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Academic Year 2005/2006

Sophomore Seminar: European Economic History
HIST 163 SP

This seminar course analyzes the processes of industrialization and international economic convergence from the mid 18th to the late 20th century. Its focus is on the role of technology in productivity growth culminating in three industrial revolutions in Europe. The impact of empire, revolution, war and economic disorder, the process or post-war reconstruction and liberalization, and the challenges faced by "mature" economies in a global economic system at the end of the 20th century will also be studied. While the course makes use of the latest literature from the new economic history, new institutionalism, and neoclassical growth theory, its approach is accessible, broad and comparative, drawing insights from many disciplines and considering the cultural, institutional and social determinants of industrial development and prosperity. A number of different countries will be discussed, but focus will be on Germany, Great Britain, France and Russia. China, Japan and the United States will also be analyzed in comparison. The objective of this seminar is to give the student a firm grounding in the mode of analysis of economic and social history and an understanding of the processes that have shaped the modern European and world economy since the 18th century.

MAJOR READINGS

Carlo M. Cipolla, ed., FONTANA ECONOMIC HISTORY OF EUROPE, vol. 3: The Industrial Revolution 1700-1914; vol. 4: The Emergence of Industrial Societies; vol. 5: The Twentieth Century (Hassocks, Sussex/New York: Harvester Press/Barnes & Noble, 1976-77).
Charles P. Kindleberger, A FINANCIAL HISTORY OF WESTERN EUROPE, 2nd ed. (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993).
Deepak Lal, UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES: THE IMPACT OF FACTOR ENDOWMENTS, CULTURE AND POLITICS ON LONG-RUN ECONOMIC P ERFORMANCE (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1998).
David S. Landes, THE UNBOUND PROMETHEUS: TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE AND INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT IN WESTERN EUROPE FROM 1750 TO THE PRESENT (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1969).
Thomas K. McCraw, ed. CREATING MODERN CAPITALISM. HOW ENTREPRENEURS, COMPANIES, AND COUNTRIES TRIUMPHED IN THREE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTIONS (Cambridge, Mass and London: Harvard University Press, 1997).
Joel Mokyr, THE LEVER OF RICHES: TECHNOLOGICAL CREATIVITY AND ECONOMIC PROG RESS (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990).
Kenneth Pomeranz, THE GREAT DIVERGENCE: EUROPE, CHINA, AND THE MAKING OF THE WORLD ECONOMY (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000).
Clive Trebilcock, THE INDUSTRIALIZATION OF THE CONTI NENTAL POWERS 1870-1914 (London and New York: Longman, 1981).

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Your grade in this seminar will be calculated on the basis of four elements:

1.) 20% attendance, participation and quizzes
2.) 20% class presentation and written analytical summary
3.) 30% midterm essay
4.) 30% final essay

Attendance, participation, and periodic quizzes will make up 20% of your final grade. You are allowed two free absences; thereafter you begin to dip into this 20%. Once during the semester you will be asked to introduce a text to be discuss ed in class. This should take 10-15 minutes and be supported by a 750-word analytical summary that will be submitted to me on the day of your presentation. This presentation and summary will count 20% toward your final grade. Both the midterm and final exam will take the form of a take-home essay question that must be completed in five to seven double-spaced, typescript pages. The midterm and final essays will each make up 30% of your final grade (60% together).

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS HIST    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-30-2006

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