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) |
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:
Any three of the following
five books:
(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
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
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