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2012-13 Undergraduate Index A-Z
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Political Economy [clear]
| Title | Offering | Standing | Credits | Credits | When | F | W | S | Su | Description | Preparatory | Faculty | Days | Multiple Standings | Start Quarters | Open Quarters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Peter Dorman
Signature Required:
Spring
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 13Spring | There is widespread discontent with the way capitalism is working in the U.S. and globally, but is there an alternative? Can capitalism be replaced by a fundamentally different economic system, or is it only possible to make reforms within it? This program examines this question in light of economic theory, historical experience and the results of noncapitalist experiments taking place today. Its approach is open-minded, and students with a range of backgrounds and perspectives are welcome. Although this is an all-level program, it is essential that students have prior exposure to economics, since much of the debate draws on economic concepts. The program will also consider the politics and culture of noncapitalist alternatives. Major activities will include extensive reading covering the historical roots of utopian thought, theories of noncapitalist economic arrangements, experiences with attempts to create them, proposals for ideas that have not yet been tried, and fiction in which alternatives to capitalism play an important part; we will explore these ideas in seminars, workshops, films, a research project, student governance and field trips to see local economic alternatives first-hand. | Peter Dorman | Mon Mon Wed Thu Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | ||||
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Amaia Martiartu
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 8 | 08 | Day, Evening and Weekend | Su 13Summer Full | Experience life in Mondragon, home of the largest worker-owned industrial cooperative system in the world. Learn about Basque, the ancient unknown language, . Get to know one of the most important self-determination conflicts in Europe. Experience this old country's farming sustainability practices in modern times. And all this in a country with one of the most welcoming people in Europe accompanied with a native Basque Evergreen professor. This program aims to give students first-hand experience of Basque culture through a three-week living experience in the Basque Country. Students will develop understanding of Basque society and culture through various classes and field trips and daily contact with Basque people. The emphasis is on direct first-hand experience.The program will take place in the Mondragón area and will consist of three academic components: Basque and optional Spanish language classes, socio-cultural workshops and field trips around the Basque Country, and an individual research project. | Amaia Martiartu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | Summer | |||||
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Andrew Buchman, Qi Chen, Paul McMillin and David Shaw
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 12 Fall | During the 1930s, the capitalist world economy experienced a prolonged and severe economic depression. International trade fell by more than 50%. Unemployment in the U.S. rose to 25%. In this program, we'll explore the economic circumstances of the Great Depression, the social movements engendered and empowered in the U.S. during those years, and the music and theatre that those tough times inspired. These studies will shed light on our own era of economic crisis and increasingly radicalized political culture.We intend to look at competing theories of booms and busts, crises and crashes. We’ll review basic concepts of classical economics that proved inadequate to the situation, and look at some new economic ideas (Berle and Means, Keynes, Coase) that the Great Depression helped spawn. We'll look at ecological disasters like the Dust Bowl, and grand technological experiments with vast environmental consequences like the Grand Coulee Dam. These stories offer cautionary lessons to our own times around issues of sustainability.We'll examine political responses of the 1930s, including national initiatives, workers’ movements, Marxist critiques, and the rise of fascist and anti-fascist movements. Readings will include works by contemporary journalists, activists, revolutionaries, and documentarians who produced creative and insightful analyses of their age. We plan to trace the increasing influence of mass media and propaganda , and will investigate songs, films, shows, and photographs. Students will do close listening to pieces of music, analyzing them as one might a poem or painting. The music of Woody Guthrie and the photography of Dorothea Lange will be in the mix. Students should expect to become well-informed about the economic and political developments of the 1930s. They should be prepared to draw conclusions about the causes of economic crisis and the political, social, and aesthetic responses to crisis, and defend those conclusions in vigorous discussions with their classmates. This program will also prepare students for the winter quarter program, . | Andrew Buchman Qi Chen Paul McMillin David Shaw | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | |||||
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Martha Henderson
