Economic growth and sustainability II
HUM-470 / 3 crédits
Enseignant: Thalmann Philippe
Langue: Anglais
Withdrawal: It is not allowed to withdraw from this subject after the registration deadline.
Remark: Une seule inscription à un cours SHS+MGT autorisée. En cas d'inscriptions multiples elles seront toutes supprimées sans notification.
Summary
This course examines growth from various angles: economic growth, growth in the use of resources, need for growth, limits to growth, sustainable growth, and, if time permits, population growth and growing inequality. Although grounded in economics, it takes up elements from many other discipline
Content
In the second semester, the participants select of topic they want to develop using the concepts and tools presented in the first semester. It can be a topic touched upon in the first semester, e.g. sufficiency as a means to limit some resource use, the depletion of some resource or sustainable development in some country. It can also be a topic not yet addressed, e.g. deforestation, the role of innovation or education for growth. What is important is that the topic is an important component of economic growth and sustainable development and that the analysis relates to the material treated in the first semester. Case studies at the level of countries or regions are strongly encouraged.
Participants develop their topic in groups of four.
Keywords
Sustainable development, economy, growth, environment.
POLY-perspective :
- interdisciplinary perspective
- global perspective
https://www.epfl.ch/schools/cdh/cdhs-vision/
Learning Prerequisites
Required courses
HUM-471 Economic growth and sustainability I
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, the student must be able to:
- Critique theories and proposals related to economic growth and sustainable development
- Reason on social and economic issues
- Explain the relationships between economic, demographic and environmental variables
- Compute growth rates and the links between growth rates
- Differentiate between scientific and propaganda arguments
- Restate concepts and mechanisms seen in class
Transversal skills
- Assess progress against the plan, and adapt the plan as appropriate.
- Plan and carry out activities in a way which makes optimal use of available time and other resources.
- Communicate effectively with professionals from other disciplines.
- Access and evaluate appropriate sources of information.
- Evaluate one's own performance in the team, receive and respond appropriately to feedback.
- Demonstrate the capacity for critical thinking
- Make an oral presentation.
Teaching methods
This semester is dedicated to conducting research in groups. It aims at promoting teamwork in the formulation of a problem and its resolving, in a project logic.
Expected student activities
Students pick a topic related to the themes and methods developed in class and prepare a critical analysis of this topic (written report of about 20 pages, not counting references and appendix, if any) before presenting it to the class.
Assessment methods
Graded report (80%) and oral presentation with Q&A (20%) in the last one or two sessions of the semester.
Supervision
| Office hours | Yes |
| Assistants | Yes |
| Forum | Yes |
Resources
Bibliography
See Economic growth and sustainability I
Moodle Link
Videos
Dans les plans d'études
- Semestre: Printemps
- Nombre de places: 75
- Forme de l'examen: Pendant le semestre (session d'été)
- Matière examinée: Economic growth and sustainability II
- Projet: 3 Heure(s) hebdo x 14 semaines