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Economic Development

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Abstract:: The phrase 'economic development' generally refers not only to economic growth, but to changes in the ways in which goods and services are produced in a country as well as improvements in inhabitants' quality of life. Theories of economic development attempt to explain the social, political, and economic processes that countries go through as they transition from being what are known as 'Less Developed Countries' (LDCs) to being 'Developed Countries' (DCs). In this course, the student will discover how various theories explain development success and failure in the real world. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: Define economic development and its components; Describe major theories of economic development; Understand some simple economic models related to economic development and economic growth, including the Solow Growth model and its extensions; Place economic development theories in the social and political context in which they were created; Critically examine economic development theories in light of a history of poor performance in development programs. (Economics 304)

Subject:: Social Sciences
Grade Level:: Post-secondary
Collection:: Saylor Foundation

Identity and Difference, Spring 2010

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Abstract:: This course explores how identities, whether of individuals or groups, are produced, maintained, and transformed. Students will be introduced to various theoretical perspectives that deal with identity formation, including constructions of "the normal." We will explore the utility of these perspectives for understanding identity components such as gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, language, social class, and bodily difference. By semester's end students will understand better how an individual can be at once cause and consequence of society, a unique agent of social action as well as a social product.

Subject:: Social Sciences
Grade Level:: Post-secondary
Collection:: MIT OpenCourseWare

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Introduction to Literary Theory

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Abstract:: This course will introduce you to the field of literary theory by identifying and engaging with the key problems and questions that animate theoretical discussion among literary scholars and critics, including issues pertaining to ideology, cultural value, the patriarchal and colonial bases of Western culture, and more. The student will be acquainted with the basic principles and preeminent texts that have defined many of the major critical debates of the 20th and 21st centuries. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to define both literary criticism and literary theory, and explain the emergence of literature as a discipline of study; identify and discuss classical Greek explanations of the purpose of literature; explain and account for the rise of critical theory in the 20th century, and describe the place of theory in contemporary English and cultural studies; provide a brief overview of the major tenets, practitioners, and ideas of the following critical and theoretical movements and/or schools: Russian Formalism, structuralism, post-structuralism, semiotics, Deconstruction, psychoanalysis, feminism, gender theory, Marxism, Reader-Response paradigms, New Historicism, Post-Colonialism, Ethnic and Cultural Studies, Eco-criticism and Eco-theory and trauma theory; identify and discuss some of the viewpoints opposed to the practice of criticism and literary theory; identify and discuss some of the newly emerging trends in literary theory, such as eco-criticism, trauma theory, chaos theory, game theory, and trans-identity criticism; identify, discuss, and define some of the key literary theories of such major literary and cultural critics and theorists as Plato, Aristotle, Karl Marx, Michele Foucault, Judith Butler, Jacques Derrida, Jacques Lacan, T.S. Eliot, Henry Louis Gates, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Eve Sedgwick, and Frederic Jameson. (English Literature 301)

Subject:: Humanities
Grade Level:: Post-secondary
Collection:: Saylor Foundation

Introduction to Theory of Literature

(Complete Item Description)

Abstract:: This is a survey of the main trends in twentieth-century literary theory. Lectures will provide background for the readings and explicate them where appropriate, while attempting to develop a coherent overall context that incorporates philosophical and social perspectives on the recurrent questions: what is literature, how is it produced, how can it be understood, and what is its purpose?

Subject:: Humanities
Grade Level:: Post-secondary
Collection:: Open Yale Courses

Syntactic Models, Spring 2006

(Complete Item Description)

Abstract:: This course presents a comparison of different proposed architectures for the syntax module of grammar. The subject traces several themes across a wide variety of approaches, with emphasis on testable differences among models. Models discussed include ancient and medieval proposals, structuralism, early generative grammar, generative semantics, government-binding theory/minimalism, LFG, HPSG, TAG, functionalist perspectives and others.

Subject:: Humanities, Social Sciences
Grade Level:: Post-secondary
Collection:: MIT OpenCourseWare

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Economic Development

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Browse: Keyword: Structuralism

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Economic Development

Identity and Difference, Spring 2010

Introduction to Literary Theory

Introduction to Theory of Literature

Syntactic Models, Spring 2006

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