Wikipedia talk:Education program archive/University of Utah/Gender and Economic Development in the Third World (Spring 2014)/Course description

This course examines the gender dimensions of economic development and globalization from the perspective of feminist economics. This perspective implies foregrounding labor, broadly defined to include paid and unpaid work, and examining gender differences in work, access to resources, and well-being outcomes, and how these are affected by macroeconomic policies. Since the early 1980s economic globalization has been achieved on the basis of a common set of macroeconomic policies pursued in industrial and developing countries alike. These policies frame both the gender-differentiated impacts of policy and the initiatives that are implemented to reduce inequalities between men and women. The main objective of the course is to examine the impact of these policies on men and women in the global South (a.k.a. developing countries/Third World) on gender inequalities and to evaluate the policies/strategies for reducing gender inequalities and promoting the well-being of all people. The pursuit of these objectives will entail first a brief examination of the central tenets of feminist economics and an historical overview of the policy-oriented field of gender and development. Gender-differentiated statistics will be reviewed as they pertain to the topics under discussion.

Course Objectives
Upon completion of the course students can expect to attain gender-aware literacy and skills in a number of areas:
 * The facility to interpret economic development policy concerns and debates from a gender perspective.
 * A critical perspective and knowledge of how gender matters in development economics, international trade, and macroeconomics;
 * The ability to interpret gender-differentiated indicators and descriptive statistics;
 * The ability to evaluate various popular schemes to reduce gender inequalities and promote women’s well-being in developing countries in the broader development policy context.
 * Gain expertise in one narrow topic in the field through a contribution to Wikipedia.

Course Requirements and Grading
Grades in Econ/Gndr 5560 will be determined by comments and responses on course readings and participation (15%), a midterm exam (20%); short assignments (20%); and a Wikipedia article (45%). The course grade will not be a simple average of points but will also take into consideration such elements as effort, improvement over time, and the quality of participation.

Comments and Responses and Participation
It is essential that you attend every class meeting and that you are both prepared and willing to discuss the assigned reading material, respond to questions, engage one another in intellectual conversation in a courteous manner. Participation can take many forms (a question, an answer, reporting on a current news item).

Each student will post one 200-word introductory comment, including a question, on Canvas Discussions on a reading in parts III and IV of the course. These will be due by 9:00 am the day before the class in which the reading will be discussed (i.e. Sunday or Tuesday mornings). Each student will make a brief oral presentation and lead class discussion on the day for which they have written the introductory comment on the assigned reading. A sign-up sheet will be distributed.

Students not posting an introductory comment on a reading will be expected to post a short (about 100 words) response to the introductory comments and the reading assignment of the day and include a proposed question for class discussion. These responses/questions must be posted by 9:00 am on the day the reading will be discussed in class (i.e. Monday or Wednesday mornings). Students may miss up to three of the short responses without penalty. Late or unthoughtful postings will not receive full points.

In addition, each student is expected to post one course-related news item (link/copy the news item) accompanied by a one paragraph interpretation of its relevance/connection to the course.

Exam
The midterm exam covers the foundational material in Parts I and II of the course and is scheduled for Monday, February 24. The exam will consist of essay-type questions, which will come from a study guide to be distributed a week before the exam.

Short Assignments
There will be about 4 of these. You will look up documents or statistics, make sense of them in a 250-300 word summary/comment, and turn them in on the day they are to be discussed in class. When the assignment is a brief response to a film viewed in class, the assignment will be due by the following class meeting. Late assignments will not be accepted but there will be one extra assignment, which will allow you to make up any that you may have missed. These assignments will be submitted in paper form.

Wikipedia Article
A key requirement of the course is the development of an approved contribution to Wikipedia. This assignment will have several components, each due at specific dates during the semester and each graded separately. The entry will be a minimum of 2000 words (not including the references) and will either be a revised entry or an entirely new one. A useful guide is available via http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Training/For_students. In addition, detailed guidelines and in-class learning-by-doing opportunities will be provided. Most Wikipedia assignments are to be turned in on Canvas. Students are responsible for checking that their assignments have been posted correctly.

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