Professor Angela C. E. Mensah Receives $6,400 Educational Entrepreneurship Grant to Launch the Pepperdine Economic Forum | Newsroom

As technology integrates into daily life in unforeseen ways with the development of
AI, Angela C. E. Mensah, assistant professor of economics, asserts that a humanistic approach to education
focused on critical reasoning, creativity, and individuation is more crucial than
ever before.

Mensah has been awarded a $6,400 Educational Entrepreneurship Grant from the Institute
for Human Studies at George Mason University for her initiative to launch the Pepperdine
Economic Forum designed to promote community-focused intellectual exchange, where
students deeply engage with classical economic principles through active research
and mentorship. 

“As an educator, my responsibility is to help students think critically and prepare
them to engage meaningfully with a rapidly changing world, and this grant will provide
more opportunities to do so,” says Mensah. “I aim for my students to participate in
thoughtful dialogue over the world economy, our shared history, free market ideas,
liberty, and justice, and to see diversity and inclusion of all thought not as a political
talking point, but as a human achievement that strengthens all of us.”

The Pepperdine Economic Forum will consist of two core components: the Brown Bag Research
Forum and the Guest Speaker Series. The Brown Bag Research Forum, named for its casual
lunchtime setting, will be a comfortable workshop environment for economics students
to refine in-progress projects while connecting with peers and faculty. Mensah, along
with additional Pepperdine professors, will serve as a mentor, providing constructive
feedback while encouraging students’ confidence in public speaking and relating ideas
to broader classical principles to develop their critical thinking skills. 

The Guest Speaker Series will incorporate lectures given by leading economic scholars
with open discussion periods to encourage dialogue between students and guest speakers.
Scholars will share insights on topics related to markets and morality, constitutional
government, and civil liberties in honor of the United States’ upcoming 250th anniversary. 

“This program is open to all in the economics program and will give Pepperdine students
a platform to present their own economic research while receiving thoughtful feedback
from myself and their peers, even if they are not taking a class from me,” explains
Mensah. “Whether these students will pursue higher education or enter the workforce,
it is important for me to teach them specialized skills.” 

After completing her graduate studies in Ghana, her home country, Mensah earned her
PhD in economics from Colorado State University, where her cross-cultural perspective
informed her specialization in global economic dynamics as well as environmental economics
and applied econometrics. Mensah advocates for education models that emphasize applied
intellectual insights, reducing overreliance on AI while protecting and promoting
genuine diverse thinking. 

“Growing up in Africa and then moving to the US brings a global perspective to my
teaching where I want Pepperdine students to be open to understanding the full story
of how international economies are working while also equipping them with the intellectual
tools to think independently,” says Mensah. “AI is already reshaping how we teach
and learn, and if we want our students to thrive in today’s global landscape, we need
to adopt modern techniques in our teaching and create the best educational experiences
for our students, to truly equip them for the future.”