a better teacher because it gives him a
broader perspective when teaching.
“I want to spend time in Prague to get a feel
for what the culture and life is really like in
that city,” Rotthoff said. “To spend one day in a
city is not enough time to discover what it is
like to live there and explore what the
(citizens’) lives are like.”
Rotthoff is a 1998 Washington High graduate who
earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Westminster
College in 2002. He later studied economics at
Clemson University where he earned both his
Masters (2004) and Ph.D. (2007).
He is the son of David and Linda Rotthoff, of
Massillon.