Collin Hodges

About Dr. Hodges

Ph.D. Economics | West Virginia University
MA Economics | West Virginia University

Dr. Hodges is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Central Arkansas (UCA), where he is affiliated with the Arkansas Center for Research in Economics (ACRE). He instructs undergraduate and MBA students in principles and intermediate economics courses, as well as in the economics of healthcare. He also leads an ACRE Economics Reading Group each semester and serves as the ACRE Undergraduate Research Fellows Coordinator.

He completed his Master’s and Ph.D. at West Virginia University and earned his Bachelor’s in Economics at the College of Charleston. His primary research fields are health and public economics, with a particular emphasis on research related to contemporary public health crises. His work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals including Contemporary Economic Policy, the Journal of Drug Issues, the Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment, and Growth & Change.

Before coming to UCA, Dr. Hodges spent time in Central America, traveling to Honduras and Nicaragua annually between 2008 and 2014 in partnership with local aid and development organizations. His other international travel includes Mexico, Peru, England, and Scotland. After joining UCA in 2019, he became interested in leading study abroad programs to establish new international partnerships, broaden UCA students’ educational opportunities, and build pathways for future student exchange. He speaks some Spanish and Japanese and, though not fluent in either, enjoys the long-term process of learning new languages.

Outside of his academic work, Dr. Hodges enjoys spending time with his wife and daughter, playing Go (the oldest continually played board game in the world), and working toward his long-term goal of reading one book from every nation on the globe.