ANTH 003G. First-Year Seminar: Development and its Discontents(W)

In this course, our goal will be to gain a new perspective on an often-unquestioned social "good": that of international economic development, including foreign aid to countries in the global south. This course will provide students with an introduction to the origin and evolution of ideas about development, and will encourage them to examine major theories and approaches to development from classical modernization theories to world-systems theories. Students will gain insight into how ideas of development fit into larger global dynamics of power and politics and how, contrary to professed goals, the practices of international development have often perpetuated poverty and widened the gap between rich and poor. During the course, we will investigate these issues through an array of texts that address different audiences including a novel, academic books and journals, film, popular writings and ethnographic monographs.
Social sciences.
Writing course.
1 credit.
Eligible for BLST, ENVS, PEAC, ESCH, GLBL - Core
Spring 2026. Schuetze.
Catalog chapter: Sociology and Anthropology
Department website: http://www.swarthmore.edu/sociology-anthropology

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