ECON 365 Howard The Edge of Chaos & The Ages of Globalization Books Summary Books There are six books assigned for this course, available at Virginia Book

ECON 365 Howard The Edge of Chaos & The Ages of Globalization Books Summary Books

There are six books assigned for this course, available at Virginia Book Company, BookHolders, and the VCU Bookstore. They also should be available through any of the on-line book sellers (amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, etc.). It’s fine to use print or electronic versions – they’re all available as e-books.

In the order that we will read them, the books are:

Jeffrey D. Sachs, The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and Institutions (Columbia University Press, 2020)
Fred P. Hochberg, Trade Is Not a Four-Letter Word (Simon & Schuster, 2020)
Dambisa Moyo, The Edge of Chaos (Basic Books, 2018)
Hans Rosling, Factfulness (Flatiron Books, 2018)
Melinda Gates, The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World (Flatiron Books, 2019)
Michael T. Osterholm and Mark Olsher, Deadliest Enemy: Our War against Killer Germs (Little, Brown, 2017, with a recent update on covid-19)

Your papers should be double-spaced, with reasonable fonts and margins (please, no three-inch margins and 14-point fonts to stretch a three-page paper into five). Four of the papers should be the equivalent of five double-spaced pages (about 1250 words); one of the papers covers two books, and therefore should be the equivalent of ten double-spaced pages (about 2500 words).

Your papers should go beyond merely summarizing the books you’ve read. Instead, they should analyze the books. Writing an analytic paper means addressing some of the following points:

1. What is the main argument or arguments the author is making? Do you agree? Disagree? Why?

2. Are there any important points about the subject area that you think the author has omitted or under-emphasized? Over-emphasized? Why?

3. What are the key assumptions the author had to make in order to make the arguments in this book? If those assumptions were different, how would the author’s argument have to be different?

4. How do the arguments in the book you’re reading compare and contrast with the other readings we’ve done so far?

5. How does the information presented by the author relate to recent important world events? Does the author’s work seem still to be relevant today? Or is the world changing so quickly that even recently-published books on international issues soon grow out of date?

6. What recommendations might you have for United States policy makers — the President, the Departments of Defense, State, Commerce, etc., the Congress, or others — to cope with the issues presented in the author’s work?

7. How might you, as a concerned and informed citizen, take steps to cope with the issues presented in the author’s work?

You may answer any or all of these questions in your paper, or you may write a paper that deals with the assigned book from a completely different perspective. I am quite flexible in that there is no standard format for these papers. I simply want your thoughtful, reasoned, analytic reaction to the ideas presented in each assigned reading.

Please feel free to e-mail me as you read, think, and write, if you have questions or want to discuss your paper with me before or as you write.

If, for any reason, you choose in your paper to cite source material other than the assigned reading, please use any of the standard footnoting/endnoting formats. I don’t care which format you use; just be consistent.

Assignment Schedule

Monday, July 20, 2020

Today you should access and study carefully this syllabus. You should also purchase/rent the books for the course and begin reading the first one assigned.

Friday, July 24, 2020

Please e-mail your first paper to me by midnight the evening of Friday, July 24 (as Friday becomes Saturday). I will have comments and grades on this paper e-mailed to you by the evening of Sunday, July 26. Your contributions to the discussion forum for this assignment should also be posted by this deadline date.

This first paper should cover the book by Sachs. This paper should be a minimum of five (5) pages long.

As you’re reading and writing, consider how Sachs’ broad overview of the history of globalization helps you understand trends you see today. What kinds of evidence does he use to support his points? Is there anything he seems to be leaving out?

If you have trouble, e-mail me, or better yet, post your questions/comments/confusion on the on-line discussion board, so that everyone can contribute their interpretations and answers.

Thursday, July 30, 2020

Please e-mail your second paper to me by midnight the evening of Thursday, July 30 (as Thursday becomes Friday). I will have comments and grades on this paper e-mailed to you by the evening of Friday, July 31. Your contributions to the discussion forum for this assignment should also be posted by this deadline date.

