Research focussed on the use of economic models, with a particular interest in the characterisation that philosophers have made of this scientific practice. Her current research is on model failure, an aspect of the modelling practice strikingly relevant given the alleged responsibility of models in the most recent economic crisis.
Melissa Vergara Fernández obtained a PhD in Philosophy from the Erasmus Institute for Philosophy and Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam in 2018 and currently coordinates the YSI Philosophy of Economics working group and is an elected member of YSI’s advisory committee. She obtained a MA (cum laude) in Philosophy and Economics from the same institute and holds a BSc in Economics from the Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia. Her research is on economic methodology, in particular on the use and the epistemic contributions of theoretical economic models. She strives to make philosophy relevant for dealing with the socioeconomic challenges that we currently face.
She is currently a lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Groningen, teaching History of Economic Thought, Ethics in Business and Management and Ethics in International Business. She also teaches Philosophy of the Social Sciences at University College Groningen (UCG), and Economic Methodology at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). While doing her PhD, she worked as a lecturer at the Utrecht University School of Economics teaching Economic Methodology.
She has also pursued bachelor studies in Art, with emphasis on electronic media. She speaks Spanish, English and Dutch. She is based in Groningen, the Netherlands.
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