LONDON’S GLOBAL UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
Department of Economics
UG Curriculum Review
December 2012
I. Introduction
1. Context of the review
2. The curriculum review team
3. Action points
II. Overview of the undergraduate programme
III. Macroeconomics sequence on L100
1. Topics and courses
2. Recommendations regarding core Macroeconomics sequence
3. Recommendations regarding Macroeconomics options
IV. Microeconomics sequence on L100
1. Topics and courses
2. Recommendations regarding core Microeconomics sequence
3. Recommendations regarding Microeconomics options
4. ECON1001: Microeconomics
5. ECON2001: Microeconomics
6. ECON3014: Game Theory
V. Quantitative Methods sequence on L100
1. Introduction
2. STAT 6202: Introduction to Statistics (Year 1, Term 1)
3. ECON 1002: Applied Econ (Year 1, Term 2)
4. ECON 2007: Quantitative Economics (Year 2, Terms 1-2)
5. ECON 3002: Micro Metrics (Year 3, Term 2)
6. ECON 3003: Metrics for Macro and Finance (Year 3, Term 2)
7. Topics covered in the quantitative sequence
VI. Specialised fields on L100
VII. Courses taken by L100 students in the College
VIII. Undergraduate degree with a year abroad: L101
IX. The Department of Economics’s contribution to the College’s UG teaching
X. The National Student Survey and the Department’s place in the league tables
XI. Appendix: Options available to L100 and L101 students in the College
I.
Introduction
The review’s main conclusion is that the undergraduate curriculum is appropriate in terms of
breadth and depth of the topics covered. It provides students with a strong foundation in the first
and second years of the degree, and prepares them well for the study of specialised fields in the
third year. Two features distinguish UCL Economics BSc from competitors: firstly our
programme is very quantitative and secondly it has a high content of research-led courses.
These features reflect the internationally recognised research expertise which UCL Department
of Economics has traditionally been famous for, as well as the emphasis the department puts on
excellence in teaching. The review finds that there is room for improvement in the integration of
the curriculum and the feedback to students, both in summative and formative assessments
1. Context of the review
A previous review was conducted in 2001, on the occasion of the Teaching Quality Assessment
(TQA). Apart from changes to specific courses, changes have been made to the programme
since the last review. A compulsory mathematics course has been added in the first year. A new
degree, Economics with a year abroad has been introduced (L101). The number of foreign
students has increased, though this may have peaked. The National Student Survey and our
place in the league tables are not what they should be, in view of our effort and our expertise.
Outside of the programme, a number of changes have taken place which bear upon the
Department in several ways. First, the object of our enquiry has changed as the world has
experienced a global financial crisis, considered to be the worst since the Great Depression.
Second, fees for higher education have increased. Third, the mode of financing higher
education has changed. However, home students have increased access to means tested
bursaries and the threshold of subsequent income above which students are required to pay
back the bursaries has increased as well. Finally, the overseas university sector will probably
become increasingly competitive with our own.
The financial crisis has sparked a reflection on whether the teaching of economics in general is
fit for purpose. Momentum is building up internationally for changes in the curriculum.
Academics from top departments in the US and in Europe are participating to an INET
curriculum project, which is leading to changes in the way economics is taught in a number of
places. Wendy Carlin is leading this initiative.1
It was thus felt timely, in view of both the time elapsed since this previous review, and of these
changes, to reassess the programme and our provision.
2. The curriculum review team
Liam Graham (macroeconomics), Martin Cripps (microeconomics), Steve Machin (applied
economics), Dennis Kristensen (econometrics); together with Wendy Carlin, Richard Blundell
and Parama Chaudury took part in a review of the undergraduate curriculum. Magne Mogstad
stood in for Steve Machin for one meeting. Valérie Lechene (BSc Programme director) chaired
the meetings. The team met on 4 occasions between January and March 2012. There were
also several meetings of sub-groups of the team.
1
Vox is running a debate and Wendy put up a piece which has had 9,000 hits in 10 days
(http://www.voxeu.org/article/how-should-macroeconomics-be-taught-undergraduates-post-crisis-era-concreteth
proposal). Also cf Provost newsletter of November 12 2012, about MOOC.
3. Action points
3.1 Money and Banking (ECON7003, Y2, Y3), Options. To be discontinued after 2012-13.
Action point: Morten Ravn to discontinue course.
3.2 Statistics (STAT6202, Y1, T1), Core Quantitative sequence: Deliver course in Economics
department, as part of Quantitative sequence.
