Economic Development of China, India or Asia/Vietnam, Summer 2007

ECONOMICS 3355 Sections see below                      Thomas R. DeGregori
Economics 6355, Sections  see below
4 to 6 PM MTWTh, ALL  Sessions                  Office: 209D M
Room 108 AH                                               Office hrs.  MTWTh - by appointment
Ph. (713) 743 3838                                        by appointment when in town
I prefer to receive emails -                              Email: trdegreg@uh.edu
homepage - www.uh.edu/~trdegreg

Summer I   3065   ECON3355  ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF ASIA  16001800  MTWTH  AH 110 - last date to turn-in papers - June 28, 2007
Summer I   3097   ECON6355  ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF ASIA  16001800  MTWTH  AH 110 - last date to turn-in papers - June 28, 2007
Summer II  3067   ECON3355  ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF ASIA 16001800  TTH        AH 110 - last date to turn-in papers -  July 12, 2007
Summer III 3064   ECON3355  ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF ASIA 16001800  MW        AH 110 - last date to turn-in papers - August 8(M/W classes), 2007
Summer IV 3066   ECON3355  ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF ASIA  16001800  MTWTH  AH 110 - last date to turn-in papers - August 9(T/Th classes), 2007
Summer IV 7938    ECON6355  ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF ASIA  16001800  MTWTH  AH 110 - last date to turn-in papers - August 8, 2007*&**

* - We are in the process of adding  Econ6355 to Summer IV and if possible canceling it in Summer I. This is necessary in order to allow time to complete papers. All students, graduate or undergraduate should sign-up for Summer III or IV in order to have maximum time to complete the assigned papers. Summer I and II are only for those who are required to have coursework in these sessions to meet a requirement such as study-abroad. When the change is official, a corrected syllabus will be posted and replace this one.

This is a special problems course that can be taken for 3 hours credit.  The course will meet on the first day indicated in the schedule for the class assignments. If you wish to enroll for less than 3 hours credit, please see Marion Foley in 208B M.

One has the option of registering for it in any of the summer sessions since it is entirely a independent study course except for those in the study abroad programs where there may be lectures. The course will meet on the first day indicated in the schedule for the class assignments. If at all possible, it is very strongly recommended that students sign-up for the the summer sessions where the last day of class is in August. This will allow you more time to comlete your papers as we will be following the University catalog closely and will be giving incompletes only to those who qualify by University rules. Some exception will be made for those in study abroad programs. You may obtain the books and start work on your papers as soon as this syllabus is posted in February indicating that it has been approved for the summer programs.

THERE WILL BE NO EXAMS OR QUIZZES.

It is also available as a graduate course, Economics 6355. Those taking it for graduate credit will also be required to use Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 6, Biology and Biological Technology, Part 2, Agriculture by Joseph Needham and Francesca Bray, Cambridge University Press and do a major paper on Chinese agriculture.

In 2006, the course was used in the following study abroad programs: China Study Abroad Program (see Dr. Yali Zou, FH 450, ext 34982) or for the India Study Abroad Program (see Dr. Saleha Khumawala, MH 360A, ext 3-4829 - may not be offered i n 2007 but will definitely be offered on 2008.). Modifications of either the China or India options will be considered if approved by Dr. Zou or Dr. Khumawala. As I learn of other Asian study abroad programs for 2007, I will add the contact persons and post the information for them

There were three options for the course - (1) Focus on China, (2) Focus on India, (3) All of Asia excluding Japan, Australia and New Zealand. We are adding a Viet Nam option this summer as part of the No. 3 Asian Option. Pick one of the three options and the five books that are assigned with it. Then pick your topics within that focus. Most of the following books are available in paperback. It may be possible to substitute books between various options but only with written permission (email) of the instructor. This permission must be printed out and turned in with your papers. Buy or otherwise gain access only to the books assigned for your option. All books but Origins of the Organic Agriculture Debate and Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 6 are in paperback.

China Option

The World That Trade Created: Society, Culture, and the World Economy, 1400 to the Present by Kenneth Pomeranz and  Steven Topik, M.E. Sharpe.

Origins of the Organic Agriculture Debate, by Thomas R. DeGregori, Blackwell Professional.