This paper should be a minimum of ten (10) pages long (ten pages because it covers two books), and it should analyze both Hochberg’s and Moyo’s books.

As you read and write, think about the authors’ arguments on globalization and the US position in an increasingly interdependent world. How do they contrast with one another, and with Sachs? What kinds of evidence do they use? What kinds of evidence are missing? Are there any flaws in their fundamental assumptions?

Saturday, August 1, 2020

Please e-mail your third paper to me by midnight the evening of Saturday, August 1 (as Saturday becomes Sunday). I will have comments and grades on this paper e-mailed to you by the evening of Monday, August 3. Your contributions to the discussion forum for this assignment should also be posted by this deadline date.

This paper should be a minimum of five (5) pages long. It should cover the book by Rosling.

As you read, think about the way Rosling encourages us to treat data and evidence. Does his perspective put the other readings into a new context for you? What are his assumptions? Is there anything he’s leaving out?

Wednesday, August 5, 2020

Please e-mail your fourth paper to me by midnight the evening of Wednesday, August 5 (as Wednesday becomes Thursday). I will have comments and grades on this paper e-mailed to you by the morning of Friday, August 7. Your contributions to the discussion forum for this assignment should also be posted by this deadline date.

This paper should be a minimum of five (5) pages long. It should cover the book by Gates.

As you read and write, think of the following questions: How does Gates define and describe progress? What are her most important fundamental assumptions? What kinds of evidence does she use?

Friday, August 7, 2020

Please e-mail your fifth (and last!) paper to me by midnight the evening of Friday, August 7 (as Friday becomes Saturday). I will have grades and comments, as well as final course grades, e-mailed to you by the evening of Tuesday, August 11. Your contributions to the discussion forum for this assignment should also be posted by this deadline date.

This paper should be five (5) pages long, and it should cover the book by Osterholm and Olsher.

