Teaching & Notes

At Brown, I teach two undergraduate finance courses that connect modern economic theory with institutions, current events, and real-world decision-making.

Courses

Investments II (Econ 1750)

Undergraduate · Most recent offering: Fall 2026

This course studies financial instruments and the people and institutions that trade them. It moves from fixed income, forwards, futures, and options to portfolio management, hedge funds, limits to arbitrage, market making, household finance, and option pricing.

The course combines mathematical foundations with cases, problem sets, practitioner perspectives, guest speakers, and a student final project.

Crisis Economics (Econ 1770)

Undergraduate · Most recent offering: Spring 2026

This course follows financial crises from the boom that precedes them through the mechanisms that trigger, amplify, and transmit them to the broader economy. It emphasizes financial intermediation and the choices facing central banks and other policymakers.

Topics include bubbles and belief formation, banking and shadow banking, the global financial crisis, monetary policy and quantitative easing, international crises, cryptocurrency, and finance and growth. I designed Crisis Economics as a new course at Brown.

Teaching Approach

I aim to give students both a rigorous foundation in modern finance and a practical understanding of how financial markets work. My courses combine lectures with case-based discussion, empirical research, current events, student participation, and guest speakers from industry.

Across five sections of these courses, my overall instructor rating has averaged 4.78 out of 5. Investments II has averaged 4.69, and Crisis Economics has averaged 4.84.

Office hours are by appointment; please email spencer_kwon@brown.edu to schedule.

Notes & Resources

Course materials for enrolled students are available through Canvas. I am preparing selected lecture notes and teaching resources from Investments II and Crisis Economics for public release here.