This is a course on developments in the American economy.  There are two sides to this topic--historical developments and current events.  And like two hands washing each other, these two sides--historical and current events--cast light on each other.  We can come to understand current events better if we have an historical perspective on the present.  And we can understand history better by viewing some of its products--events today.

 

We are going to divide each of these two sides of the same coin into three topics.  In history, we will look at slavery, immigration and the Great Depression.  In current events, we will look at the Utah coal mining disaster, the China-Mattel toy controversy and (probably) the recent melt-down in the US mortgage lending market.  I say probably for this last topic because we will reserve the option of changing gears if there is another emerging current event over the semester that attracts our attention.

The historical readings are three books listed below.  The current event readings are newspaper stories posted on this web site via links from my Pitzer home page.

In this course, you will write, write write (after reading, reading, reading).  Specific writing assignments will be posted soon.

  There are the three books for this class:

These are the three current events we will cover in class:
  1. The Utah coal mine disaster & worker safety
  2. Chinese imports, consumer safety and worker rights
  3. The home mortgage meltdown
  1. Frederick Douglass, Autobiography (slavery)
  2. Upton Sinclair, The Jungle (worker rights & consumer safety)
  3. John Steinbeck, Grapes of Wrath (Great Depression)

We need to start a mailing list for the class.  Please email me at leighlakeranger@yahoo.com with the subject beginning with "Freshman seminar".  Always when emailing me start the subject with "Freshman seminar" so I don't lose you in my spam filter.

Specific Assignments:

Generally, on Tuesdays we will talk history and on Thursdays we will talk current events.  Both focused on the economy in general terms.

Blue buttons are for the blue team.  Orange buttons for the orange team.  Green buttons are for everyone.

Everybody--go to the buttons on the course homepage and watch the videos on critical thinking and expository writing.

Tuesday, Sep 4: hand in 5 to 10 slide powerpoint introducing yourself (bring it on a USB thumb drive or email it to me: leighlakeranger@yahoo.com I use a PC, so if you use a MAC, I think emailing me the file may be the best solution to compatibility issues.)

Thursday: Sep 6:  CoalChinese Toy Factories

You will have been divided up into a blue team and an orange team.  Blue team come prepared to talk about coal mine safety.  Orange team come prepared to talk about labor conditions and product safety in Chinese toy factories.

Tuesday: Sep 11:

Read first chapter in Frederick Douglass' autobiography. 

Thursday, Sep 13: Seven slide powerpoint on Chinese imports or coal mine safety with hook, thesis, three support slides, conclusion, punchline

See this example:  7 slide example

Tuesday, Sep 18:

Read up to about page 100 in Douglass.

Thursday, Sep 20:  Mortgage Market MeltdownMoral HazardFed Saves the RichFed Should Lower Rates

Blue team look at the blue button, orange team at the orange button and both look at the two green buttons.