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Course | JR–GRJunior - Graduate | 2, 4 | 02 04 | Day, Evening and Weekend | Su 13Summer | As the largest island in the Caribbean, with the highest percentage of environmental scientists and engineers and a long-standing commitment to policies that promote environmental protection and sustainable development, Cuba is uniquely positioned to provide leadership in enlightened environmental policy and practice in our shared ecosystem. The rationale and potential for mutual collaboration between US and Cuban environmentalists in this vital and shared ecosystem is considerable.This course will be joining for its biannual research program on environmental protection and sustainable development in Cuba, which includes an opportunity for interchange with participants in the IX International Conference on Environment and Development hosted by the . Trip dates are 7/5/13-7/14/13. Course requires separate registration in April through Eco Cuba Network; please contact Gail Wootan at wootang@evergreen.edu if interested in this course.For more information about the research program, please see . For more information on the conference in Cuba and conference schedule: Students may choose to take this course for two credits or four credits. Two credit students will be required to complete reading assignments and virtual meetings in June prior to leaving for Cuba. Two credit students are required to submit their field notebooks with a reflective essay by July 29. Four credit students are required to complete reading assignments, short paper assignment and all virtual class meeting times prior to leaving for Cuba. Upon returning from Cuba, four credit students are required to submit a 15 page paper based on field and archival work by July 29. All students are required to write a short autobiography and short essay on their trip expectations. They must also submit a resume. Students will ‘meet’ in the virtual classroom. A Moodle site will be set up for virtual class meetings.The cost of the Eco Cuba Network program, including flight from Cancun, Mexico is $2600. Students are responsible for purchasing airfare to Cancun. Students may also choose to arrive early or stay late for personal travel. If enough students are interested, a service project after 7/14/13 may be organized.NOTE: Students interested in this course must register through Eco Cuba Network separately sometime in April. Please contact Gail Wootan, Assistant Director of the Graduate Program on the Environment, at wootang@evergreen.edu if interested in this course. | Martha Henderson | Summer | Summer | ||||||
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Savvina Chowdhury
Signature Required:
Fall Winter Spring
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Program | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 12 Fall | W 13Winter | S 13Spring | This program is part of the Gateways for Incarcerated Youth program. A fundamental principle of Gateways is that every person has talents given to them at birth; it is our job to encourage each other to search out and find our passions and gifts. Our work is guided by ideas of popular education. We recognize and value the knowledge and experience of each participant. The program works to strengthen notions of self and community through cultural awareness and empowerment. In connecting and building with people from other cultures and class backgrounds, each person becomes empowered to share their knowledge, creativity, values and goals.This program offers Evergreen students the opportunity to be peer learners with incarcerated young men in a maximum-security institution. Students will address issues of diversity, equality and critical thinking, along with other issues that are chosen by the young men who are incarcerated. At the same time, the Evergreen students will deepen their understanding of the theory and practice of popular education. Students in this program will have the opportunity to reflect on how they themselves learn as well as how others learn, as they gain experience in the facilitation of discussions and workshops. Students will work on designing, implementing and assessing the workshops. In the process of collectively shaping the Gateways seminar, students will also learn how to organize productive meetings and work through conflict.Each week the Evergreen students will visit the Green Hill Juvenile Correctional Facility in Chehalis, Washington. Through the workshops we will explore various aspects of political economy in order to understand ourselves and others as an important part of analyzing contemporary society and building egalitarian relationships. In preparation for the workshop, each week the Evergreen students will meet to organize the workshop’s activities. We will also take time each week to reflect on the previous workshop to assess how it worked and draw lessons for the next one. Throughout our work we will read, share and learn about various kinds of relative advantage ("privilege"), while also exploring cultural diversity and continually working to foster a space committed to equality.In fall quarter, we will study some of the root causes of inequality to understand better the relationship between poor and working class people–especially poor and working class people of color–and the prison system. In winter and spring quarters, we will continue to deepen our understanding of political economy and popular education. Building on our experiences, reflections and studies, each quarter students will take increasing responsibility for designing, implementing, and assessing the program, workshops and seminars. This program requires that all participants be ready to fully commit themselves to our common work and show a willingness to help build a community of learners. Students should expect to spend approximately 11 hours per week in class on campus and 5 hours per week off campus (including time at, and travel to and from, the institutions). | juvenile justice, education, political economy, community work and social work. | Savvina Chowdhury | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | ||
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Ralph Murphy and Zoe Van Schyndel
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Program | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 13Spring | Ralph Murphy Zoe Van Schyndel | Tue Tue Wed Thu Fri Fri | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | |||||
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Laurance Geri and Peter Dorman
