Economic
Development, Fall 2011
ECON
3351-01 LEC 14151 Day/time: MW 2:30 PM –
4:00 PM August 22, 2011 –
December 16, 2011 Room: 117M |
Instructor: Dr. Thomas R. DeGregori Ph. (713) 743-3838 (I prefer to receive emails) Office: 209D McElhinney Hall Office hours: TBA |
THERE WILL BE NO EXAMS OR
QUIZZES THERE WILL BE NO FINAL EXAM |
Teaching Assistant: Senay Topal E-mail: senaytopal@yahoo.com Office: 248 McElhinney Hall |
Course objective:
The objective of this course
is to provide reading material and lectures which facilitate a better
understanding of the world, its politics, its geography, its conflicts and
resolutions, the changing global economy in which we live, the diversity of
different cultures and peoples and those who have experienced a dramatic
transformation and improvement in the conditions of their life and those that
have not. The diversity of the reading matter and topic assignment is
considerably greater than can be achieved in a three hour course in one
semester. The boundaries for the course are wide allowing the students to
fashion a course that responds to their particular needs and interests as long
as they in some way cover the main themes of development presented in the
course and in the reading - science and technology for development,
agriculture, and globalization and that they use all of the assigned sources
and write largely within the course boundaries.
Required reading:
o
Prime Movers of Globalization: The History and Impact of Diesel Engines and Gas Turbines by Vaclav Smil, The MIT Press, 2010.
o
Science and Technology
in World History: An Introduction by James E McClellan and Harold Dorn, Johns
Hopkins University Press, 2006, Paperback
o
The Enlightened
Economy: An Economic History of Britain 1700-1850 (The New
Economic History of Britain series) by Joel Mokyr,
Yale
University Press 2010
o
The New Harvest: Agricultural Innovation in Africa
and either
o
Deadly Choices:
How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All by by Paul A. Offit Basic
Books 2010
or
o
The Panic Virus: A
True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear [Hardcover] by Seth Mnookin.
Simon
& Schuster
Course Calendar:
First day of classes – Monday, August 22, 2011
Last day to add a class – Monday, August 29, 2011
Labor Day holiday – Monday, September 5, 2011
Last day to drop a course or withdraw without
receiving a grade – Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Last day to drop a course without hours counting
towards the Enrollment Cap for Texas Residents – Wednesday, September 7,
2011
Last day to drop a course or withdraw with a 'W' –
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Thanksgiving holiday - Wednesday-Saturday, November
23-26, 2011
DUE DATE FOR ALL
PAPERS - before 4 PM, Monday, November 28, 2010
(Guaranteed to be graded in time for the posting of
final grades. If papers are turned in later, they might not be graded in
time for posting resulting in an F for the course. If graded in time, late
papers still face a late paper penalty)
Last day of class – Saturday, December 3, 2011
Official closing of the semester - Friday, December
16, 2011
Except for the final due
date, in previous semesters, there were no firm dates for turning in your
papers. Students have often requested due dates for papers so I am providing
them below along with the penalties for late papers.
General guidelines:
Under current University
policy, your email address given in People Soft is considered the official
method of notification making you responsible for any information sent to that
address. The best advice is to check it regularly. Not having checked it will
not be an acceptable excuse for failing to comply with the instructions given
there.
If you turn in your papers for my class in the main economics office - 204 M -
as I often request that you do, please do not call or email me asking if I
received them. And do not ask what grade that you received. I do not mean to be
rude but your calls or emails will not likely be answered. Keep digital copies
of all of your papers in the very unlikely event that they are somehow lost.
After the - DUE DATE FOR ALL PAPERS - before 4 PM, Monday, November 28, 2010
(in class or in the Economics office, 204 M), emails and calls will not be
taken and returned. There are NO EXCEPTIONS except one. If you have an acceptable,
verifiable reason beyond your control why you were unable to complete papers
such as hospitalization, then you may either bring or send the documentation to
me and receive an "I." Please no elaborate excuses, only documented
cases can be accepted. Since we have to fill out a form for the "I"
with your signature, send the documentation only if you are physically unable
to bring it.
It also has to be approved by the department. Needless to say, without adequate
documentation to support the form, an "I" cannot be given. Unlike an
"I," a grade of "F" can no longer be removed except in the
most extreme set of circumstances. If towards the end of the semester, it
becomes obvious to you that you will not be able to complete your work, you might
consider dropping the course by the last day to drop a course or withdraw
without hours counting towards the <<http://www.uh.edu/provost/stu/stu_enrollcapqs.html> Enrollment Cap for Texas Residents
(Wednesday, September 7, 2011) or the last day to drop a course or withdraw
(Wednesday, November 2, 2011). You will not be given a failing grade for
withdrawing since I have not given any exams.