China and Vietnam by Brantly Womack, Cambridge University Press

Any two of the following three books

Shorter Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 1, by Colin A. Ronan, Cambridge University Press.***

Shorter Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 3, by Colin A. Ronan, Cambridge University Press.***

Shorter Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 5, by Colin A. Ronan, Cambridge University Press.***
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India Option

A Concise History of Modern India (2nd Edition) by Barbara D. and Thomas R. Metcalf, Cambridge University Press

Agriculture, Food Security, Poverty, and Environment: Essays on Post Reform India by C H Hanumantha Rao, Oxford University Press, 2005.

The Far Enemy by Fawaz A. Gerges, Cambridge University Press

Origins of the Organic Agriculture Debate, by Thomas R. DeGregori, Blackwell Professional.

The Environment, Our Natural Resources and Modern Technology by Thomas R. DeGregori, Blackwell Professional.
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All Asia/Vietnam Option

Rhodes Murphy, A History of Asia, Addison, Wesley, Longman paperback, latest edition.

Globalization and the Developing Countries by D. Bigman, ed., Oxford University Press.

The Rise of Early Modern Science: Islam, China, and the West by Toby E. Huff, Cambridge University Press

China and Vietnam by Brantly Womack, Cambridge University Press.

Bountiful Harvest by Thomas R. DeGregori, Cato.

Assignment:

You are to write three papers of (very) roughly 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 three is about 30 to 40 pages. You are required to do either Nos 1 or 2 but can not do both. Students often write at great length on topics 1 or 2 which is fine but no more than 10 pages are counted towards the required 30 pages. No. 3 is also required. Pick one of the others for your final paper. Graduate students will be required to do a 20 to 30+ page paper on Chinese agriculture in addition to two 10 page papers. You may be allowed to substitute a book from one option for one in your chosen option provided that you indicate the books involved and the reason you wish to do so. Most often it will be because the exchange is necessary inorder to do a particular topic - example writing on Global Terrorism would very likely require using The Far Enemy by  Fawaz A. Gerges. For this and any other 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.

The suggested topics:

1)   Asian history and culture as basis for understanding Asian economies today
2)   Asian Culture, Geography & Politics to understand Asia economies today.
3)   Asian agriculture
4)   Asian Economic Development since 1950.
5)   Asian Economic Development since 1979.
6)   Poverty and inequality in Asia and what can be done about it.
7)   Major issues in Asian Development: IMF, Debt etc.
8)   The Asian Development model: What is it and what is its future?
9)   Global Terrorism

In each of the above suggested topics, you may substitute China, India, Viet Nam, South Asia or Southeast or East Asia for Asia. In other words, you may take this as an Asian Economics Course, an East Asian Economics Course, a Southeast Asian Course, a South Asian Economics Course or a China, India or Viet Nam Economics Course. Good luck!

THERE WILL NOT BE A FINAL EXAM.

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 exerience 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 quizes, 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.

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 orginal 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 conlude" or "it is my judgment based upon the evidence" etc. If you present solid evedence 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."

***These books are three of many of the abridged and re-written volumes of Joseph Needham's massive, monumental, multivolume work,  Science and Civilisation in China. "Joseph Needham's Science and Civilisation in China is a monumental piece of scholarship which breaks new ground in presenting to the Western reader a detailed and coherent account of the development of science, technology and medicine in China from the earliest times until the advent of the Jesuits and the beginnings of modern science in the late seventeenth century. It is a vast work, necessarily more suited to the scholar and research worker than the general reader. This paperback version, abridged and re-written by Colin Ronan, makes this extremely important study accessible to a wider public." In abridging the text, the opportunity has been taken to include the official Pin Yin transliterations alongside those of the original work.

**UH Enrollment Schedule
http://www.uh.edu/enroll/rar/enrollment_schedule.html

Thomas R. DeGregori, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
University of Houston
Department of Economics
204 McElhinney Hall
Houston, Texas 77204-5019
Ph. 001 - 1 - 713 743-3838
Fax 001 - 1 - 713 743-3798
Email trdegreg@uh.edu
Web homepage http://www.uh.edu/~trdegreg