COURSE DESCRIPTION AND APPLICATION INFORMATION
| Course Name | Code | Semester | T+A+L (hour/week) | Type (C / O) | Local Credit | ECTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Economic Literacy | KHAS 1702 | Fall | 03+00+00 | Elective | 3 | 5 |
| Academic Unit: | Core Program |
| Mode of Delivery: | Face to face |
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Language of Instruction: | English |
| Level of Course Unit: | Undergraduate |
| Course Coordinator: | - - |
| Course Objectives: | This course aims to provide the essential economic literacy to undergraduate students from all disciplines. Unlike many introductory courses to the economics, it is prepared with an interdisciplinary framework combining economics, personal finance, political economy, and development studies. The course is organized under five interrelated modules. First module focuses on the individual and the market to introduce key micro-economic concepts such as opportunity cost, competition, monopoly, supply and demand. Second module focuses on the national economy and state to introduce macro-economic concepts such as national income, inflation, unemployment, economic crisis, and development. Third module provides the foundations of personal finance so as to understand the concepts like time value of money, risk, compound interest as well as to prepare students for everyday economic activities such as financial planning, budgeting, and saving. Fourth module introduces a brief history of the global economy in the last two centuries. Fifth module focuses on Turkey’s economy by analyzing the dynamics of trade, finance, employment, class, development, gender, economic crises in the last century. This will allow students to identify the various phases of capitalist economic development such as Keynesianism, neoliberalism, and globalization. This course seeks to equip students with much-needed economic literacy in the age of globalization. It bridges the gaps between theory-practice as well as national-international to provide a holistic introduction to economics. Students who complete this course will be able to understand key economic concepts, manage their personal finances, recognize the broader dynamics of global economy, and be aware of Turkey’s economic history and current challenges. Teaching philosophy underpinning the course seeks to foster critical and analytical thinking as well as problem solving skills of students. There are various types of assignments that are tailored to nurture different skillsets. Calculation papers will enable familiarity with economic and financial data so as to develop students’ computational skills. Movie reflection paper will improve students’ academic writing as well as their ability to link theory with practice. Presentation on Turkey’s economic problems will foster academic speaking as well as independent thinking and research skills. Active participation into the forums will develop English language skills of students. |
| Course Contents: | Module I: Individuals and Markets Module II: National Economy, Development and Crises Module III: Personal Finance Module IV: Global Economy Module V: Turkey’s Economy |
| Learning Outcomes of the Course Unit (LO): |
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| Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods: | Lectures, presentations, experiments, movie reflection paper, calculation paper, participation activities |
WEEKLY SUBJECTS AND RELATED PREPARATIONS
| Week | Subjects | Related Preperation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Module I: Introduction to Micro-economics | Reading the assigned texts |
| 2 | Module I: Market and Competition | Reading the assigned texts |
| 3 | Module II: Introduction to Macro-economics | Reading the assigned texts |
| 4 | Module II: State and Economy | Reading the assigned texts |
| 5 | Module II: Capitalism and Crises | Reading the assigned texts |
| 6 | Module III: Fundamentals of Personal Finance | Reading the assigned texts |
| 7 | Module III: Everyday Money Management | Reading the assigned texts |
| 8 | Module IV: History of Global Economy | Reading the assigned texts |
| 9 | Module IV: Contemporary Global Economy | Reading the assigned texts |
| 10 | Module V: History of Capitalist Development in Turkey | Reading the assigned texts |
| 11 | Module V: Turkey’s Economy Today | Reading the assigned texts |
| 12 | General Assessments | |
| 13 | General Assessments | |
| 14 | General Assessments |
At Kadir Has University, a Semester is 14 weeks; The weeks 15 and 16 are reserved for final exams.