If you drop the course using People Soft and for some reason the system fails
to record your drop, contact the Registrar's Office in order to correct the
problem. Do not contact me or my T.A. or the Economics Department about this
matter. If you receive an "F," I will gladly change it to a
"W" if notified to do so by the Administration. I am not allowed to
do it on my own nor am I allowed to give you a "W" for a final grade
unless the final role sheet shows that you have dropped.
Every semester, a large number of students take my courses as independent study
without attending class. I have always sought to make my courses available to
those who could not attend for whatever reasons. This option remains open (only
with permission for this class this semester - see above) but it is no longer
encouraged except for those who have absolutely no other options since past
experience shows that those who attended class regularly were vastly more
likely to finish the course on time and not need an "I."
If you turn in your papers for my class in the main economics office - 204 M -
as I often request that you do, please do not call or email me asking if I
received them. And do not ask what grade that you received. I do not mean to be
rude but your calls or emails will not likely be answered. Keep digital copies
of all of your papers in the very unlikely event that they are somehow lost.
After the - DUE DATE FOR ALL PAPERS before 4 PM, Monday, November 28, 2010, (in
class or in the Economics office, 204 M), emails and calls will not be taken and
returned. There are NO EXCEPTIONS except one. If you have an acceptable,
verifiable reason beyond your control why you were unable to complete papers
such as hospitalization, then you may either bring or send the documentation to
me and receive an "I." Please no elaborate excuses, only documented
cases can be accepted. Since we have to fill out a form for the "I"
with your signature, send the documentation only if you are physically unable
to bring it.
Assignments:
You are to write four papers of (very) roughly 8 to 10 pages each. No paper is
to be less than seven pages. You have considerable latitude as to the length of
each paper as long as the total for all four is about 30 to 40 pages. For any
deviation from the syllabus, an exchange of emails is required - verbal
authorization is not sufficient - with the email granting permission being
attached to your papers. Given the large choice of topics, no deviation
should be necessary unless there is a topic of specific interest to you! I will
be offering the same range of topics to both my classes this semester even
though some topics are vastly more relevant to one course than another. Those
taking both courses are required to select different topics for each course.
In addition to the information below, I will announce in class the reduced
writing assignment for those who attend class regularly. However, the reduced
writing option expires when the final grades are posted meaning that a student
who takes an incomplete has to follow the syllabus as posted. Students, while
filling out the course evaluations, have repeatedly asked for due dates for the
assignments. I will repeat the due dates and announce in class the benefits for
meeting them and the penalties for failing to do so.
Students regularly attending
class will be required to write three papers for a total of 25 to 30 pages.
ALL PAPERS HAVE TO INCLUDE CITED MATERIAL (source, date and pages cited) FROM
THE ASSIGNED READINGS. Each paper must include at least one of the assigned
sources though you may use as many as you wish on any paper. All papers taken
together must show that all assigned sources have been read and used.
Every paragraph in your papers must have at least one cited source unless it is
either drawn from your own experience or is a concluding paragraph. Each paper
should have a separate reference page that does not count towards your page
requirements. You will lose one letter grade for each assigned source that is
not "substantially" used (in other words, used in a way that indicates
an understanding of what the book is saying). This may seem like a rigid
requirement but since there are no exams or quizzes, it is the only way that I
know (or think that I know) that you have done the reading and that the paper
is yours and not found on the web. ALL GRADES ARE FINAL UNLESS THE STUDENT CAN
DEMONSTRATE THAT AN ERROR WAS MADE IN THE GRADING. FINAL MEANS FINAL. DO NOT
ASK TO BE ABLE TO RE-DO YOUR PAPERS IF YOUR GRADE WAS LOWERED BECAUSE YOU
FAILED TO FOLLOW THE CLEARLY POSTED RULES. PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO ASK SHOULD
YOU NOT UNDERSTAND THEM. Ruining a 4.0 grade point average or preventing you
from graduating are not acceptable reasons for allowing you to re-do your
papers. Neither is the claim that a book or books did not fit your chosen topics
acceptably. You have a wide choice of topics so pick topics in which you can
use all of the assigned sources in doing them. To be forewarned is to be
forearmed.
