Adam Smith

11.00 – 12.00 -  Guest speakers,Dr Tanya Wilson and Dr Vladimir Maltsev 

Dr Tanya Wilson Talk - 1776: The Year That Changed Economics and Politics 

In 1776, two landmark texts were published that helped reshape the modern world. This talk explores the connections between Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations and the American Declaration of Independence, and what they reveal about the relationship between economic ideas and political change. 

Dr Tanya Wilson is a Senior Lecturer in Economics at the Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, and a Research Fellow at the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn. She joined the University of Glasgow in 2018 following an Early Career Fellowship at the University of Stirling, and was awarded her PhD in Economics from Royal Holloway, University of London, in 2015. 

Her research lies in Family and Labour Economics, focusing on how labour market conditions, education, and social policy shape individual and household outcomes. Her work has examined the impact of local labour market conditions on domestic violence, the role of education in early motherhood, crime and marital sorting, and how financial constraints and gender influence entrepreneurship decisions. More recently, her research has explored the long-term effects of exposure to universal healthcare and the dynamics of low-paid employment. Her recent Nuffield Foundation-funded project, “Women in Multiple Low-Paid Employment”, investigated how low-paid women combine multiple jobs with caring responsibilities, and the implications for wellbeing and economic security. 

Tanya is President of the Scottish Economic Society and has been awarded a Leverhulme Research Fellowship, which she will take up in January 2027. She is a recipient of the Royal Economic Society Prize (2016) and the Sir Alec Cairncross Prize (2017). She has provided expert evidence to Scottish Parliament inquiries on the gender pay gap, Scotland’s economic performance, and ethnicity pay gap reporting. Her research and commentary have featured widely in the media, including the BBC, STV, The Conversation, and major newspapers. 

Dr Vladimir Maltsev is a Lecturer in Economics at the Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, where he has been in employment since October 2022. He holds a PhD in Economics from the Financial University, Moscow, Russia, and was a research fellow in King’s College London from 2021-2022. 

Dr Maltsev’s research interests deal with economics of governance, economics of religion and economics of knowledge. He published his academic work in journals such as the European Economic Review, Public Choice, and Constitutional Political Economy 

12:10 – 13:10 -  Fireside Chat with Professor Craig Smith, Dr Maha Rafi Atal and Dr Michael Frazer 

The session will be chaired by one of the Student Day organisers, Sanjaana Sridhar.  

Sanjanaa is a Master’s student in International Strategic Marketing at the University of Glasgow, with a background in Finance. Her experience spans leading marketing efforts for animal rescue NGOs, where she worked at the intersection of strategy and social impact. She is currently a student representative for the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) in Glasgow. Her interests lie in sustainability and the circular economy, particularly in understanding consumer behaviour and responsible consumption. 

Professor Craig Smith is Professor of the History of Political Thought and is Adam Smith Senior Lecturer in the Scottish Enlightenment at the School of Social & Political Sciences, University of Glasgow.  He was educated at the universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh and taught in the Department of Moral Philosophy at the University of St Andrews before taking up his present appointment.  

He is the author of Adam Smith’s Political Philosophy: The Invisible Hand and Spontaneous Order (Routledge) and was one of the editors of The Oxford Handbook of Adam Smith. He is also Book Review Editor of the Adam Smith Review. 

Dr Maha Rafi Atal is a Senior Lecturer in Political Economy in the School of Social & Political Sciences, University of Glasgow, and takes a political economy approach to the study of corporate power. 

In addition to her academic career, Maha is an award-winning business journalist, with work published in Forbes, Fortune, BusinessWeek, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and The New Statesman, among others. She is the co-founder and Executive Director of Public Business, a non-profit supporting reporting, research and discussion about the wider impact of business actions. 

Prior to her position at Glasgow, Maha was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Copenhagen Business School, and earned degrees from the University of Cambridge, Brown University and Columbia University. 

Michael L. Frazer is a Lecturer in Politics in the School of Social & Political Sciences, University of Glasgow. His research focuses on canonical moral and political philosophy, with a focus on its relevance for contemporary political theory, ethics, and the philosophy of social science.  

He is the author of ‘The Enlightenment of Sympathy: Justice and the Moral Sentiments in the Eighteenth Century and Today’ (Oxford University Press, 2010), as well as articles in the "American Political Science Review," "Perspectives on Politics," "Political Theory," "The Review of Politics," and other journals. Dr. Frazer received his BA from Yale University, his PhD from Princeton, and has previously held positions at UEA, Brown and Harvard. 

13:10 – 13:40 – Lunch break 

Some refreshments and light nibbles will be available for attendees. 

13:40 – 14:20 – Wealth of Nations Quiz and activities  

More information will be forthcoming in the next few weeks. 

14:20 – 15:20 -  Show Debate  

More information will be forthcoming in the next few weeks. 

15:30 – 16:00 -  Wealth of Nations Student Poster Competition – Prize Giving 

More information will be forthcoming in the next few weeks. 

19:00 – 23:00  – Ceilidh Dance 

A fabulous, free Ceilidh for University of Glasgow students, with the amazing Kilter ceilidh band. All welcome! 

With over 20 years of experience, Kilter brings blazing tunes and expert calling to keep the dancefloor absolutely packed. The band will teach you the dances as they go along so get your dance shoes on and come along with your friends for a night to remember! 

Register for Evening Ceilidh Dance (Free)