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 12 Fall | W 13Winter | In this program we will explore the interconnections between global finance, energy systems, and climate change. We will seek to understand the causes of the 2008 financial collapse, the complexity of energy systems and their relationship to changes in the climate, and the range of actions that would stabilize the national and global economies and reduce the risks associated with a warmer planet.The program will include an introduction to micro and macro economics, the study of energy systems, and the science of climate change. We will consider how international organizations influence national and global policies in the financial, energy and environmental spheres. Using these frameworks we will study the linkages between these phenomena and the actions we can take to speed the global energy transition and create a more stable and just international system.Program activities will include lectures, workshops, guest speakers, seminars on books and papers, films and possibly field trips. Credit may be awarded in micro and macro economics, international political economy, energy policy, and energy and climate change. | Laurance Geri Peter Dorman | Mon Wed Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
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Peter Dorman
Signature Required:
Fall
|
Contract | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 12 Fall | Peter Dorman will sponsor independent learning contracts that draw on economics and political economy, particularly in an international context. Proposals do not have to be restricted to economics-related questions, but should touch on them in some way. Introductory economics is best learned in a classroom setting, but the faculty is open to contracts in any area of advanced economics, political economy or econometrics. | Peter Dorman | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | |||||
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Jeanne Hahn
Signature Required:
Spring
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Contract | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 13Spring | Individual study offers opportunities for advanced students to create their own course of study and research. Prior to the beginning of the quarter, interested individual students (or a cluster group) must consult with Jeanne about their proposed projects. The project is then described in an Independent Learning Contract. She will sponsor student research and reading in political economy, US history (especially the "founding period"), various topics in globalization, historical capitalism, and contemporary India. She will also sponsor travel abroad contracts that focus on the above subjects. | Jeanne Hahn | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | |||||
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Sarah Ryan and Arleen Sandifer
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 8, 12, 16 | 08 12 16 | Weekend | F 12 Fall | W 13Winter | S 13Spring | Is justice a concept that is applicable to the workplace? In approaching this question, we’ll look at the history and legacy of immigration laws, labor law as set forth in the National Labor Relations Act, and civil rights/anti-discrimination law as written in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In addition to defining rights, these laws reflect the shape of power in society, and they can determine how workers and management interact. Their texts were written by lawmakers; but in another sense, they were written in the streets and workplaces during turbulent times. Class and racial biases exist in, and are reproduced by, the laws and their practices. In this class we’ll study the social movements and conditions that led to the passage of important bodies of labor, civil rights, and immigration law. We’ll ask how their history is important, how the struggles at their roots shaped the laws' forms, and how they affect the workplace today.Students will become acquainted with the critiques developed by scholars in Critical Race Theory and Critical Legal Studies, which help us think about power in the larger society and alternative possibilities for justice. Be prepared for fun, active, problem-solving and hard work. Students will learn to do basic legal and historical research. You will get a sense of the real work of attorneys and courts, but also the work of community activists and union stewards. Though there are no prerequisites, students should be prepared with some basic background in 20th century American history and should have the patience and persistence to read detailed histories, statutes, and legal cases. Students who are particularly interested in either labor, civil rights, or immigration issues are strongly urged to participate in the year-long program, as the connections between these histories and legal regimes are essential to understand. | law, labor organizing, history, social justice, public administration, management | Sarah Ryan Arleen Sandifer | Sat | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |
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Lawrence Mosqueda
Signature Required:
Spring
|
Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 13Spring | What are the most effective ways to make a significant change that will be long lasting and sustainable? In this program, students will study methods of social change in the classroom and participate in local, regional, national or international groups that are making a difference, and have significant promise of continuing to do so in the future. Students will determine the area where they wish to work, and come together to study theories of social change and test those theories in their work throughout the quarter. Our seminars will examine the readings for the week and also the work each of us is engaged in for the quarter. | Lawrence Mosqueda | Tue Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | ||||
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Jeanne Hahn
