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Course 2019-2020 a.y.

30530 - GLOBAL ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL HISTORY

Department of Social and Political Sciences

Course taught in English

Go to class group/s: 31

CLEACC (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/12)
Course Director:
TAMAS VONYO

Classes: 31 (I sem.)
Instructors:
Class 31: TAMAS VONYO


Class-group lessons delivered  on campus

Suggested background knowledge

There are no prerequisites for taking this course, but students who have never taken economic history at university level may wish to read Robert C. ALLEN, "Global Economic History: A Very Short Introduction", Oxford University Press. This short text is covered in the course, but it also serves as a useful background reading for students who wish to have an introduction to the subject.


Mission & Content Summary
MISSION

Globalization defines nearly every aspect of our lives. Education, work, entrepreneurship, innovation, trade and finance all have global dimensions, which today we take for granted. Students at Bocconi live and study within a global environment and learn of important aspects of globalization in most of their courses. The mission of this elective course is to make students better understand how our interconnected world economy and the global division of labor emerged historically and how globalization transformed economies around the world. We will learn that globalization has not been a one-way street and that modern history witnessed periods of both increasing and diminishing globalization. The course aims to provide students with the tools for understanding economic and social change in a historical and global perspective. The teaching material will help students develop critical thinking and narrative skills.

CONTENT SUMMARY

In this elective course, we examine how the global economy emerged in the past and how globalization transformed economies around the world.

  1. The first part of the course traces the connection between western expansion and the rise of the global economy in the 18th and 19th centuries and explains what factors - social, cultural, and technological - limited early globalization. We study how growing prosperity in Europe compared with the development of other world regions.
  2. The second part of the course discusses the crisis of globalization during the 20th century and the changes in global economic development that it brought about. We teach modern economic history in a global context and focus mainly on regions outside the European core. The syllabus covers the following topics:

Part I:

  • The making of the global economy.
  • Empire and globalization.
  • Empire and society.
  • European prosperity.
  • The world outside Europe.

Part II:

  • The crisis of globalization.
  • American leadership.
  • The developing world.
  • Africa: the loser of globalization.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course student will be able to...
  • Identify the main forces of globalization and the economic and social consequences of globalization.
  • Explain the historical origins of the global economy and differences in the impact of globalization between different world regions.
  • Discuss economic development in a historical and global perspective.
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course student will be able to...
  • Identify key facts and trends in global economic history.
  • Understand the role of the social and institutional context in economic development.
  • Summarize complex narrative interpretations.
  • Develop crtical thinking.
  • Develop skills in academic writing.

Teaching methods
  • Face-to-face lectures
  • Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
DETAILS

The lectures are designed to engage students on the course topics and to help them summarize and understand the content of the advanced course readings. Guest lectures serve the purpose of introducing students to aspects of the history of globalisation, which are not directly discussed in the course readings but that enrich the context in which we can understand the course material.


Assessment methods
  Continuous assessment Partial exams General exam
  • Written individual exam (traditional/online)
  •   x  
    ATTENDING STUDENTS

    Attending students are evaluated in two partial examinations each worth 50% of the final grade. Both exams last 60 minutes and contains two sections each worth 50% of the exam mark.

    • In the first section, students answer 3 questions testing their general knowledge of the course content discusssed in class.
    • In the second section, students write a short essay on 1 of 3 alternative questions testing their ability to synthesize the content of course readings and class discussions and to construct an argument.
    • The partial exam assesses students on Part I, the final exam on Part II of the course syllabus (see section 1.b).
    NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS

    The general examination at the end of the semester is aimed at students who have not attended classes or who have not passed the partial exam(s). The general exam lasts 100 minutes and contain two sections worth 40% and 60% of the final grade respectively.

    • In the first section, students answer 4 questions testing their general knowledge on the content of course readings.
    • In the second section, students write short essays on 2 of 4 alternative questions testing their ability to synthesize the content of course readings and to construct an argument.
    • The exam assesses students on all topics of the course syllabus (see section 1.b).

    Teaching materials
    ATTENDING STUDENTS

    To provide for both a solid grounding and a rich discussion on global economic history, the course readings consist of a short textbook complemented with a series of more advanced texts. Our primary text is:

    • R.C. ALLEN, Global Economic History: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press.
    • All the additional course readings are accessible online, either as E-books in the Bocconi Library catalogue, or on the course page in the Library Course Reserves.
    • The syllabus arranges readings by topic (see section 1.b). The lectures may provide additional information in class aimed at helping students better understand the texts.
    • Students can access all the class material on the Bboard.
    NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS

    The course readings consist of a short textbook complemented with a series of more advanced texts. Our primary text is:

    • R.C. ALLEN, Global Economic History: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press.
    • All the additional course readings are accessible online, either as E-books in the Bocconi Library catalogue, or on the course page in the Library Course Reserves.
    • The syllabus arranges readings by topic (see section 1.b) and are available on the Bboard.
    Last change 03/06/2019 11:16