INR4035/1C04
Fall 2014
MWF 9:35-10:25
AND 101
Professor M. Leann Brown
Office hours: MWF 10:30-11:30, 333 AND
E-mail: mlbrown@.ufl.edu
Phone: 352.273.2398
"While humanity shares one planet, it is a planet on which there are two worlds, the world of the
rich and the world of the poor."
Raanan Weitz, 1986
POOR AND RICH COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD SYSTEM
This course is designed to explore the economic, social, and political linkages and
interdependencies between and among less- and more-developed countries in the global
system predominantly from the former's perspective. We will consider: (a) some concepts and
theories that relate to underdevelopment, (b) some economic, political, and social aspects of
poor countries’ underdevelopment, and c) some policy recommendations as to how the
international community might help address global imbalances in human welfare.
REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS
Hopper, Paul. 2012. Understanding Development. Cambridge: Polity.
Boo, Katherine. 2012. Behind the Beautiful Forevers. Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai
Undercity. New York: Random House.
The assigned readings will expand your understanding of the lectures and enable you to
participate fully in classroom discussion. Since one goal of the course is to allow you to analyze
reported news and opinions, you are encouraged to cultivate the habit of devoting some time
each day to reading global news. Several excellent sources of news are available online. You
might signup to receive daily news summaries from sources such as the NEW YORK TIMES and the
United Nations News Service (http://www.irinnews.org; several of the “themes,” a subtopic on
the website, coincide with those we will discuss this semester). You will also wish to have access
to an atlas to help identify countries and regions mentioned in the readings, lectures, and
current periodicals.
GRADING PROCEDURES
Your grade in this course will derive from your performance on a mid-term and final
examinations in essay and multiple choice format respectively, and a short (10 pages, typewritten, double-spaced, with one-inch margins and 12-point font) research paper. Both exams
will potentially include material from the lectures, readings, class discussion, and current events.
Your final grade will be based on the following credit distribution:
Midterm exam (Friday 10/17)
Final exam (Thursday 12/18 10-12 am)
Research Paper (Final submission Friday 11/21)
33.3%
33.3%
33.3%
Exams must be taken as scheduled unless documentation is provided of exceptional
circumstances like medical problems, legal obligations, UF-related educational or sports events,
or religious observances. See
https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/current/regulations/info/attendance.aspx for University policies
regarding these matters.
The Grading Scale is as follows: 90-92 = A-, 93-100 = A; 80-82 = B-, 83-86 = B, 87-89 = B+….
Information on current UF grading policies for assigning grade points is available at:
https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/current/regulations/info/grades.aspx.
If you require special in-class and/or testing accommodations, please consult with the
Disability Resource Center (352.392.8565, www.dso.ufl.edu/drc/) for information concerning your
rights and responsibilities, and then submit the relevant paperwork to me as soon as possible.
SHORT RESEARCH PAPER
You should plan to submit your research question and tentative thesis in class in hardcopy on
Friday 9/26 (for 5% of the paper credit) and, on Friday 10/24, a 10-item working bibliography
(representing 5% of the paper credit) is due in class in hardcopy. Because scholarly (peerreviewed/refereed) journals present the most theoretically important, timely, concise, and
credible sources available, they should constitute at least half of the (minimum) ten-item
bibliography. You might begin your search for these scholarly works with the political,
economic, and social science indices on the UF library website such as the Academic Search
Premier (ebsco), JStor, and Wilson Omnifile.
SCHEDULE, COURSE OUTLINE, AND ASSIGNED READINGS
____________________________________________________________________________________________
DATES
DISCUSSION TOPIC
HOPPER
BOO
8/25
Course introduction
____________________________________________________________________________________________
8/27-9/5
Concepts and Theories
Chs 1, 2
SEPTEMBER 1 NO CLASS - LABOR DAY
ECONOMIC LINKAGES AND INTERDEPENDENCIES
___________________________________________________________________________________________
9/8-12
Trade
Ch 6
____________________________________________________________________________________________
9/15-19
9/22-26
Debt and financial crises
Aid
Ch 8
Chs 1-3
FRIDAY, 9/26 RESEARCH QUESTION AND TENTATIVE THESIS FOR SHORT RESEARCH PAPER DUE IN
CLASS, IN HARDCOPY
POLITICAL LINKAGES AND INTERDENDENCIES
9/29-10/3
Conflict and Arms Proliferation
Ch 5
Chs 4-5
10/6-15 Civil society as a foundation …
Chs 6-7
____________________________________________________________________________________________
FRIDAY 11/10 NO CLASS - UF HOMECOMING ACTIVITIES
FRIDAY 10/17 MIDTERM EXAMINATION
10/20-24 The spread of democracy
Ch 7
Chs 8-9
____________________________________________________________________________________________
FRIDAY 10/24 WORKING BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR RESEARCH PAPER IS DUE IN CLASS, IN HARDCOPY
SOCIAL LINKAGES AND INTERDEPENDENCIES
10/27-31 Women and Development
Ch 4
Chs 10-11
____________________________________________________________________________________________
11/3-7 Health and development
Ch 3
Chs 12-13
__________________________________________________________________________________________
11/10-14 Sustainable Development
Ch 9
Chs 14-15
____________________________________________________________________________________________
11/17-24 Globalization and Development
Ch 10 + Conclusion
Ch 16-17
____________________________________________________________________________________________
FRIDAY 11/21 RESEARCH PAPER DUE IN CLASS, IN HARDCOPY
WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY 11/26-28 NO CLASS – THANKSGIVING DAY OBSERVANCE IN THE US
12/1-8 Discussion of BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVERS
____________________________________________________________________________________________
12/10 Review for exam
FINAL EXAMINATION THURSDAY, 12/18, 10:00 am -12:00, in our regular classroom
____________________________________________________________________________________________
The following information is recommended by UF’s Syllabi Policy:
http://www.aa.ufl.edu/Data/Sites/18/media/policies/syllabi_policy.pdf
Students are expected to provide feedback on the quality of instruction in this course
by completing online evaluations at https://evaluations.ufl.edu. Evaluations are
typically open during the last two or three weeks of the semester, but students will be
given specific times when they are open. Summary results of these assessments are
available to students at: https://evaluations.ufl.edu/results/.
UF students are bound by The Honor Pledge which states, “We, the members of the
University of Florida community, pledge to hold ourselves and our peers to the highest
standards of honor and integrity by abiding by the Honor Code. On all work submitted
for credit by students at the University of Florida, the following pledge is either required
or implied: “On my honor, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid in doing
this assignment.” The Honor Code (http://www.dso.ufl.edu/sccr/process/studentconduct-honor-code/) specifies a number of behaviors that are in violation of this
code and the possible sanctions. Furthermore, you are obligated to report any
condition that facilitates academic misconduct to appropriate personnel. If you have
any questions or concerns, please consult with the course instructor.
The Counseling and Wellness Center is available at:
http://www.counseling.ufl.edu/cwc/Default.aspx, phone 392-1575.
For emergencies, the University Police Department may be contacted by phone at:
392-1111 or 9-1-1.