Course # 35556 Section Number 2 Day(s) Tu- Th Time(s) 3:30pm-4:50pm Term Spring 2025 Specialization International Policy Course Instructor Raul Sanchez de la Sierra Syllabus Syllabus 4/10/25 This course offers a perspective on the role of power in the evolution of societies. First, we will study narratives of political economy of development, dominant until recently, which draw on explanations for what made Europe, and parts of North America, exceptional, such as their innovation, trade, culture, or institutions. Second, we will explore research by historians, anthropologists, and sociologists that challenged these narratives on the grounds that they silenced the role played by European military domination over the rest of the world in the rise of Europe; the rise of the “West” coincides with the exceptional use of power at a global scale to expropriate, enslave, and even replace other societies whose welfare is not even part of current GDP calculations. Third, we will explore institutions, historical processes, worldviews, socio-political traditions, and ideas in societies outside the so-called West, and how those have contributed to the history of human societies but also to the set of possible ideas and models for “development.” One ambitious aim of the course is to make sense of how we got into the world of today while navigating this epistemic imbalance, beyond “us” vs. “them,” and through research and policies that do not carry the presumption of pitying, saving, or fixing as the main starting point. This course was previously called Political Economics of Developing Countries. Quarter Title Instructor Day(s) Time(s) Syllabus Spring 2025 Power and Development Raul Sanchez de la Sierra Tuesday, Thursday 11:00am-12:20pm Syllabus Spring 2025 Power and Development Raul Sanchez de la Sierra Tuesday, Thursday 3:30pm-4:50pm Syllabus Recent News More news Alumni Profile: Daisuke Kageyama, MPP'23 Thu., June 26, 2025 Inside the Machinery of Misinformation: Konstantin Sonin Explores How Authoritarian Regimes Manipulate Minds Wed., June 25, 2025 Rohen Shah, PhD’25, Receives Horowitz Foundation Award for Education Research Tue., June 24, 2025 Upcoming Events More events Harris Alumni and Admitted Students Summer Send-off Brunch in Seoul Sat., June 28, 2025 | 11:30 AM AL NUOVO 83, Wausan-Ro 29GA-Gil Mapo-gu Seoul 04054 South Korea Harris Public Policy Coffee Chat in Seoul Sun., June 29, 2025 | 10:00 AM Starbucks Euljiro 4(sa)-ga Station 170 Eulji-ro Jung-gu Seoul 04548 South Korea Harris Summer Campus Visit Mon., June 30, 2025 | 10:00 AM Harris School of Public Policy 1307 E 60th St Chicago, IL 60637 United States
March 24, 2025 Q&A: Senior Lecturer Rebecca Wolfe Discusses the Trump Administration’s Actions on Foreign Aid and Humanitarian Programs
February 23, 2025 Muaz Chaudhry Named Gates Cambridge Scholar, Set to Pursue Doctoral Studies in Economics of Gender