Contemporary Economics - The World Food Crisis, Fall
2008
|
ECON 4389 and LEC 32337 Day/time: W 4:00 - 5:30 PM Room: 118 McElhinney Hall Office: 209D
McElhinney Hall Office hours: see substituting instructor or
teaching assistant |
Substituting Instructor: Dr. Janet Kohlhase Phone: (713) 743-3799 E-mail: jkohlhase@uh.edu Homepage: http://www.uh.edu/~kohlhase Office: 201B McElhinney
Hall Office hours: M 4:30 - 5:30 PM and by appointment |
|
Dr. Thomas R. DeGregori Phone: (713) 743 3838 (I prefer to receive emails) |
Teaching Assistant: Senay Topal E-mail: senaytopal@yahoo.com Office: 203A McElhinney
Hall Office hours: TH 2.30 4.30 PM |
THERE WILL BE NO EXAMS OR
QUIZZES
THERE WILL BE NO FINAL EXAM
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.
This syllabus is being posted
in early March when food prices are skyrocketing and it appears that it will
lead to a food crisis in poor countries. In Fall we
will either be discussing the crisis as it is emerging, or why it has not yet
arrived but is forthcoming or maybe, why it never happened.
Required
reading:
THE STATE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE 2003-2004 Agricultural Biotechnology: Meeting
the needs of the poor? FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
Rome, 2004 (if the book is unavailable, download - http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/Y5160E/y5160e00.HTM)
During the semester, you will be making use of online
FAO publications - http://www.fao.org/index_en.htm
World Development Report 2008: Agriculture for
Development, World Bank Paperback.
Starved for Science: How Biotechnology Is Being Kept Out of Africa by Robert Paarlberg with comments by Norman Borlaug, and Jimmy
Carter, Harvard University Press
The World Food Economy, by Douglas D., Jr. Southgate, Douglas H. Graham
and Luther G. Tweeten, Paperback,
Wiley-Blackwell
Origins of the Organic Agriculture Debate, by Thomas R. DeGregori,
Blackwell Professional.
Recommended
Cottons
Second Coming, by N. Madhavan, Business Today
Students - particularly those
taking it as an independent study course - are encouraged to acquire some of
the books and begin reading for the course some time after the end of the Spring semester or whenever they have free time.
Course Calendar:
·
First day of
classes Monday, August 25, 2008
·
Labor Day holiday
Monday, September 1, 2008
·
Last day to drop
a course or withdraw without receiving a grade before 5 PM, Monday, September
8, 2008
·
Last day to drop
a course without hours counting towards the <http://www.uh.edu/provost/stu/stu_enrollcapqs.html>Enrollment
Cap for Texas Residents Monday, September 8, 2008
·
Last day to drop
a course or withdraw with a 'W' before 5 PM, Tuesday, November 4, 2008
·
Thanksgiving
holiday - Wednesday-Saturday, November 26-29, 2008
·
DUE DATE FOR ALL
PAPERS - before 4 PM, Monday, December 1, 2008
(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 our
class Wednesday, December 3, 2008
·
Last day of class
Saturday, December 6, 2008
·
Official closing
of the semester - Friday, December 19, 2008
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:
INDEPENDENT STUDY THIS SEMESTER FOR THIS COURSE WILL BE ONLY BY PERMISSION OF
THE INSTRUCTOR. CLASS ATTENDENCE WILL BE TAKEN. I RESERVE THE RIGHT TO ADD A
FINAL EXAM OR SOME OTHER REQUIREMMENT FOR THOSE WHOSE ATTENDENCE IS INADEQUATE
AND WHO DID NOT OBTAIN PRIOR PERMISSION TO DO THE COURSE AS INDEPENDENT STUDY.
AN EMAIL WILL BE SENT PRIOR TO THE END OF THE SEMESTER TO THOSE WHO DO NOT
ATTEND
INDICATING THE REQUIRED ADDITIONAL WORK. THOSE WHO RECEIVE PERMISSION TO DO THE
COURSE AS INDEPENDENT STUDY WILL BE INFORMED OF ANY ADDITIONAL WORK WHEN THEY
APPLY TO ME FOR PERMISSION TO DO IT AS INDEPENDENT STUDY.
Independent study remains an
automatic option for my 2:30 to 4 PM Economic Development class without the
need for prior permission.
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 December 1, 2008 (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" can not 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 (Monday
September 8, 2008) or the last day to drop a course or withdraw (Tuesday,
November 4, 2008) . 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."
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. 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 loose 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):
·
October 17 - A
ten page paper that makes substantial use of at least two of the assigned
sources.
·
October 22 -
Students who have exams or other academic commitments that make the October 17
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 27 -
Students turning in their first paper of fifteen page paper that 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.
·
November 7 -
Second paper due in Economics office before it closes (circa 3 PM)
·
November 7 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.
·
November 12 -
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 19 -
Third paper due in Economics office before it closes (circa 3 PM)
·
November 24 -
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.
·
December 3 - as
stated above - DUE DATE FOR ALL PAPERS - before 4 PM Wednesday, December
3 (changed from Monday, December 1), 2008 (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, December 1,
2008 (in class or in the Economics office, 204 M).
The suggested topics (I will attempt to lecture following the order of the topics below):
0)
Introductory lectures
on the history of food production - not a topic for your papers
1)
Global
Agricultural Development since 1950 - including the Green Revolution
2)
Poverty and inequality, global, regional or in
a particular country and what can be done about it
3)
The role of technological/scientific
development in food production
4)
Health, nutrition
and population in the 21st Century
5)
The role of
"globalization" in food production and trade
6)
Genetic
Modification of Food
7)
Globalization of
Food Production - Implications
8)
Feeding 6.4 Billion
in people today
9)
Feeding 9 Billion
in people 2040
10)
Water for 9
Billion People
11)
Environmental
Implications and Potential of Biotechnology
12)
Technology and
the Future (with the past as a guide)
13)
Global
Environmental Issues such as global warming and its implications for economic
development and food production
14)
Clean, Safe,
Environmentally Friendly Food Production: Meaning? Organic what is it?
15)
Food, AIDS and
development