Since post-colonial times, Africa has seen both hope and despair for its development. In this seminar, we will explore the roles of many factors in the development of African states and the uplifting from poverty of individual Africans. In particular, we will look at infrastructure and investment, health and education, trade, finance and markets, the choice of policy, and the effects of institutions, governance and politics. We will also try to make sense of the differences and the similarities among the various paths to development in Africa.

An examination of the philosophy and ethics of economic theory and policy. Questions to be considered include the nature and meaning of economic justice, the free market, the role of the state in determining economic outcomes, and the distinction between positive and normative economics. Prerequisite: ECO 250 or 253, or permission of the instructor.

Examination of changing international patterns of food production and distribution to shed light on the paradox of world hunger in the face of global food abundance. Explores the development of modern agricultural practices and their advantages and disadvantages compared to traditional farming methods.

How and how well do markets work? What should government do in a market economy? How do markets set prices, determine what will be produced, and decide who will get the goods? We consider important economic issues including preserving the environment, free trade, taxation, (de)regulation, and poverty.

Same as HST 218
Confucian and Taoist Thought and Art
A survey of Confucian and Taoist teachings and their expression in the visual arts from earliest times. Open to first-year students by permission of the instructors only. A survey of Confucian and Taoist teachings and their expression in the visual arts from earliest times. Open to first-year students by permission of the instructors only. Enrollment limited to 18.

This course is a survey of cultural, social, and political history of Korea from early times to the 19th century. We will explore major cultural trends, intellectual developments, and political shifts during Korea's long dynastic history. Some of the topics include literati culture; nativism and folk culture; gender in traditional Korean society; foreign relations; and Confucianism and kingship. All of these topics will be explored through the lens of changing perceptions of public and private lives of those who had become part of both public and private histories and stories of Korea.

Topics course. This course charts the evolution of the theme of reason and its limits in the European novel of the modern era. Beginning with an examination of humanist assumptions about the value of reason in Rabelais, the course will focus on the Central European novel of the 20th Century, the age of "terminal paradoxes." Texts will include Dostoevsky's Notes from the Underground, Kafka's The Trial, Musil's Man without Qualities, and Kundera's The Joke, The Farewell Party, and The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

Literary ecology focuses on bio-social themes in literature--how human beings construct their relationship to their environment through literature and landscape art. We will read works by "nature writers," from the Romantic poets to early ecologists like John Muir and John Burroughs, and by contemporary writers such as John McPhee and Annie Dillard. We will also analyze issues of contemporary eco-criticism and consider an expansion of the current range of canonical texts to include a broader diversity of viewpoints.

Same as EAL 239.
Theme for 2013: Intimacy.
How do stories about love, romance, and desire (including extramarital affairs, serial relationships and love between women) challenge our assumptions about identity? How do pursuits, successes, and failures of intimacy lead to personal and social change? An exploration of major themes through close readings of contemporary fiction by women from China, Taiwan, Tibet, and Chinese diasporas. Readings are in English translation and no background in China or Chinese is required.

Same as EAL 239.
Theme for 2013: Intimacy. How do stories about love, romance, and desire (including extramarital affairs, serial relationships and love between women) challenge our assumptions about identity? How do pursuits, successes, and failures of intimacy lead to personal and social change? An exploration of major themes through close readings of contemporary fiction by women from China, Taiwan, Tibet, and Chinese diasporas. Readings are in English translation and no background in China or Chinese is required.