Dr. Jan Sallinger
x7349 (office)
884-7407 (home) 749-4634 (cell)
sallinge_j@fortlewis.edu
(email)
Office hours:
Monday 9:00 11:00, TR 10:15 11:45, Wednesday 3:15-4:15; by
appt. or drop in any time my door is
open. Please call me if you cant make
these office hours and need to see me.
Course Description:
This course provides an introduction to the study of
international political economy. Few
events, either political or economic, are truly domestic anymore. Nation-states are ever more closely
integrated economically, and most nations, including the most developed, are
vulnerable to economic changes at the international level. This course provides both a theoretical and
substantive overview of IPE. Student
participation in course design and content is welcome.
Required
Readings:
There is one required text for this course, although
regular reading of a good national newspaper is strongly recommended.
The required text is Introduction to
International Political Economy, 2nd ed., by David Balaam and Michael Veseth.
There will also be several articles placed on
reserve at the library through the course of the semester.
Course
requirements:
1. Attendance
policy -- Daily attendance is
mandatory. Roll will be taken each class period. After the first two
absences, each unexcused absence will result in a one-point reduction of your
final grade. Thus, if you miss 7 classes, and your final grade
was an 82, you would be left with a 75 instead. Illnesses, injuries, participation in team sports, absences for
funerals, etc. must all be documented in order to qualify as an excused
absence.
2. Readings
and discussion-- There will be approximately 25-45 pages of assigned
readings per week, although it will vary from week to week. The readings will be listed in the syllabus,
and any additions or changes to the assignments will be announced in class one
week prior to their discussion in class.
Having the assigned reading completed before each class will greatly
facilitate your ability to participate in classroom discussions. Active participation in classroom
discussions is a vital part of the learning process, and thus will be
rewarded. 10% of your grade will be based on your participation efforts.
3. News Summaries -- Each class session one or two students will give a brief CNN-style
update on any stories related to any aspect of
international political economy.
Following the news on a regular basis will assist in this briefing.
4. Reading
summaries -- Once a week you will
be required to turn in a 2- page typed
summary of the reading assignments.
The summaries should give an overview, in your own words, of the key points
covered by that day's assignment and engage in a critique of the arguments
presented. They will be due at the
beginning of class. No late summaries will be accepted --
if you do not turn in the summary when it is due, it will be recorded as a 0 in
the grade book. These summaries will
comprise 15% of your grade.
5. Midterm
exam -- There will be a take-home
midterm exam. This exam will consist of
approximately three essay questions, requiring you to incorporate both the
readings and materials from the lectures in your answers. These exams must be type-written.
Before turning in your exam, print or xerox a copy of it for yourself, to safeguard against the
possibility of the loss or theft of
your paper. To protect against possible
plagiarism, do NOT share your exam with anyone in the class. (See the section on "Academic
Dishonesty" for the campus policy on plagiarism.) Your exam will be graded for both substantive
and stylistic content. If you have had
difficulties with written expression in past courses, I will be happy to work
with you, or you may also obtain assistance at the Writing Laboratory on
campus. This exam will make up 35% of your final grade.
6. Research Paper -- The last
major requirement for the course is a 15-18
page research paper, which will
be in lieu of an in-class final exam.
You will be free to choose the topic of the paper, in consultation with me, but
it must deal with a topic covered during the second half of the class. You will be expected to utilize several sources
beyond the required course readings for this paper. Make sure you keep a copy
of the paper for yourself before you
turn yours in. Again, your paper will
be graded for stylistic expression as well as substantive content, as this is a
writing emphasis course. More information about the paper will be provided at
the appropriate time, and I will provide a list of possible sources for
additional research. This paper will
count as the final 40% of your
course grade.
Grade Breakdown:
Participation - 10%
Reading summaries- 15%
Midterm exam- 35%
Research paper- 40%
Grade Appeal Policy:
If you do not agree with my evaluation of your
performance, either written or verbal, please feel to discuss it with me in my
office. I read each exam or paper three times before assigning a
grade, however, so I have adopted the following policy on
re-grades: I will re-read an exam or paper, but reserve to right to leave the
grade as it stands, raise it if I
missed a significant point, or lower it if
I missed a significant problem.
Academic
Dishonesty:
The campus policy on plagiarism is as follows:
"All academic work, written or otherwise,
submitted by a student to his or her instructor must be the student's own
research, thought, and self-expression.
Work which in any way borrows ideas, organization, or wording from
another source without appropriate
acknowledgment is plagiarism. Direct quotes must be indicated by
quotation marks and by an appropriate indication of their origin. Making simple changes, such as substituting
a synonym or a change in word order, while leaving the organization, content,
and overall phraseology of the original quote intact is plagiaristic. Turning in the same paper to two separate
instructors, even in different semesters, is also considered a violation of the
policy." (Student Handbook) If you are paraphrasing an author, do not
put the paraphrase in quotation marks, but do cite the appropriate source in
parentheses at the end of the paraphrase.
Any violation of this policy will
result in an immediate and final F as a course grade, and possible suspension
or expulsion from the university if the campus appeals board deems the
violation to be serious enough.
If you are at all unclear about
what constitutes plagiarism, please see me in my office!
Reading
Assignments and Course Outline:
Week 1 (1/13 1/15 ) Course introduction and general overview of
international political economy. Begin
reading Preface and Ch. 1. Reading summary #1 due on Wednesday, 1-14.
Week 2 (1/20-1/22) Mercantilism and Laissez-Faire
Approaches. Read Chs. 2 and 3. Reading summary due Tuesday over both
chapters.
Week 3 (1/27 1/29) Marxism and Rational Choice
approaches. Read Chs. 4 and 5. Reading summary due Tuesday over both
chapters.
Week 4 (2/3 2/5) International Trade. Read Ch 6.
Reading summary due Tuesday.
Week 5 (2/10 2/12) International Monetary System. Read Ch. 7.
Reading summary due Tuesday.
Week 6 (2/17 2/19) Debt
and International Finance. Read Ch.
8. Reading summary due Tuesday.
Week 7 (2/24 2/26) International
Security and Technology. Read Chs. 9
and 10. Reading summary due Tuesday.
Midterms handed out in class, due back on March 2nd in class.
Week 8 (3/2 3/4) Film
week. No reading summary due. MIDTERMS DUE BACK ON TUESDAY, MARCH 2nd..
Week 9 (3/9 3/11) SPRING
BREAK!!! FLEE! SKI!!
MAKE MERRY!! Ill be grading your midterms
L
Week 10 (3/16 3/18) EU
and NAFTA. Read Chs. 11 and 12. Reading summary due Tuesday.
Week 11 (3/3/23 3/25) Japan and other States. Read Chs. 13 and 14. Reading summary due
Tuesday.
Week 12 (3/30 4/1) North-South and MNCs. Read Chs. 15 and 16. Reading summary due Tuesday.
Week 13 (4/6 4/8) Energy,
Oil, Food and Hunger. Read Ch. 17 and
18. Reading summary due Tuesday.
Week 14 (4/13 4/15) Environment
and IPE. Read Ch. 19. Reading summary due Tuesday.
Week 15 (4/20 4/22) The
US and IPE. Read Ch. 20. Reading
summary due Tuesday.
FINAL PAPERS DUE IN MY
OFFICE BY 5:00 APRIL 22th.