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Program | JR–SRJunior - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | W 13Winter | Working together in a seminar format, students and faculty will establish an historical, theoretical and analytical understanding of the birth of capitalism in the crisis of 16th century European feudalism, its rise and consolidation in the late 18th and 19th centuries, the development of the global political economy, and its first structural crisis accompanied by a major burst of imperial expansion in the late 19th century. We will find this is a topic steeped in controversy. Capitalism has transformed the world materially, socially and ecologically. We will consider the interrelationships among these three categories as capitalism developed and changed through its formative period. Major analytical categories will be imperialism, colonialism, and globalism, the accompanying ecological transformation, and the rise of social classes in support of and resistance to these developments. We will study the rise of liberalism in its historical context, as well as its counterparts, conservatism and socialism. Understanding the trajectory, deep history and logic of historical capitalism will provide students with the insights and tools necessary to assess the current historical moment. The program will require close and careful reading and discussion as well as considered and well-grounded writing. Our work will be conducted at an upper-division level. | Jeanne Hahn | Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter | |||||
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Michael Vavrus and Peter Bohmer
Signature Required:
Winter
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Program | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 12 Fall | W 13Winter | We will examine the nature, development and concrete workings of modern capitalism and the interrelationship of race, class and gender in historical and contemporary contexts. Recurring themes will be the relationship among oppression, exploitation, social movements, reform and fundamental change, and the construction of alternatives to capitalism, nationally and globally. We will examine how social change has occurred in the past, present trends, and alternatives for the future. We will also examine different theoretical frameworks such as liberalism, Marxism, feminism, anarchism and neoclassical economics, and their explanations of the current U.S. and global political economy and key issues such as education, the media and the criminal justice system. Students will learn communication skills related to public debate and social change.In fall, the U.S. experience will be the central focus, whereas winter quarter will have a global focus. We will begin with the colonization of the U.S., and the material and ideological foundations of the U.S. political economy from the 18th century to the present. We will explore specific issues including the slave trade, racial, gender and economic inequality, the labor movement and the western push to "American Empire." We will carefully examine the linkages from the past to the present between the economic core of capitalism, political and social structures, and gender, race and class relations. Resistance will be a central theme. We will study microeconomics principles from a neoclassical and political economy perspective. Within microeconomics, we will study topics such as the structure and failure of markets, work and wages, poverty, and the gender and racial division of labor.In winter, we will examine the interrelationship between the U.S. political economy and the changing global system, and U.S. foreign policy. We will study causes and consequences of the globalization of capital and its effects in our daily lives, international migration, the role of multilateral institutions and the meaning of trade agreements and regional organizations. This program will analyze the response of societies such as Venezuela and Bolivia and social movements such as labor, feminist, anti-war, environmental, indigenous and youth in the U.S. and internationally in opposing the global order. We will look at alternatives to neoliberal capitalism including socialism, participatory economies and community-based economies and strategies for social change. We will study macroeconomics, including causes and solutions to the high rates of unemployment and to economic instability. We will introduce competing theories of international trade and finance and examine their applicability in the global South and North. In winter quarter, as part of the 16 credits, there will be an optional internship for up to four credits in organizations and groups whose activities are closely related to the themes of this program or the opportunity to write a research paper on a relevant political economy topic.Students will engage the material through seminars, lectures, films, workshops, seminar response papers, synthesis papers based on program material and concepts, and take-home economics examinations. | political science, economics, education, labor and community organizing, law and international solidarity. | Michael Vavrus Peter Bohmer | Tue Tue Wed Wed Fri Fri | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | ||
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Howard Schwartz
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Course | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 4 | 04 | Evening | S 13Spring | Taxes are the quintessential political issue. They affect everyone but not equally. They are needed in order to pay for almost all government activities. They can be—and are—used as instruments of governmental policy sometime consciously, sometimes inadvertently. And they arouse furious passions. We will survey the kinds of taxes governments levy, how the tax burden and governmental benefits are distributed in the United States and elsewhere, and how tax systems are challenged and changed. Our learning objectives will be to understand how tax systems work and the interplay of quantitative and qualitative reasoning in political discussions about them: how numbers, ideology, and economic interest drive politics and policy. | Howard Schwartz | Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | ||||