Think about these issues as you read and write: How do the observations and lessons from the other books we’ve read inform your interpretation of Osterholm and Olsher’s information? How does your experience with covid-19 fit into this book’s arguments? How do you think the world’s current experience with a global pandemic is likely to change the landscape of international political economy? International Political Economy
POLI/INTL 365
Summer 2020, on-line
Professor Judyth L. Twigg
Office: Founders Hall, 827 West Franklin Street, Room 316
E-mail: jtwigg@vcu.edu
Office hours: by appointment over Zoom
This course is designed as a survey of both theoretical and policy-related issues of
international political economy. At the end of this course, you will be able to critically
understand and analyze a range of conceptual and policy issues related to international
trade and finance, globalization, poverty and development, urbanization, foreign aid,
energy, and the environment.
In order to make the course accessible to the largest possible number of students, and to
encourage relaxed and thoughtful discussion – and also because we’re still in the middle
of a global pandemic — the course is conducted completely over the Internet, largely as a
reading and writing seminar. You will read six books that I have selected and write five
analytic papers based on those books. You will also be required to participate in on-line
discussion boards on the content of those books.
Policies and procedures
The most important policies associated with this course are contained in the VCU Honor
System (https://students.vcu.edu/studentconduct/vcu-honor-system/). In particular, it is
essential that you follow this Honor System by submitting only work that you have
written for this course. Although you are welcome to discuss the books assigned for this
course with others, the papers you write must contain your work and ideas alone. I can
easily check to see if you have copied material from other web sites for your
papers. Please do not do this. If you have questions about what constitutes plagiarism, I
will be happy to discuss those with you.
The other major policy in the course has to do with late papers. Because we are not
holding class meetings, your ability to keep up with the course schedule will depend
entirely on your own self-discipline. I consider the development of such discipline to be
an important part of this course. For this reason, I will not accept late papers, PERIOD.
You know right now when your deadline dates will be. Start the papers early, so that
illness, personal problems, technology issues, work schedules, etc., cannot be a factor.
Keep in mind that I am happy to accept papers submitted early. I encourage you, in order
not to have problems with late papers, to plan to submit each of your papers a few days
EARLY. That way, you’ll never risk a problem missing a submission deadline.
Your papers should be e-mailed to me. I will grade them within a specified period and
will return comments and grades to you through e-mail.
Please send your papers as text embedded in the body of an e-mail, rather than as
attachments. That way we won’t have to worry about viruses, software compatibility,
etc. Don’t worry about losing formatting (spacing, paragraphs, etc.) when you do this -I’ll deal with that on this end.
Your final grade for the course will be based on the five papers you submit. Each paper
will be worth 18% of your grade. Should your papers show steady improvement through
the course, I will certainly take that into consideration when calculating your final grade.
The other 10% of your grade will be based on the quantity and quality of your postings to
the on-line discussion board. YOU ARE REQUIRED to make at least two substantive,
thoughtful, minimum-50-word postings to the board for each topic area (as you’ll see,
there are a total of five topic areas). These postings must be made to the appropriate online discussion forum (found in the “Communications — Discussion Board” section of the
Blackboard site) on or before the deadline date for the papers. Ideally, these postings and
therefore discussions will take place during the days leading up to the paper due dates -in other words, while you’re reading and writing — so that you can use each other’s
thoughts as you write your paper for final submission. The fact that two separate postings
are required is intended to encourage you to make at least one posting well before each
paper is due, and therefore to use the opportunity for interaction that these boards
provide. If you have questions or comments of a substantive nature concerning the
assigned readings and/or issues raised in those readings, please feel free to post those
questions or comments on the appropriate course discussion forum. That way you’ll get
your colleagues’ opinions and thoughts, as well as mine. Let’s use these boards to engage
one another in a meaningful way. Don’t automatically start your own thread; instead,
read what others have written, and respond!
Books
There are six books assigned for this course, available at Virginia Book Company,
BookHolders, and the VCU Bookstore. They also should be available through any of the
on-line book sellers (amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, etc.). It’s fine to use print or
electronic versions – they’re all available as e-books.
In the order that we will read them, the books are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Jeffrey D. Sachs, The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and
Institutions (Columbia University Press, 2020)
Fred P. Hochberg, Trade Is Not a Four-Letter Word (Simon & Schuster, 2020)
Dambisa Moyo, The Edge of Chaos (Basic Books, 2018)
Hans Rosling, Factfulness (Flatiron Books, 2018)
Melinda Gates, The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the
World (Flatiron Books, 2019)
Michael T. Osterholm and Mark Olsher, Deadliest Enemy: Our War against
Killer Germs (Little, Brown, 2017, with a recent update on covid-19)
Your papers should be double-spaced, with reasonable fonts and margins (please, no
three-inch margins and 14-point fonts to stretch a three-page paper into five). Four of the
papers should be the equivalent of five double-spaced pages (about 1250 words); one of
the papers covers two books, and therefore should be the equivalent of ten double-spaced
pages (about 2500 words).
