A number of example courses, made using the Economy Studies building blocks and the principles: pluralism, real-world and values.
In this chapter, we demonstrate how to create actual courses using the Economy Studies design toolkit, showing various example courses. Each of these courses flows from our central philosophy: teach students how to study the economy, rather than teaching them one form of economic thinking in the abstract. In terms of our principles, they vary: some of these example courses focus more on pluralism, others on real-world economics, others yet on thinking about values. As for the building blocks, each of the example courses uses at least one of the ten building blocks, while most use more than one.
These courses are described rather briefly in this chapter, as full syllabi, slides or exam questions would take up too much space in a physical book. More extensive course descriptions, syllabi and teaching material can be found in the online database of our partner organisation Exploring Economics.
The courses shown here are highly diverse, and mainly intended to inspire and to show the range of possibilities. Depending on the knowledge available within a department, the courses designed there could be vastly different from the examples shown here.
To reiterate, the Economy Studies design method is built up in steps, from abstract to concrete. The philosophy and three principles are considerations and points of departure, but by themselves remain abstract. The following section, the building blocks, are descriptions of content, coupled with suggestions for teaching materials. But they are intended as flexible design tools, not ready-made courses: one building block could be spread out over several courses, or several building blocks could be combined into a single course. This chapter takes it to the next step, showing how the Economy Studies design method and materials can be used to create actual courses.
These courses are described rather briefly in this chapter, as full syllabi, slides or exam questions would take up too much space in a physical book. More extensive course descriptions, syllabi and teaching material can be found in the online database of our partner organisation Exploring Economics. Course descriptions in this database generally contain full descriptions of reading assignments, week-by-week lecture and workshop plans and suggestions for exam questions.
Example Courses:
- The Challenges of Our Time (Main BB1, Additional BB2, BB3, BB8, BB9, BB10)
- Argentina and the IMF (Main BB9, Additional BB2, BB3, BB6, BB8, BB10)
- The Economics of Oil (Main BB8, Additional BB3, BB6)
- A Historical Perspective on Economic Success (Main BB4, Additional BB1, BB6)
- The Digital Economy of South Korea (Main BB2, Additional BB3, BB5, BB6)
- Agent-Based Modelling (Main BB7, Additional BB4, BB9)
- The World of Production (Main BB8, Additional BB2, BB3, BB4, BB5)
- The Political-Economic System of India (Main BB6, Additional BB2, BB3, BB10)
- Economics for a Better World (Main BB10, Additional BB1, BB2)
- Coordination and Allocation Mechanisms in Norwegian Agriculture (Main BB5, Additional BB2, BB3)
- The Economics of Financial Crises (Main BB8, Additional BB3, BB4, BB6)