Action point: Morten Ravn to liaise with Statistics Department to bring Statistics teaching
in house, from 2013-14
3.3 Integration of curriculum in core sequences. Organise curriculum into core sequences
over the degree, rather than as independent courses.
Action point: VL to coordinate meetings in early 2013 to discuss implementation of
integration of curriculum in core sequences. Proposals to be made to DTC.
3.4 Formative and summative assessments. Review all aspects of feedback to students in
view of negative comments in National Student Survey, as well as summative assessment.
Action point: VL to organise the review Proposals to be made to DTC.
3.5 New course: Advanced Applied Economics.
Action point: Ian Preston to develop a third year option course, Advanced Applied
Economics.
3.6 Moodle pages: Give access of all course moodle pages to all teaching staff to facilitate
integration of content.
Action point: Morten Ravn to request implementation from IT department.
3.7 Publicise structure of degree: Publicise diagram of structure of degree (cf section II), on
website and circulate to staff.
Action point: Morten Ravn to request implementation.
3.8 Information to students: Review amount, content, mode of transmission and tone of
information going to students.
Action point: Morten Ravn to request review.
II. Overview of the undergraduate programme
The undergraduate programme is organised in three subjects: macroeconomics,
microeconomics, and quantitative methods. In each subject, the curriculum is delivered in core
courses, taking place in the first two years of the degree, and in optional courses, taking place
in either of the three years of the degree. The diagram below shows the structure of the
undergraduate programme. It indicates, for each year of the degree, the courses available to
students in the Department of Economics as well as the distinction between compulsory core
courses (in red) and optional courses (in black). Students are also allowed to choose optional
courses outside the department, representing one unit in total in each of the years of the
programme. One unit can be either a course taking place over two terms, or two courses taking
place over a term each. A list of courses available outside the Department of Economics is
provided in an appendix.
Diagram of the undergraduate programme in Economics Numbers in bold are 2011/12 enrolment of L100 students
1st year
2nd year
3rd year
3012 - Industrial Economics I: 59
3013 - Industrial Economics II: 59
2001
– Micro:
2001
200
Micro
1001
Economics:
191
3014 - Game Theory: 51
3009 - Economics of Law: 61
3016 - Economics of Information: 44
3020- Experimental Economics: 30
7004 - Industrial
Relations: 25
2004 –
Macro: 200
Macro
3004 - International Trade: 85
3005 - Intl Monetary Economics: 119
3015 – Econ of Growth: 59
7003 - Money and Banking: 178
Metrics
Maths
1002:
Applied
economics:
187
2007 – Metrics
: 200
3002 – Microeconometrics: 34
3003 – ‘Metrics for macro & finance: 40
1004 / 1008
– Intro to
maths: 190
3023 – Econ of Financial markets: 52
Other
6201 – Intro
to stats: 190
7001 - Econ of Labour: 75
3018 – Europe: 47
7002 - Econ of Finance: 97
1005 - World Economy: 112
ECON 1006 - History of
1006Economic
– HistoryThought
of Econ Thought: 30
ECON 1006 - History of Economic
Thought
3007 - Economic Policy Analysis: 51
7005 - Econ of Public Sector: 75
3022 - Ethics in Applied Economics: 48
7008 - Econ of Tax Policy: 50
7010 - Econ of Development: 120
7011 - Econ of Science: 13
III. Macroeconomics on L100
1. Topics and courses
The table below shows the core macroeconomics topics and the courses in which they feature
in the undergraduate degree.
Aggregate demand
- basics
- microfoundations
- intertemporal aspects
Aggregate supply
- perfect competition
- imperfect competition
- nominal stickiness
- medium run
Open economy
- basics
- fixed / floating regimes
- intertemporal aspects
- global interdependence
Trade
Expectations
Financial markets
Money
Banking
Models
- IS – LM – (UIP)
- IS – PC – MR
- AD – BT - ERU
Fiscal policy
- basics
- intertemporal aspects
- debt dynamics
Monetary policy
- basics
- inflation targeting
- unconventional
Supply side policy
Institutions
Crises
Growth
- exogenous
- endogenous
Economic history
1001
2004
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3004
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3005
3015
3018
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■
■
■
1001 – Economics
2004 – Macroeconomic theory and policy
7003 – Money and Banking
3004 – International Trade
3005 – International Monetary Economics
3015 – Economics of Growth
3018 – Europe
■ – covered
□ – mentioned
7003
■
■
■
■
2. Recommendations regarding core Macroeconomics sequence
It is proposed to re-design the Macroeconomics sequence of the degree in terms of a core of
three terms and options.
