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Professor: B. Dan Wood; Office: 2098 Allen Building; Phone: 845-1610; EMAIL: bdanwood@polisci.tamu.edu. Office Hours: 4:10-4:40 TR. |
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The substance of this course consists of information from several sources. Textbook readings are drawn from the following. Heilbroner, Robert L. and William Milberg. 2012. The Making of Economic Society, 13th Edition. Prentice Hall. (eText on Prentice-Hall Website.) Gosling, James J. and Marc Eisner. 2013. Economics, Politics, and American Public Policy. M.E. Sharpe. (eText on Sharpe Website.) Selected chapters from Wood, manuscript in progress. (Links on the Schedule page.) In class, we will engage in as much discussion as possible. To that end, you need to read assignments before their due date. Be able to discuss and answer questions about them. We will also follow current events to get a real time view of government and economic policy using the Wall Street Journal or New York Times. You will need an individual student subscription to the Wall Street Journal or New York Times (includes both print and on-line version) under the respective college programs. These are pretty inexpensive. Order the Wall Street Journal by clicking here. Order the New York Times by clicking here. . You may also use various other sources of economic news, including The Economist, The Dismal Scientist, or Reuters. For other mutual sources of information, I suggest reading the National Journal and Washington Post; listening to Morning Edition (5-9am) or All Things Considered (4-6:30pm) on National Public Radio; or watching the PBS News Hour with Jim Lehrer (6-7pm) on PBS television. Online, you can also check CNN AllPolitics, Brookings Institution ; Cato Institute ; American Enterprise Institute, or other policy related links. In addition to the assigned readings, you will participate in debates on assigned topics. In this regard, you should make every effort to bring in articles from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, or other evidence beyond the class readings that pertain to the debate topics. Find out the date and topic for your debate presentation by clicking here. Debate presentations will be graded on the basis of who the class thinks won the argument, originality, bringing class members into subsequent discussions, demonstrated relevance to the course materials, clarity, and evidence of good preparation. Example: Do not read your presentation! A one point bonus will be given to the best individual debate presentation prior to each examination. A two point bonus will be given to the best presentation for the entire course. All points will be added to the final course grade. Class members will vote on the recipients of these awards. Tuesdays will generally focus on that week's assigned readings. Thursdays will generally move more toward debates and discussion of the newspaper articles brought into them. There are two examinations, a mid-term and a final. The first exam will occur during the week of October 13. The second will occur during the week following December 4, the last class day. Each examination is worth 30% of your grade for a total of 60% from exams. Exams will consist of a series of essays on course topics. The exams are open book take home and should be word processed. You should not confer with others in completing the exam, and evidence of collusion or cheating will result in a grade of zero. For the midsemester exam, you will receive the questions on Monday to be due no later than Friday of the exam week (see the schedule page). I'd like the exams in electronic format (either Word, Pages, or Adobe pdf) and delivered via email. For the final exam, you will receive the questions on the last class day to be due at the scheduled time of the final exam, again in electronic format. Please do not miss the exams (you know our schedule now and so can plan your schedule well ahead). I will not give makeups unless you 1) notify me or the department in advance (no exceptions); and 2) verify extreme circumstances in writing. An annotated bibliography is worth another 30% of your grade. The exact format and topics will be discussed in class. The annotated bibliography will be graded in stages, with the first revision (worth 10%) due electronically before class on . This first revision will be returned electronically with comments. You will then have an opportunity to revise your work. The final revision (worth 20%) is due electronically no later than 5 p.m. on April 29. You may, of course, turn in your written assignments at any time before their due date. Do not turn in late work! You will lose one letter grade for each day late. Another 10% of your grade consists of your performance on the debate presentations. Your grade also depends on your participation in and attendance of class. The TAMU attendance policy applies to this course, and I will take daily attendance. If you have perfect attendance, I will add three bonus points to your final grade. If you miss fewer than three unexcused absences I will add one bonus point to your final grade. This could help if you are borderline between letter grades. More important, it will be impossible to do well in the course having missed lecture materials and crucial conceptual discussions. Grades are calculated in the usual manner, with 90-100=A, 80-89=B, 70-79=C, 60-69=D, and <60=F. While I do not grade on a curve (You earn what you earn, and I hope you all earn "A"s!), the typical class average is around a middle or upper "C". Simply completing the course requirements will most likely earn a "C". A "B" requires some demonstration of effort beyond just the requirements. An "A" requires extraordinary performance. Let me also mention academic integrity. All students are expected to abide by the University policy on exams and written work. In this regard you should not acquire answers for examinations from unauthorized sources, provide answers to others, or engage in plagiarism. As commonly defined, plagiarism consists of passing off as one's own the ideas, words, writings, etc., which belong to another. In accordance with the definition, you are committing plagiarism if you copy the work of another person and turn it in as your own, even if you should have the permission of the person. Plagiarism is one of the worst academic sins, for the plagiarist destroys the trust among colleagues without which research cannot be safely communicated. If you have questions regarding the University's policy on scholastic dishonesty you may consult the following links on scholastic dishonesty. The handouts used in this course are copyrighted. By "handouts" I mean all materials generated for this class, which include but are not limited to syllabi, quizzes, exams, lab problems, in-class materials review sheets, and additional problem sets. Because these are copyrighted, you do not have the right to copy the handouts, unless I expressly grant permission. Students with Disabilities: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protections for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a disability requiring accommodation, please contact the Department of Student Life, Services for Students with Disabilities in Room 126 of the Koldus Building, or call 845-1637. Respect for Diversity: The Department of Political Science supports the Texas A&M University commitment to diversity, and welcomes individuals from any racial, ethnic, religious, age, gender, sexual orientation, class, disability, and nationality. (See http://diversity.tamu.edu/). In the spirit of this vital commitment, in this course each voice in the classroom has something of value to contribute to all discussions. Everyone is expected to respect the different experiences, beliefs and values expressed by fellow students and the instructor, and will engage in reasoned discussion that refrains from derogatory comments about other people, cultures, groups, or viewpoints. |
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