One very important point (so important that I’m typing it again): when you e-mail me
your papers, please send them as text embedded into the body of an e-mail message,
NOT as attached files or links to Google docs. That will save all of us a lot of trouble
dealing with software compatibility and/or document access problems.
Your papers should go beyond merely summarizing the books you’ve read. Instead, they
should analyze the books. Writing an analytic paper means addressing some of the
following points:
1. What is the main argument or arguments the author is making? Do you agree?
Disagree? Why?
2. Are there any important points about the subject area that you think the author has
omitted or under-emphasized? Over-emphasized? Why?
3. What are the key assumptions the author had to make in order to make the arguments
in this book? If those assumptions were different, how would the author’s argument have
to be different?
4. How do the arguments in the book you’re reading compare and contrast with the other
readings we’ve done so far?
5. How does the information presented by the author relate to recent important world
events? Does the author’s work seem still to be relevant today? Or is the world changing
so quickly that even recently-published books on international issues soon grow out of
date?
6. What recommendations might you have for United States policy makers — the
President, the Departments of Defense, State, Commerce, etc., the Congress, or others -to cope with the issues presented in the author’s work?
7. How might you, as a concerned and informed citizen, take steps to cope with the issues
presented in the author’s work?
You may answer any or all of these questions in your paper, or you may write a paper
that deals with the assigned book from a completely different perspective. I am quite
flexible in that there is no standard format for these papers. I simply want your
thoughtful, reasoned, analytic reaction to the ideas presented in each assigned reading.
Please feel free to e-mail me as you read, think, and write, if you have questions or want
to discuss your paper with me before or as you write.
If, for any reason, you choose in your paper to cite source material other than the
assigned reading, please use any of the standard footnoting/endnoting formats. I don’t
care which format you use; just be consistent.
Assignment Schedule
Monday, July 20, 2020
Today you should access and study carefully this syllabus. You should also purchase/rent
the books for the course and begin reading the first one assigned.
Friday, July 24, 2020
Please e-mail your first paper to me by midnight the evening of Friday, July 24 (as Friday
becomes Saturday). I will have comments and grades on this paper e-mailed to you by the
evening of Sunday, July 26. Your contributions to the discussion forum for this
assignment should also be posted by this deadline date.
This first paper should cover the book by Sachs. This paper should be a minimum of five
(5) pages long.
As you’re reading and writing, consider how Sachs’ broad overview of the history of
globalization helps you understand trends you see today. What kinds of evidence does he
use to support his points? Is there anything he seems to be leaving out?
If you have trouble, e-mail me, or better yet, post your questions/comments/confusion on
the on-line discussion board, so that everyone can contribute their interpretations and
answers.
Thursday, July 30, 2020
Please e-mail your second paper to me by midnight the evening of Thursday, July 30 (as
Thursday becomes Friday). I will have comments and grades on this paper e-mailed to
you by the evening of Friday, July 31. Your contributions to the discussion forum for
this assignment should also be posted by this deadline date.
This paper should be a minimum of ten (10) pages long (ten pages because it covers two
books), and it should analyze both Hochberg’s and Moyo’s books.
As you read and write, think about the authors’ arguments on globalization and the US
position in an increasingly interdependent world. How do they contrast with one another,
and with Sachs? What kinds of evidence do they use? What kinds of evidence are
missing? Are there any flaws in their fundamental assumptions?
Saturday, August 1, 2020
Please e-mail your third paper to me by midnight the evening of Saturday, August 1 (as
Saturday becomes Sunday). I will have comments and grades on this paper e-mailed to
you by the evening of Monday, August 3. Your contributions to the discussion forum for
this assignment should also be posted by this deadline date.
This paper should be a minimum of five (5) pages long. It should cover the book by
Rosling.
As you read, think about the way Rosling encourages us to treat data and evidence. Does
his perspective put the other readings into a new context for you? What are his
assumptions? Is there anything he’s leaving out?
Wednesday, August 5, 2020
Please e-mail your fourth paper to me by midnight the evening of Wednesday, August 5
(as Wednesday becomes Thursday). I will have comments and grades on this paper emailed to you by the morning of Friday, August 7. Your contributions to the discussion
forum for this assignment should also be posted by this deadline date.
This paper should be a minimum of five (5) pages long. It should cover the book by
Gates.
As you read and write, think of the following questions: How does Gates define and
describe progress? What are her most important fundamental assumptions? What kinds
of evidence does she use?
Friday, August 7, 2020
Please e-mail your fifth (and last!) paper to me by midnight the evening of Friday,
August 7 (as Friday becomes Saturday). I will have grades and comments, as well as
final course grades, e-mailed to you by the evening of Tuesday, August 11. Your
contributions to the discussion forum for this assignment should also be posted by this
deadline date.
This paper should be five (5) pages long, and it should cover the book by Osterholm and
Olsher.
Think about these issues as you read and write: How do the observations and lessons
from the other books we’ve read inform your interpretation of Osterholm and Olsher’s
information? How does your experience with covid-19 fit into this book’s arguments?
How do you think the world’s current experience with a global pandemic is likely to
change the landscape of international political economy?

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