3. Recommendations regarding Macroeconomics options
The committee felt that the course “Money and Banking”, ECON7003 should be redesigned to
provide a bridge between applied work, theoretical developments and policy questions in the
money and banking field. In its pre-2012-13 version, the course had been taken by unfeasibly
large number of students. A new course is offered since 2012-13, Economics of Money and
Banking (ECON3028, Y3) following the committee’s recommendations about content, and level
of the course, since it is felt that the material needs two years of Macro as a pre-requisite.
Action point 3.1 is the recommendation that the course Money and Banking ECON7003 should
be discontinued, as it has effectively been replaced by the new course Economics of Money
and Banking, ECON3028.
It is suggested that further macroeconomics options in Year 3 might include 'Economic Crises'
and 'Advanced Macroeconomics'.
IV. Microeconomics on L100
1. Topics and courses
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3 (Options)
Demand Theory
Choice under uncertainty
XX
X
XX
XX
Intertemporal Choice
Theory of Perfectly Comp Firm
General Equilibrium
Oligopoly Theory
Monopoly
Nash equilibrium, SPE etc.
X
XX
XX
X
XX
XX
X
XX
Adverse Selection
Moral Hazard
Mechanisms & Social Choice
Experiments & Behavioural
X
Public
Finance, Games, Info,
Labour
Finance, IO, Labour
IO, Labour
Finance
IO
IO, Regulation
Games, Info, Law, Tax
Policy
Finance, Games, Info, Law
Finance, Info, IO, Law
Public Economics, Law
Games, Experimental,
X
XX
XX
XX
X
Key: X = a little, XX = a lot of material/central to course
2. Recommendations regarding core Microeconomics sequence
It is proposed to re-design the Microeconomics sequence of the degree in terms of a core of
three terms and options. The Microeconomics team might consider the following points: 1)
should choice under uncertainty be taught earlier; 2) should there be more emphasis on
monopoly and general equilibrium, on regulation, welfare, public goods/externalities in the core
course; 3) Is there enough behavioural economics; 4) is there any cost-benefit analysis, and in
general, topics/tools that economists use in their jobs. (Should there be?)
3. Recommendations regarding Microeconomics options
It might be useful to make a link between the core micro and the applied options courses to see
where students get to use the tools/models they learn in the theory. 4. ECON 1001: Microeconomics
1 Introduction. Course background and arrangements. The use and structure of economic
models. The need for abstraction/simplification. The agents. Motivation. Constraints.
Equilibrium. Comparative statics.
2. Comparative advantage and the gains from trade. Production technology. The production
possibility frontier; attainable and unattainable outcomes. Efficient and inefficient outcomes.
Opportunity costs. Absolute advantage. Comparative advantage. Gains from trade. Prices and
trade. Historical background. Extensions.
3. Supply and Demand Models –I. Movements along a demand curve versus shifts of whole
curve. Responsiveness of demand to price. Own price elasticity of demand. The relationship
between elasticity and total expenditure (revenue). Determinants of price elasticity of demand.
Other elasticity measures. Consumer and producer surplus.
4. Supply and Demand Models—II Equilibrium and Applications. The equilibrium concept
treated verbally, diagrammatically and mathematically. Comparative statics (effects of shifts of
supply and/or demand curves). Applications: Price ceilings and price floors. Sales taxes and
their incidence.
5. Consumers and demand. Consumers' tastes and preferences. Indifference curves. Utility.
The budget set. Consumer equilibrium. Effects of income and price changes; Engel curves for
normal and inferior goods, demand curves. Income and substitution effects. Application to
labour supply. From individual to market demand.
6. Production and Cost. The production function. Isoquants. Technical efficiency. Average
and marginal product. Diminishing returns. Returns to scale. Opportunity cost. Short and long
run costs. Average and marginal costs. Duality between cost and production. Cost minimisation.
Economies of scale. Costs for firms with multiple products.
7. Business Decisions and Market Structure. The perfectly competitive framework and why
we use it. Profit maximising decisions for perfectly competitive firms. barriers to entry. Short and
long run supply. Pri
cing with market power. Pure monopoly. Welfare effects of monopoly. Price discrimination.