REQUIRED AND RECOMMENDED READING
| Module I Reading CORE The Economy: Economics for a Changing World Unit 3 | Scarcity, Work and Choice https://www.core-econ.org/the-economy/book/text/03.html Unit 8 | Supply and Demand: Price-Taking and Competitive Markets https://www.core-econ.org/the-economy/book/text/08.html Module II Reading CORE Unit 13 | Economic Fluctuations and Unemployment https://www.core-econ.org/the-economy/book/text/13.html CORE Unit 9.2 | Measuring the Economy: Employment and Unemployment https://www.core-econ.org/the-economy/book/text/09.html#92-measuring-the-economy-employment-and-unemployment Evans, Peter. 2010. “Constructing the 21st Century Developmental State: Potantialities and Pitfalls.” In Constructing a Democratic Developmental State in South Africa: Potentials and Challenges, edited by Omano Edigheji, 37–58. Cape Town, South Africa: Human Sciences Research Council. Öniş, Ziya. 1991. “The Logic of the Developmental State.” Comparative Politics 24 (1): 109–26. Marx, K., and Engels, F. (1848). The Communist Manifesto. Available online at: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/ Stiglitz, J. (1998). More Instruments and Broader Goals: Moving Toward the Post-Washington Consensus. WIDER Annual Lecture, Helsinki. Module III Reading Santos, A. C. (2017). Cultivating the self-reliant and responsible individual: the material culture of financial literacy. New Political Economy, 22(4), 410-422. OECD (2016). G20/OECD INFE Core competencies framework on financial literacy for adults. Paris: OECD Publishing. Pompian, M. M. (2006). Behavioral Finance and Wealth Management. Wiley: New Jersey. ISBN: 0-471-74517-0. Akerlof, G. A., and Shiller, R. J. (2009). Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy and Why it Matters for Global Capitalism. Princeton University Press. ISBN: 978-0-691-14233-3 Module IV Reading O’Brien, R., and Williams, M. (2016). Global Political Economy: Evolution and Dynamics (5th Ed.). New York: Palgrave, Chapters 3, 4 & 5, pp. 40-100. Module V Reading Öniş, Z., and Şenses, F. (2007). Global dynamics, domestic coalitions and a reactive state: Major policy shifts in post-war Turkish economic development. METU Studies in Development, 34, 251-286. Pamuk, Ş. (2008). “Economic change in twentieth-century Turkey: Is the glass more than half full?” In R. Kasaba (Ed.), The Cambridge History of Turkey (Cambridge History of Turkey (pp. 266-300). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. |
OTHER COURSE RESOURCES
| Supplementary Reading on Turkey’s Economy Boratav, K. (2018). Türkiye İktisat Tarihi: 1908-2015. Ankara: İmge Kitabevi. Kepenek, Y., and Yentürk, N. (2016). Türkiye Ekonomisi. İstanbul: Remzi Kitabevi. Şenses, F. (2017). İktisada Farklı Bir Giriş. İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları. Orhangazi, Ö. (2020). Türkiye Ekonomisinin Yapısı. Ankara: İmge Kitabevi. Buğra, A. (2003). Devlet ve İşadamları. İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları. Keyder, Ç. (2007). Türkiye’de Devlet ve Sınıflar. İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları. Yeldan, E. (2006). Küreselleşme Sürecinde Türkiye Ekonomisi: Bölüşüm, Birikim ve Büyüme. İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları. Supplementary Reading on Global Economy O’Brien, R., and Williams, M. (2016). Global Political Economy: Evolution and Dynamics (5th Ed.). New York: Palgrave Gilpin, R. (2001). Global Political Economy: Understanding the International Economic Order. Princeton: Princeton University Press Dunn, B. (2009). Global Political Economy: A Marxist Critique. London: Pluto Press. Balaam, D. N., and Dillman, B. (2014). Introduction to International Political Economy (6th Ed.). Boston: Pearson. |
ASSESSMENT METHODS AND CRITERIA
| Semester Requirements | Number | Percentage of Grade (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Attendance / Participation | 1 | 20 |
| Practice / Exercise | 1 | 10 |
| Homework Assignments | 2 | 40 |
| Presentation / Jury | 1 | 20 |
| Midterms / Oral Exams / Quizes | 1 | 10 |
| Total: | 6 | 100 |
WORKLOAD
| Events | Count | Duration (Hours) | Total Workload (hour) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Course Hours | 11 | 3 | 33 |
| Practice / Exercise | 1 | 10 | 10 |
| Homework Assigments | 2 | 16 | 32 |
| Preparation for Presentation / Jury | 1 | 20 | 20 |
| Extra-Class Activities (reading,individiual work, etc.) | 1 | 20 | 20 |
| Midterms / Oral Exams / Quizes | 1 | 10 | 10 |
| Total Workload (hour): | 125 | ||
1 ECTS = 25 Hours Workload
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES (LO) AND PROGRAM QUALIFICATIONS (PQ)
| # | PQ1 | PQ2 | PQ3 | PQ4 | PQ5 | PQ6 | PQ7 | PQ8 | PQ9 | PQ10 |
| LO1 | ||||||||||
| LO2 | ||||||||||
| LO3 | ||||||||||
| LO4 | ||||||||||
| LO5 |
Contribution: 1 Low, 2 Average, 3 High