Digraphicx,
Welcome! You will love this place and learn a lot!
I like the simplicity of your content pages and the layout on the main pages is fine. I would have to second that I do not like the navigation system. It's very difficult to read and as a browser I don't want to have to 'think' to find out where I want to go on your site. I know what you have there 'looks' cooler and more design oriented, but the general surfer may get frustrated. I'd opt for a horizontal system if at all possible.
For your "Department of Econ" link, I'd change the target to _blank so that it opens in a new window instead of navigating away from your site.
I also agree that you should make the 'larger' image that is launched from your thumbnail bigger. I can't see any detail and a potential customer is going to want to see the detail in your work.
Just my 2cents tho.
Otherwise I love the color scheme and general layout. It's clean and nice.