Bundling. Antitrust policy. Oligopoly and other forms of imperfect competition. Simple game
theory.
8. Factor markets. The supply of factors of production in the short run and the long run.
Marginal productivity theory of factor demand in the short run and the long run. Equilibrium in
competitive factor markets. Economic rent. Monopsony power in labour markets. Efficiency
wages and incentive payments.
9. Externalities and Public Goods. The benefits of markets. Market failures. Externalities and
common resources. Public goods. Government intervention
If time permits, one or more of the following supplementary topics will be
covered (they will not be in the exam if they are not covered in lectures).
10. Asymmetric information. The market for lemons. Moral hazard and adverse
selection.
11. Inter-temporal Decisions. Present value (discounting). Consumption over time.
Investment decisions when returns spread over time.
12. Uncertainty. How do individuals adapt their behaviour to the pervasive uncertainty they
face in their economic lives? Introduction to risk-aversion and expected utility maximisation.
Applications: tax evasion, insurance.
13. Behavioural Economics -- how rational are economic agents? Recent challenges to the
assumptions of rationality that forms the basis of consumer and firm
behaviour in standard neoclassical microeconomics.
READING.
A. Textbooks.
The text I currently recommend is:
Jeffrey M. Perloff Microeconomics with Calculus, 2nd edition (2011) published by Pearson.
You could also consult a slightly more advanced text (which is used in year 2)
Hal Varian, Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach. (Norton, currently on its 8th
edition but any recent edition would do
5. ECON2001: Microeconomics
Course Outline:
Term 1:
1) The Firm and Monopoly: Cowell Chapter 2 and 3
a) Production functions, Input Demands and Short and Long Run Costs
b) Supply Curves, Price Discrimination and Bundling
2) Games in Strategic and Extensive Form: Cowell Chapter 10
a) Strategic Forms: Nash Equilibrium
b) Extensive Forms: Perfect Equilibrium
3) Oligopoly: Cowell Chapter 10
a) Static Models: Price/Quantity Competition and Auctions
b) Dynamic Models: Leadership and Commitment
4) Adverse Selection: Signalling & Hidden Information: Chapter 11
a) Lemons and signals in Insurance
b) Screening in product provision
5) Incentives and Design: Hidden Actions: Cowell Chapters 1112
a) Moral hazard, principles and agents.
b) Designing new economic environments.
Term 2:
6) Consumer Demand: Cowell Chapter 4
a) Budget constraints
b) Revealed preference
c) Preferences and utility, duality
d) Consumer surplus and price indices
7) Demand with endowments: Cowell Chapter 5
a) Labour supply
b) Intertemporal choice
8) Uncertainty: Cowell Chapter 8
9) General equilibrium: Cowell Chapter 6 and 7
a) Exchange equilibrium
b) Equilibrium with production
c) Welfare theorems
Texts: The main text is Microeconomics: Principles and Analysis [F. Cowell, OUP 2006 (ISBN
0-19-926777-4)]. Easier books: Microeconomic Theory: Basic Principles and Extensions
[Nicholson, South-Western 2005] and Intermediate Microeconomics [Varian, Norton 2003]. A
more advanced book for an ambitious student is: Microeconomics [Gravelle and Rees, Pearson
2004].
6. ECON3014: Game Theory
Text Osborne Introduction to Game Theory
Objectives:
•
•
•
•
Be able to use the concept of Nash equilibrium in simple oligopolistic games, and voting
games
Understand the concept of Subgame Perfect Equilibrium and apply it to games of
lobbying and bargaining
Understand the logic of Bayesian games and use them to analyse real-world selling
mechanisms such as auctions
Understand concepts such as signalling and communication in environments with private
information.
Other Options: Information Economics, (Adverse Selection and Moral Hazard Models +
Empirical testing), Industrial Economics 1 (Modes of Competition), Industrial Economics 2
(Dynamics), Economics of Financial Markets
V. Quantitative Methods on L100
1. Introduction
This note provides an overview of courses taught at the economics department at UCL focusing
on quantitative methods. Below, the sequence of quantitative methods courses is described in
terms of contents and goals. This is followed by an assessment of the current status of
sequence. As documentation, a brief description of each course in terms of course topics and
reading list is provided at the end together with a table tracing which topics are covered in which
courses.
The quantitative methods courses taught at the economics department aim at providing
students with econometric (statistical) tools to analyse economic data and draw quantitative
inference about economic relationships. In the 1st year, students are taught basic probability
theory and statistical methods (STAT 6202) and see some applications of basic econometric
techniques to economic data/problems in ECON 1002.
