Universität Wien

150057 SE Economic Development in East Asia (2020S)

8.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 15 - Ostasienwissenschaften
Continuous assessment of course work

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Tuesday 03.03. 08:30 - 10:00 Seminarraum Ostasienwissenschaften 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2I-O1-05
  • Tuesday 10.03. 08:30 - 10:00 Seminarraum Ostasienwissenschaften 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2I-O1-05
  • Tuesday 17.03. 08:30 - 10:00 Seminarraum Ostasienwissenschaften 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2I-O1-05
  • Tuesday 24.03. 08:30 - 10:00 Seminarraum Ostasienwissenschaften 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2I-O1-05
  • Tuesday 31.03. 08:30 - 10:00 Seminarraum Ostasienwissenschaften 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2I-O1-05
  • Tuesday 21.04. 08:30 - 10:00 Seminarraum Ostasienwissenschaften 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2I-O1-05
  • Tuesday 28.04. 08:30 - 10:00 Seminarraum Ostasienwissenschaften 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2I-O1-05
  • Tuesday 05.05. 08:30 - 10:00 Seminarraum Ostasienwissenschaften 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2I-O1-05
  • Tuesday 12.05. 08:30 - 10:00 Seminarraum Ostasienwissenschaften 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2I-O1-05
  • Tuesday 19.05. 08:30 - 10:00 Seminarraum Ostasienwissenschaften 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2I-O1-05
  • Tuesday 26.05. 08:30 - 10:00 Seminarraum Ostasienwissenschaften 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2I-O1-05
  • Tuesday 09.06. 08:30 - 10:00 Seminarraum Ostasienwissenschaften 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2I-O1-05
  • Tuesday 16.06. 08:30 - 10:00 Seminarraum Ostasienwissenschaften 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2I-O1-05
  • Tuesday 23.06. 08:30 - 10:00 Seminarraum Ostasienwissenschaften 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2I-O1-05
  • Tuesday 30.06. 08:30 - 10:00 Seminarraum Ostasienwissenschaften 1 UniCampus Hof 5 2I-O1-05

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

It is absolutely essential that you also enroll in the related Exercise Course (Übung, UE) on Economic Development in East Asia in order to be able to fulfill the assignments and conclude the Seminar successfully.
Reflecting our integrated teaching and learning concept, this course includes the building of theoretical knowledge as well as its application to specific cases in East Asia in a comparative way. Students will practice a few essential academic skills needed for term papers and MA theses.
First, students get to know some of the key theories of economic development. This knowledge will be tested in a multiple-choice test.
After that, students will form teams and jointly work on a number of theoretical and empirical issues such as the East Asian Development Model; the state and its policies; the role of enterprises; fiscal policies; finance; debt; trade and FDI; labor/employment; education; external influences; poverty and malnutrition; inequality; urbanization; demographics; health.
This will be done comparatively, looking at three countries of Northeast Asia: Japan, South Korea, and the PR China. A focus is on the dynamic process of economic development and the corresponding role of the state.
Students master the fundamental ideas of various key theories of economic development; in particular classical/neoclassical, Marxist, Keynesian and dependency theory, dirigisme, structuralism, and neoliberalism. They understand the developmental paths of the individual East Asian countries both from a general perspective and with regard to their particularities, and are able to conduct comparative, method-based country case analyses and to apply the acquired knowledge to contemporary developments in the region.
For a Covid-19 related update, see "Prüfungsstoff" below.

Assessment and permitted materials

It is absolutely essential that you also enroll in the related Exercise Course (Übung, UE) on Economic Development in East Asia in order to be able to fulfill the assignments and conclude the Seminar successfully.
Students will be asked to read throughout the semester. This will create a foundation for active discussion during the seminar. Expect reading about 40 pages per week on average.
Each student will have to take part in a multiple choice exam on the theories of economic development. More details on this assignment will be provided during class. Please note that this also involves reading multiple sources.
Furthermore, each student is required to actively contribute to team presentations. This includes handouts with the key points on the assigned topic, and joint PPT presentations. Handouts and PPTs must be submitted electronically 24 hours before the course begins via Moodle. More details on the assignments will be provided during class.
The final assignment will be a term paper. More details on this assignment will be provided during class. Writing the term paper will require extensive reading. You are strongly advised to start early: think about your topic and acquaint yourself with the state of the art in that particular field.
For a Covid-19 related update, see "Prüfungsstoff" below.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

