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 Student Profile: Melaku Lakew, MPP Class of 2027 Thu., May 15, 2025 Chicago’s Sit-D Program: Transforming Police Behavior with Science-Based Training Wed., May 14, 2025 New Research Finds Medicare Soft Spending Cap Lowers Costs without Harming Patient Health, But Introduces Inequities Wed., May 14, 2025 Upcoming Events More events Ask Admissions: Credential Programs Mon., May 19, 2025 | 7:30 PM Ask Admissions: Credential Programs Tue., May 20, 2025 | 7:00 AM UChicago Part-Time Programs Information Session - Harris, Crown, Graham, and UCPE Tue., May 20, 2025 | 12:00 PM
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
February 17, 2025 Assistant Professor Eduardo Montero Explores Results of Chagas Disease Campaign in Brazil in New Working Paper