A more comprehensive, in-depth treatment of important econometric models and techniques
used in economics are provided in the 2nd year (ECON 2007). This course aims at combining
the necessary methodology with empirical applications to teach the students how to employ
econometric tools in a wide range of different settings.
For students who wish to further specialise in econometric techniques and get a better grasp of
the underlying theory, the department offers two electives in the 3rd year: ECON 3002 focuses
on the econometric analysis of economic data on a micro-level (in general, data on individuals)
while ECON 3003 introduce tools for modelling and forecasting macroeconomic and financial
data.
While the courses are in general of a high standard, lecturers of the 2nd and 3rd year courses in
the sequence have raised concerns about the students’ (lack of) understanding of basic
probability and statistics as taught in STAT 6202. The current version of STAT 6202 appears
not to prepare the students appropriately for the more formal treatment of econometric methods
in the latter years of their degree.
The lecturers of ECON 1002 have also expressed interests in coordination with STAT 6202 so
the students can work on data themselves in ECON 1002. Currently, the students appear not to
be able to do so.
Based on these issues with STAT 6202, it seems desirable to bring the course in-house thereby
ensuring a more streamlined version of the quantitative methods sequence; this in turn should
provide the students with better quantitative skills and training in using these in practice.
2. STAT 6202: Introduction to Statistics (Year 1, Term 1)
COURSE OUTLINE (CURRENT)
1. Data Summary and Presentation 2. The Normal Distribution 3. Population statistics 4. Sampling distributions 5. Confidence Intervals and Tests based on the t-­‐distribution 6. Two Sample Non-­‐Parametric Tests 7. Binomial and Poisson Distributions 8. Frequency Data and Chi-­‐Square 9. The Normal Linear Regression Model READING (CURRENT)
Lecture notes
COURSE OUTLINE (PROPOSED)
1. Probability Basics 2. Random Variables, Expectations 3. Discrete/Continuous Distributions 4. Law of Large Numbers, Central Limit Theorem 5. Statistics Basics 6. Point/Interval Estimation 7. Hypothesis Testing 8. The Linear Regression Model In addition, students will be introduced to STATA and learn its basic features. There will be coordination
with ECON 1002; in particular, data sets used in Econ 1002 will also be used in STAT 6202’s lectures
and exercises.
READING (PROPOSED)
Sandholm, W., and B. Saraniti (2012) Vital Statistics: Probability and Statistics for Economic and
Business Decisions, to be published by Addison-Wesley.
Keller, G., (2005) Statistics for Management and Economics, 7th ed., Duxbury-Thomson-Brooks-Cole.
3. ECON 1002: Applied Econ (Year 1, Term 2)
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Education
Inequality
Productivity
Immigration
Tax
Crime
Globalization
National accounts
Cost-benefit analysis
READING
Selected articles
4. ECON 2007: Quantitative Economics (Year 2, Terms 1-2)
COURSE OUTLINE
1. Review of Probability and Statistics 2. Linear Regression with One Covariate 3. Multiple Regression 4. Nonlinear Regression 5.
6.
7.
8.
Panel Data Models Probit and Logit IV Regression Time Series (intro to) READING
Wooldridge: Introductory Econometrics / Stock and Watson: Introduction to Econometrics
5. ECON 3002: Micro Metrics (Year 3, Term 2)
COURSE OUTLINE
1. Limited Dependent Variable Models and Their Applications 2. Missing Data Problem, Censoring and Truncation. 3. Treatment Effects 4. Causal Inference and Randomized Experiments 5. Regression and matching 6. Instrumental Variables 7. Methods for repeated cross-­‐sections and panel data 8. Regression discontinuity design READING
Wooldridge + articles
6. ECON 3003: Metrics for Macro and Finance (Year 3, Term 2)
COURSE OUTLINE
1. Univariate Time Series Models (AR, MA, ARMA) 2. Forecasting 3. Unit Roots 4. Structural Breaks 5. Dynamic Causal Effects 6. Vector Autoregressions 7. Cointegration 8. Stock Return Predictability 9. CAPM and Asset Pricing Theory 10. Volatility Models READING
Stock and Watson: Introduction to Econometrics
Campbell, Lo and MacKinlay: Econometrics of Financial Markets
Hamilton: Time Series Analysis
lecture notes
7. Topics covered in the quantitative sequence
TOPICS
Probability
Sampling Theory
Causality
Linear
Regression
IV Regression
Panel Data
Count
data/Discrete
Choice
Ltd Dep Var
Treatment
Regression
Discontinuity
Forecasting
Dynamic Causal
Effects
Financial
Econometrics
STAT
6002
X
X
X
X
X
ECON
1002
X
X
X
X
ECON
2007
X
X
X
X
ECON
3002
X
X
X
X
ECON
3003
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
VI. Specialised fields on L100
UCL Department of Economics is reknowned for its top rate international expertise and is able
to offer a range of courses taught by world leaders in internationally recognised research fields.