It is absolutely essential that you also enroll in the related Exercise Course (Übung, UE) on Economic Development in East Asia in order to be able to fulfill the assignments and conclude the Seminar successfully.
(1) Participation: Students’ participation in discussion is an integral part of this course. Regular participation is thus mandatory. The following rules apply: The grade for attendance is “1” in the case of up to three absences. If you are absent for up to 4 times, the grade will be “2”. If you are absent for up to 5 times, the grade will “3”, and so forth.
Please note: To ensure a smooth proceeding of the seminar, please be on time. Students who are late by more than 10 minutes will not be able to sign the attendance list.
(2) M/C exam on the theories of economic development: The exam will cover the elements of the first three classes (classical, neoclassical, and heterodox theories of development). The exam will not be repeated, so make sure to attend.
(3) Team presentations: All members of the team will receive the same grade, notwithstanding their individual contribution or their performance during the presentation. So make sure to organize your work well and according to the individual strengths of the team members.
(4) Term paper: Students are required to write a term paper (Seminararbeit). Details including layout and grading criteria will be announced during class. The term papers are due on August 31, 2020. It is highly advisable that you aim for a much earlier date. Delays, even if caused by unforeseen events, are at your own risk. Term papers will only be accepted via Moodle as PDF. Please do not submit any other file formats.
The following rules apply to late submission of term papers: A delay in submission of up to 1 week will result in downgrading by one full grade. A delay in submission of up to 2 weeks will result in downgrading by two full grades, and so forth.
The final grade for the course will be calculated as follows:
Attendance: 15%
M/C exam: 25%
Team presentation: 15%
Term paper: 45%

Please note: The term paper is an indispensable component of the seminar, in particular as it serves as a direct preparation for the MA thesis. It thus legally amounts to a minimal requirement (“Mindestanforderung”). In order to finish the course, students must have their term paper graded with at least “4”. Students who fail to submit a term paper will be graded “5” for the seminar regardless of their other achievements.
For a Covid-19 related update, see "Prüfungsstoff" below.

Examination topics

CORONA UPDATE
(1) We will NOT hold any Jitsi or other video conference meetings.
• Aside from the low reliability and the fact that this would be only an imperfect replication of an actual classroom discussion, I am worried that it might work for 80 or 90% of you, but not for everybody. However, I will not leave a single one of you behind. We need a solution that works for all of you, without exception.
(2) Prepare your team presentations as originally planned.
• This task is mandatory. Please make sure not to miss any of the submissions. The first of them will be due on March 31 as planned; the schedule for the other presentations has been postponed by one week, see the updated schedule on Moodle.
• You would have had to prepare these presentations and to present them anyway, so this is no change from the original workload. The only difference is that you will not hold the presentations live in the classroom, but rather record them.
• I have posted a quick guide on how to use Microsoft Powerpoint to record your presentations and upload them on Moodle (see “Administration”, and “How to record your own PPT presentations”).
• Please remember that Microsoft Office is available for free to all regular students at the University of Vienna.
(3) Use the comment function in the Moodle forum to respond to the team presentations.
• This task is optional. You are more than welcome to comment, but you will not have to. The same applies to me (although I am very likely to use the option). In any case, I will provide feedback to the teams on their respective performance and the grade they receive for this assignment.
(4) The exam will be held online via Moodle on April 21 at 09:00.
• It makes little sense to keep postponing the exam and hoping that the University will eventually be reopened. Even if the latter would be the case, the resulting burden on you – all exams crammed into a few days – would be too high. Therefore, please be ready to write the m/c exam on the theories of economic development (originally scheduled for March 24) on April 21 at 09:00.
• You will either do so offline in Hörsaal B, or online via Moodle (in both cases, it will be the same exam with the same modalities). If the University remains closed, make sure that you sit in front of your computer with a working internet connection on that day.
(5) The term paper is due as scheduled.
• Please use the exercise course for consultations, or contact me directly by email.

Reading list

available on Moodle

Association in the course directory

WM2a

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:20