Alka Gandhi is a senior lecturer in the Department of Economics. She completed her B.A. in Economics and Art History at Duke University in December of 1994. She received her M.A. in Economics from the University of Kansas in 1997 and her Ph.D. in Economics from Ohio State University in 2003. Her primary field of study is Economic History and her secondary field is Macroeconomics. Her dissertation examined the impact on several U.S. state banking systems of regulations imposed by state governments during the period before the Civil War (1830-1860). Her other research projects have included an examination of American overseas tourism and pedagogical research. Before returning to the University of Maryland in 2017, she taught at Lycoming College (2003-2007) and Northern Virginia Community College (2011-2017). She has taught the following courses: Principles of Microeconomics, Principles of Macroeconomics, Intermediate Macroeconomics, Economic History and Modern Development, American Economic History since the Civil War, Economic Statistics, Econometrics, History of Economic Thought, Economic Geography and various independent studies.