YOU MAY USE OTHER RESEARCH MATERIAL AS WELL. IF YOU USE INFORMATION FROM THE
WWW, PLEASE GIVE AS COMPLETE A CITATION AS POSSIBLE INCLUDING THE URL. I have
posted supplementary instructions on my webpage; please consult it and follow
the instructions. You are not allowed to have two paragraphs in a row that use
only non-assigned sources. As a rough rule of thumb, use only sources published
this century unless there is a compelling reason to use an older source. All
material that is not original to you must have a citation. Quotation marks are
required only when you are using someone else's wording. If you are using their
ideas and facts that are put in your own words, you still need to cite the
source but quotation marks would be inappropriate. Please do not start a
sentence with "I feel." Instead use phrases such as "I conclude"
or "it is my judgment based upon the evidence" etc. If you present
solid evidence on an issue and then follow with a rational argument to reach a
conclusion, I will assume that this is not only your conclusion but it is also
how you "feel."
Assignment due dates (with
some flexibility):
September 26 - A ten page paper that makes substantial
use of at least two of the assigned sources.
October 3 - Students who have exams or other academic
commitments that make the September 26 due date difficult, may turn in a
fifteen page paper that makes substantial use of at least three of the assigned
sources without penalty. Ten page papers by this date will lose one to two
thirds of a grade on it - for example A- to either a B+ or a B. After this
date, any ten page paper will lose a full letter grade.
October 10 - Students turning in their first paper of
fifteen pages which makes substantial use of at least three of the assigned
sources by this date will lose one to two thirds of a grade on it - for example
A- to either a B+ or a B. After this date, any paper of any length will lose a
full letter grade.
October 24 - Second paper due in Economics office
before it closes (circa 3 PM)
October 24 option - students who made a B+ or better
on their first paper have the option of combing two topics in a ten to fifteen
page paper (bringing the total to 25 to 30 pages) using three previously not
used assigned sources completing use of all assigned sources. They will turn in
a three to five page draft or outline indicating the topics and how they will
be combined. This will be returned OK written on it and will be turned back in
along with the complete paper on the due date for the third paper.
October 31 - Second paper due in Economics office
before it closes (circa 3 PM) with a penalty of one to two thirds of a grade on
it - for example A- to either a B+ or a B. After this date, any paper will lose
a full letter grade.
November 14 - Third paper due in Economics office
before it closes (circa 3 PM)
November 21 - Third paper due in Economics office before
it closes (circa 3 PM) with a penalty of one to two thirds of a grade on it -
for example A- to either a B+ or a B. After this date, any paper will
lose a full letter grade.
November 28 - as stated above - DUE DATE FOR ALL
PAPERS - before 4 PM, Monday, November 28, 2011 (in class or in the
Economics office, 204 M) - guaranteed to be graded in time for the posting of
final grades. As often happens, I am able to grade late papers in time for them
to be recorded. However, after the due date, there will be a grade penalty that
increases the later the paper is turned. I will consider removing the one third
grade penalty for students who turn in two of the three papers (including the
final paper) by the due dates. Full letter grade penalties will not be removed.
The due date for the fourth
paper, if you are required to write one, is before 4 PM, Monday, November 28,
2011 (in class or in the Economics office, 204 M).
Suggested topics:
Below is a list of suggested topics that may (or may not) be relevant. If
another topic that interests you is not mentioned below, you may email me
asking for permission to write on it. If I respond that your chosen topic
is acceptable, please include the email conversation (including my response)
along with your turned in paper.
1) African history, culture and geography as
basis for understanding Africa today
2) Global Agricultural Development since 1950 -
including the Green Revolution Why was Africa left out?
3) Global Economic
Development since 1950 Everywhere but
4) Poverty and inequality, global, regional or
in a particular country and what can be done about it
5) Major issues in Development: IMF such as
Debt.
6) The Asian Development model: What is it and
what is its future benefit for
7) The role of technological/scientific
diffusion from Asia and the Arab world in European development
8) Sources for Economic
development in the developed world - 19th and 20th century technology
and science
9) Sources of opposition to the use of
technology/science for economic development
10) Health, nutrition and population in the 21st
Century
11) Trade and African development
12) The role of "globalization" in economic
development
13) Genetic Modification of Food
14) Globalization of Food
Production - Implications for Africa and the World
15) Feeding 9 Billion in 2040
16) Water for 9 Billion People
17) Trends in World Population
- 1950-2040
18) Population - Issues of Child and Maternal Mortality
19) Environmental Implications and Potential of
Biotechnology
20) Technology and the Future (with the past as a
guide)
21) Global Environmental Issues
such as global warming and its implications for
economic development
22) Clean, Safe, and Environmentally Friendly Food
Production: Meaning? Organic what is it?
23) AIDS and Development