Contemporary
Economics – Food and Agriculture, Fall 2011
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Day/time: MW 1:00 – 2:30
PM August 22, 2010 –
December 16, 2011 Room: 117M |
Instructor: Dr. Thomas DeGregori Phone: (713) 743-3838 I prefer to receive emails. E-mail: trdegreg@uh.edu Homepage: http://www.uh.edu/~trdegreg Office: 209D McElhinney Hall Office hours: TBA |
|
THERE WILL BE NO EXAMS OR
QUIZZES |
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 agriculture and food production,
the dynamics of population, the problems facing the global environment and the
changing global economy in which we live. We will also explore the diversity of
different cultures and peoples and the condition of 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 all three topics of the course title, use all of the
assigned sources and largely within the course boundaries.
Required reading:
And either
or
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, 2011
(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
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, 2011, (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 that 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 in writing
your papers. 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. 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 to allow
you to re-do papers. Neither is the claim that a book or books did not fit your
chosen topics acceptable. 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 (I will attempt to lecture following the order of the
topics below):
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
Africa? Why
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 Africa if any?
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