VII. Courses taken by L100 students in the College
Economics students take courses outside of the Department of Economics. Their choices are
conservative and limited to areas related to management, finance, business, and “courses
known to be easy”. Students should be encouraged to take advantage of the wealth and
diversity of courses on offer at UCL and broaden their interest and expertise. It is recommended
that awareness of Personal Tutors of the opportunities to study a module in a different discipline
should be raised.
The table below contains information about the options taken outside the department and the
numbers of students concerned. An appendix contains a list of courses available to L100 and
L101 students outside the department.
VIII. Undergraduate degree with a year abroad: L101
The Department has introduced a new degree, Economics with a year abroad, in 2010. The
tutor in charge of developing this programme, Adam Rosen, is preparing a separate report on
this degree for the DTC.
IX. The Department of Economics’s contribution to the College’s UG teaching
We offer a range of courses to non economists. The tendency seems to be towards separating
courses offered to L100 and other students in order to better tailor to the needs of the different
constituencies.
X. The National Student Survey and the Department’s place in the league tables
Several newspapers and other bodies publish university league tables. Criteria used are not all
sensible and rankings will not match an informed observer's opinion but it is likely that
applicants look at them. UCL Economics does not do as well as it ought to do. To take the
Guardian tables as an example
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/table/2012/may/22/university-guide-economics),
competitors such as LSE, Warwick and Oxford are in the top spots while UCL languishes in 9th
place behind Kent, Dundee and Surrey.
There are two significant influences on this, the value added and the student satisfaction.
VALUE ADDED: This is a measure of the difference between degree attainment and quality of
intake. This measure is manipulable in a straightforward way and any department could
manufacture a misleadingly stellar score by admitting poor students and awarding them all
undeserved firsts. We do badly in terms of value added calculated in this way, because we
admit very good students and we have not followed the trend in increase in award of high
degree classification as much as other universities. However, we need to be sure that, without
diluting the value of a UCL degree, we do not send our very good students away with
undeservedly low degree classes compared to responsibly behaving competitors. If we were to
do so then that would both be both unfair to those students and justifiably a reason why
applicants might think twice about coming here.
Evidence on how Economics compares to other departments in UCL is readily available. In the
most recent available data we award 16% Firsts as against a college average of 25% (though
we are not so far from the SHS average of 17%). At the other end, we are more or less the only
department awarding Thirds - out of a total of 30 in the college as a whole we gave 10 and no
other department gave more than 3. Given that even our weakest students arrive at UCL with
excellent grades, this is an aspect which needs attention While we need to ensure that we teach
a challenging curriculum we must also be sure that we examine it fairly and sensitively to that
difficulty.
STUDENT SATISFACTION: The data on this come from the National Student Survey. The
department does badly on this in several dimensions both compared to other departments in
UCL and compared to the best economics departments elsewhere. This is a matter of general
concern, besides how it impacts on league tables. We do particularly badly on some specific but
important things like quality of feedback but also on general things like overall satisfaction and
teaching quality. Some of this may reflect the points above - if students come to believe they are
getting worse degrees than they could have got elsewhere then low ratings would be
understandable. However it is possible that it could also, among other things, reflect curricular
issues. In particular, students rate us badly on how interesting we make the subject. It is not
clear how this compares to other economics departments. It compares badly to other
departments in the faculty.