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Lawrence Mosqueda and Lori Blewett
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Program | FR ONLYFreshmen Only | 16 | 16 | Day | F 12 Fall | W 13Winter | This program focuses on the issue of Power in American society. In the analysis we will investigate the nature of economic, political, social, military, ideological and interpersonal power. The interrelationship of these dimensions will be a primary area of study. We will explore these themes through lectures, workshops, films, seminars, journal writing, oral presentations, short papers, and group media projects.The analysis will be guided by the following questions, as well as others that may emerge from the discussions: What is meant by the term "power"? Are there different kinds of power and how are they interrelated? Who has power in American society? Who is relatively powerless? Why? How is power accumulated? What resources are involved? How is power utilized and with what impact on various sectors of the population? How are personal and collective identities shaped by systems of power and privilege? What characterizes the struggle for power? How does communication (including political language, art, and media) frame our perceptions of power? How do social movement structures and persuasive strategies influence citizen resistance to power? How does domestic power relate to international power? How is international power used? How are people affected by the current power structure? What responsibilities do citizens have to alter the structure of power? What alternative structures are possible, probable, necessary or desirable?In this time of war and economic, social and political crisis, a good deal of the program will focus on international relations in a systematic and intellectual manner. This is a serious class for serious people. Please be prepared to work hard and to challenge your and others' previous thinking. | Lawrence Mosqueda Lori Blewett | Tue Wed Thu | Freshmen FR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
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Nancy Parkes
Signature Required:
Winter
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 8, 12, 16 | 08 12 16 | Evening and Weekend | F 12 Fall | W 13Winter | Students will learn many foundational aspects of journalism over two quarters including interviewing techniques, news reporting, and investigative techniques. We will study the history, present, and future of journalism, including its role or failure as a watchdog of government and advocate for community. In addition to producing portfolios of written work using traditional journalistic techniques and story modes, we will engage in blogging, advocacy writing, literary journalism, and community-based journalism tied to independent media as well as techniques for electronic publishing. We will also examine the history of journalism and media, including questions such as who has controlled or owned various mediums. Finally, we will consider the political economy of new media and traditional media, and examine possibilities that will work for independent and underrepresented voices.Questions we will consider include the following: Why is journalism regarded as the "fourth estate?" Is this still true as readership of print diminishes? What level of training do today's electronic journalists have, and how does this affect the role of investigatory journalism? What are the differences between "straight" news/analysis and advocacy journalism, and where do each work best? As more journalists become unpaid reporters, does this set up a system where more privileged people become the purveyors of information because they can afford to donate time? How can the United States have both trained journalists and independent media? What role will the power of social media play in shaping the future of media? In the future, what will be the role of corporate sponsored media, and what will be the role of independent media?In winter, students may also apply for in-program media internships and seek faculty approval for an additional 4 or 8 credits. This will allow students to be enrolled for 8, 12, or 16 credits in winter. Fall quarter participation is a prerequisite for winter internships. | Nancy Parkes | Wed Sat | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
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David Wolach
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Course | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 4 | 04 | Evening and Weekend | W 13Winter | This course challenges students to write the world that does not yet exist. Or, as Marxian poet and theorist of radical black performance Fred Moten proposes, we will engage in writing that "investigates new ways for people to get together and do stuff in the open, in secret." Each week we’ll work individually and collaboratively on writing experiments—prose, poetry, essay—that critique and advance beyond our own assumptions about what is socially possible and that do so by paying careful attention to the rhythms of current crises. As a basis for this creative production, we will engage critically with writers whose work exists at the point where the border between politics and art ruptures. In sound, in sight, and through a kind of improvisatory ensemble we will resist what too often gets counted as the inevitable outcome of a political economy that treats people as objects that just happen to speak. What is inevitable about the future, and what is it about controlled acts of creative improvisation that helps us not just see but hear our future’s past? | David Wolach | Wed Sat | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter |
