Economic Development, Fall 2009

 

 

ECON 3351 and LEC 17516

Day/time: MW 1:00 PM – 2.30 PM

August 24, 2009 – December 18, 2009

Room: AH 104

Instructor:

Dr. Thomas R. DeGregori

Ph. (713) 743-3838

(I prefer to receive emails)
Email: trdegreg@uh.edu
Homepage: http://www.uh.edu/~trdegreg

 

 

THERE WILL BE NO EXAMS OR QUIZZES

THERE WILL BE NO FINAL EXAM

 

 

Teaching Assistant:

Jarrod Hunt

E-mail: jarrodehunt@yahoo.com

Office: 207 McElhinney Hall

Office hours: TBA



 

 

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:
 

  • A Culture of Improvement: Technology and the Western Millennium by Robert Friedel, The MIT Press

  • Emerging Technologies to benefit Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, National Research Council, Committee on a Study of Technologies, 2008 (available free online)

 

Any three of the following five books:

  • Africa's Turn? (Boston Review Books) by Edward Miguel (Author), William R. Easterly (Foreword), MIT Press

  • Africa's Silk Road: China and India's New Economic Frontier by Harry G. Broadman, World Bank Publications; Paperback

  • A Hammer in Their Hands A Documentary History of Technology and the African-American Experience Carroll W. Pursell (Ed.) Paper, MIT Press

  • 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

  • Conservation Refugees: The Hundred-Year Conflict between Global Conservation and Native Peoples by Mark Dowie, MIT Press Paperback.

 

(The last two books can not be chosen as one of the three required by students taking my Econ 4389 this semester. They can however be used along with the assigned books.)

 

(very useful data source - please download a copy)

 

 

The following publication is available free and those taking the course might be interested in obtaining a copy. Many of the articles are extreme and I found myself agreeing with some and infuriated by others but the entire issue is thought

 

Two articles that I found particularly useful - a critque of the movie Hotel Rwanda and another on AIDs in South Africa.
 

 

Course Calendar:

 

·         First day of classes – Monday, August 24, 2009

·         Last day to add a class – Saturday, August 29, 2009

·         Labor Day holiday – Monday, September 7, 2009

·         Last day to drop a course or withdraw without receiving a grade – online before 11.59 PM, Tuesday, September 8, 2009

·         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 –  Tuesday, September 8, 2009

·         Last day to drop a course or withdraw with a 'W' – before 5 PM, Wednesday, November 4, 2009

·         Thanksgiving holiday - Wednesday-Saturday, November 25-28, 2009

·         DUE DATE FOR ALL PAPERS - before 4 PM, Monday, November 30, 2009
(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 5, 2009

·         Official closing of the semester - Friday, December 18, 2009

 

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.

Following the University rules, if all your papers have not been received by me and graded at the time that I have to post my grades, you will be given an "F" for the course unless you have a verified acceptable excuse (such as a doctor's letter concerning an illness) for not having completed the work for the course. The University now requires that for each "I" given, there is a filled out form explaining the reason for the "I" and it has to be signed by both the student and the instructor. 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>http://www.uh.edu/provost/stu/stu_enrollcapqs.html>Enrollment Cap for Texas Residents (Tuesday, September 8, 2009) or the last day to drop a course or withdraw (before 5 PM, Wednesday, November 4, 2009) .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 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 30, 2009, (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 in 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 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. 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 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 28 - A ten page paper that makes substantial use of at least two of the assigned sources.

·         October 5 - Students who have exams or other academic commitments that make the September 28 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 12 - 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.

·         October 26 - Second paper due in Economics office before it closes (circa 3 PM)

·         October 26 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 2 - 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 16 - Third paper due in Economics office before it closes (circa 3 PM)

·         November 23 - 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 30 - as stated above - DUE DATE FOR ALL PAPERS  - before 4 PM, Monday, November 30, 2009 (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 30, 2009 (in class or in the Economics office, 204 M).

 

 

The suggested topics:

You may two 10 page papers (plus your 3rd and possibly 4th paper on a topic below) each on a different issue in African development or a 20 page on leading issues in African development paper one or two other papers on a topic below. Your need to use the Friedel book precludes your doing all of your papers on a purely African topic.

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

 

 

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