XI. Appendix: Options available to L100 and L101 students in the College
Geography:
Year 1
Human Ecology GEOG1004
Global Geographies GEOG1007
London: a Geographical Introduction GEOG1001
Environmental Change GEOG1005
Year 2
Ecological Patterns and Processes GEOG2007
Political Geography and Geopolitics GEOG2019
Cultural and Historical Geography GEOG2024
Environment and Society GEOG2009
Development Geography GEOG2014
Urban Geography GEOG2023
Year 3
Environmental Management: Critical Perspectives GEOG3012
Gendered Geographies GEOG3022
Cities and Modernity GEOG3025
Water and Development in Africa GEOG3038
Africa: Postcolonial Perspectives GEOG3056
Global Environmental Change GEOG3057
Comparative Urbanism GEOG3062
Migration and Transnationalism GEOG3048
Asian Cities in a Globalising South GEOG3053
Popular Culture and Geopolitics GEOG3059
Scales of Inequality GEOG3060
History:
Year 1:
Courses reserved to non-historians:
Medieval History in London Collections
Ancient History in London Collections
History of Parliament
Courses available to all students:
The European Revolutions of 1848, HIST2311
History of Political Thought, HIST6001
Europe in the Early Middle Ages, HIST6201
British History 1689-c1860, HIST6301
British History c.1850-1990, HIST6304
Enlightenment and Revolution: Europe 1715-1805, HIST6307
History and Politics of Latin America c1930 to the Present, HIST6311
Building the American Nation: The United States 1789-1920, HIST6313
International Political Thought in the Early Modern Period, HIST6317
Crime and Popular Disorder in Georgian England HIST6320
Year 2 and 3, Term 1:
Rationality, HIST7001
The Human and Its Others: Enlightenment Ideas of Ethnicity and Race, HIST7339
Penal Era or Golden Age?: Ireland 1689-1801, HIST73XX
Crime and Popular Disorder in England 1714-1780, HIST7344
Natural Law and State Sovereignty: European Political Thought in the 17th Century, HIST7334
Studies in British History: Remembering Slavery, HIST7350
Gender in History: Feminist Movements in Comparative Perspective, HIST7346
Race: The Politics of Human Difference, HIST73XX
The Making of a Multicultural City: Aspects of Cultural and Social Life in Twentieth-century
London, HIST7341
Law’s Empire: Legal Cultures in the British Colonial World, HIST73XX
Year 2 and 3, Term 2:
European Fin-de-Siècle. A Cultural and Social History, HIST7312
State, Sovereignty and Liberty: The History of European Political Thought in the 18th Century,
HIST7335
Studies in the History of the Americas: The United States and International Human Rights
since 1941, HIST7329
The Human and Its Others: Enlightenment Ideas of Ethnicity and Race, HIST7339
Crime and Popular Disorder in England 1780-1830, HIST7345
The intellectual history of exile in the twentieth century, HIST7XXX
Modern American Cities, HIST73XX
Political Science/ESPS:
Most courses are assessed on coursework.
Changing Britain's Constitution
Comparative Political Analysis
Gender & Politics
Global Environmental Politics
Human Rights and World Politics
International Development and Public Policy
International Organisations
International Political Economy
International Relations Theories
International Security
Introduction to British Politics
Politics of the European Union
The Northern Ireland Peace Process
Theories & Concepts of Politics
SEES:
Year 1:
History of Eastern Europe since 1856, SEHI 0005, 1 unit
Year 2 and 3:
Emerging Market Economies in Russia and Eastern Europe, SESS2001, 1 unit
Entrepreneurship and Small Business with Reference to Central and Eastern Europe,
SESS2009, 0.5 unit
History of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union Since 1856, SEHI6010, 1.0 unit
Modern Germany 1815-1990, SEHI6011, 1.0 unit
Fascism and Authoritarianism in Eastern Europe 1918-1945, SEHI7002, 0.5 unit
Nations and Nationalism in South-Eastern Europe, SEHI6007, 1.0 unit
Police and Politics in Modern Germany 1815-1989, SEHI7006, 0.5 unit
Successors to the Habsburgs, SEHI2006, 1.0 unit
The Rise and Fall of Yugoslavia, SEHI2007, 1.0 unit
Between Politics and Culture: German Ideas 1890-1970, SEHI7004, 0.5 unit
History of Russia to 1598, SEHI6008,1.0 unit
History of Russia 1598-1856, SEHI6009, 1.0 unit
Other Departments:
Maths/Stats: There are introductory courses e,g in Analysis which outsiders with an A* in Alevel maths can take. We might want to encourage those we think might go to grad school in
economics to do these.
Philosophy: There are a few possibilities within the department (History of Economic Thought,
Ethics, or the new course proposed by Hugh)
Language: Quite a few students take a language (often a full unit) in the first year but this
number drops off in the next two years.