Dynamic Duos: Alex Ohmann ’28 and Professor of Economics Shikha Silwal Ohmann and Silwal partnered on interdisciplinary research for a book chapter.

Office of Communications and Public Affairs
May 26, 2025

Professor of economics Shikha Silwal’s goal for each student in her classes is the same: to see the world differently. At W&L, she loves the ability to form close relationships with other faculty and students that afford her that same benefit.

Alex Ohmann ’28, economics and history double major, took Silwal’s Economics of War and Peace class his first semester, and Silwal appreciated the in-depth history knowledge he brought to classroom discussions.

The following semester, Silwal asked Ohmann to work with her on research for a book chapter she was writing on overlooked populations in wartime. Ohmann utilized his extensive history and humanities background to suggest groups Silwal wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.

“It is one thing to learn in a classroom with other students and mainly take in the information that the professor already knows; it is another experience altogether to take part in the joy of discovery alongside your professor,” Ohmann says.

“Being at a small liberal arts college like W&L, people see you and they understand you. And when somebody believes in you, that can be very transformational.” – Professor of Economics Shikha Silwal