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Academic Year 2000/2001

Order and Planning
ECON 104 SP

What are social institutions? How do they come about? Are they products of conscious human planning and design, or are they the spontaneous, unintended results of evolutionary processes? What are the roles of human intellect and reason in the development of these institutions? What are the philosophical and practical implications of the differences between planned and evolved social systems? And what role can the social sciences play in understanding and controlling the development of variou s forms of social life? This seminar considers all these issues from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including economics, government, history and philosophy and offers first-year students with no previous background in economics an intensive intro duction to important problems in social theory.

MAJOR READINGS

Readings will include both "classical" works by such authors as Adam Smith, John Locke and Karl Marx, and works by modern theorists, including F.A. Hayek, Charles E. Lindblom and Ronald Coase.

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Writing will be a focus of the course. Several substantive essays of six to eight pages each will be required during the semester.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

This course is intended for freshmen with no previous background in economics; students who have taken Economics 111 or Economics 105 must obtain permission of the instructor. This course does NOT serve as a substitute for any other course in the Economics Department; students who wish to pursue further work in economics will be required to enter the Department's introductory program. Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior t o the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS ECON    Grading Mode: Student Option   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-26-2001

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