RES-ECON 360: Economic Development and the Environment : Department of Resource Economics : UMass Amherst

Example syllabus only – exact content subject to change. Please see your instructor’s syllabus for the current term for your specific course’s guidelines

Course website: Canvas
Instructor: Prof. Jamie Mullins @email
Room: Holdsworth Hall 202
Office: Stockbridge 205D
Office Hours: Tuesdays: 11:30am-1:00pm
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: RES-ECON 102/ECON 103

This course and many of the associated materials are adaptations from courses taught by Jeffery Sachs of Columbia University, Shanthi Manian of Washington State University, and Prashant Bharadwaj of the University of California San Diego. I am grateful to each for their work in developing their course materials and to the others on whom each of these three relied upon.

Required Textbooks

The Age of Sustainable Development. Jeffery Sachs, 2015. Available via Amazon.
Not the End of the World. Hannah Ritchie, 2024. Available via Amazon.

Course Description

This course introduces students to a holistic framework for understanding the relationships between global inequality, economic development, and environmental degradation. A range of practical pathways toward more sustainable global development are discussed and evaluated from economic, societal, and environmental perspectives. Topics include: the development gap; climate change; food security; population growth and distribution; approaches to addressing extreme poverty; biodiversity and ecosystem services; health, education, agriculture, and political institutions in the context of economic development; global carrying capacity and environmental load.

Finally, I hope you enjoy the class. Please remain in touch and engaged. We will be learning together!

Lectures & Attendance Policy

Lectures will be held twice weekly. Slides will initially be posted before each lecture. You are still strongly encouraged to take notes by hand.

Attendance and participation will be monitored. Your performance in these areas will be factored into your final grade.

Note on classroom decorum: To avoid distracting others in the classroom, please arrive on time and do not leave early unless given prior permission. When class is in session, please respect others in the room and refrain from sending or receiving phone calls, emails or text messages, using social media, etc. Please be sure audible notifications are turned off before class begins.

Required Assignments & Grading

Grading scale: Final grades will be based on a curve, but the strictest possible grade thresholds will be:

Percentage	94	90	87	84	80	77	74	70	67	64
Grade	A	A–	B+	B	B–	C+	C	C–	D+	D

Letter grades may be adjusted (curved) upward, but will not be adjusted downward. You will earn your grade for the course based on the following assignments:

Class attendance and participation (20%).
Quizzes (20%): Due Friday nights at 11:59pm.
- Cover readings and/or geography
- Beginning in week 1!
- Assigned and taken on Canvas
- Multiple choice and calculations
- No time limit
- One attempt allowed
- I will drop the three lowest quiz scores. The average of the remaining quizzes will have 20% weight in your overall grade for the course
Weekly writing assignments (20%): Due Sunday nights at 11:59pm following the relevant week
- Beginning week 1!
- The first assignment is a simple self-introduction
- Subsequent assignments will focus on applying topics and concepts from the week to a student’s chosen country
- Details and Submission via Canvas Assignment
Peer Grading of Writing Assignments (20%)
- Conducted using rubric via Canvas Workshop
Final Country Report & Presentation (20%)
- At the end of the semester, students will merge their weekly writing assignments into a single comprehensive report on their country of choice.
- Each student will also give a short presentation on their chosen country, covering the content of their written report.

Artificial Intelligence Policy

AI is allowed with attribution: Use of AI tools, including ChatGPT, Gemini, Claud, Grok, and DeepSeek, are permitted in this course for students who wish to use them. To adhere to our scholarly values, students must acknowledge any AI-generated material that informed their work (this includes in-text citations and/or use of quotations, and in your reference list), but AI output IS NOT a source of information and should not be cited as such. Using an AI tool to generate content without proper attribution qualifies as academic dishonesty, and students are ultimately responsible for everything submitted.
Every writing assignment should conclude with an AI statement acknowledging whether and how AI was used.

Outline of Course

WEEK	TOPIC
0-1	Introduction, Sustainable Development
	Cover background concepts of economic growth & development. Consider the measurement and distribution of poverty coupled with discussion of the interrelationship with the environment. Consider business as usual vs. sustainable development alternative futures.
2	Economic Development
	Consider global incomes and distributions thereof. Examine inequality within countries, evaluate alternative measures of well-being, and address whether such measures are converging or diverging between countries. Consider purpose and progress of SDGs.
3	History of Economic Development through Technological Revolutions
	From steam engines to AI. Follow how technological change has driven and divided development.
4	Global Poverty
	Consider how physical geography, debt, culture, politics, and climate risk contribute to the distribution of wealth. Also, poverty traps, the resource curse, and why progress has stalled.
5	Ending Extreme Poverty
	Why it is possible, strategies for progress, potential pitfalls, and the lessons of the Millennium Development Goals
6	Human Rights: Education, Healthcare, & Food
	Discuss the ethics of wealth, poverty, and inequality. Lay out international perspective and approaches to addressing these issues. Study current situation and trends in inequality.
7	Economic Growth and the Boundaries of our Planet
	Lay out physical constraints of Earth as they relate to continued economic growth and development. Focus specifically on energy, food, population, and the minerals bottleneck.
8	Air Pollution and Climate Change
	Characterize the ways and extent of human influence on Earth’s atmosphere, beginning with local air pollutants, and then moving on to global air pollutants and climate change. Begin with a basic discussion of the science and implications of climate change.
9	Climate Change (cont’d)
	Discuss the current situation, potential futures, and approaching decision points. Lay out the dimensions of human response including mitigation and adaption.
10	Deforestation & Food
	Evaluate the extent of land-use change and deforestation. Consider the drivers, implications, and alternative paths forward. Then move on to consider how our food systems contribute to current environmental situation and what sustainable food systems might look like.
11	Biodiversity
	Consider the causes and consequences of biodiversity loss, assess the magnitude of the problem and segue into discussion of potential approaches for preservation going forward.
12	Ocean Plastics and Fishing
	Begin with a basic discussion of the science and implications of climate change, then lay out the dimensions of human response including mitigation and adaption.
13	Student Presentations
	Each student will give a short presentation on the country they’ve been researching.

Note: some topics may be omitted for time. Students are encouraged to refer to the academic calendar to be aware of critical deadlines throughout the semester.

Course Policies

Accommodation Statement

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is committed to making reasonable, effective, and appropriate accommodations to meet the needs of students with disabilities and help create a barrier-free campus. If you have a disability and require accommodations, please register with Disability Services, meet with an Access Coordinator in Disability Services, and send your accommodation letter to your faculty.

Information on services and registration is available on the Disability Services website (https://www.umass.edu/disability/).

Academic Honesty Statement

UMass Amherst is strongly committed to academic integrity, which is defined as completing all academic work without cheating, lying, stealing, or receiving unauthorized assistance from any other person, or using any source of information not appropriately authorized or attributed. As a community, we hold each other accountable and support each other’s knowledge and understanding of academic integrity. Academic dishonesty is prohibited in all programs of the University and includes but is not limited to: Cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, lying, and facilitating dishonesty, via analogue and digital means.

Sanctions may be imposed on any student who has committed or participated in an academic integrity infraction. Any person who has reason to believe that a student has committed an academic integrity infraction should bring such information to the attention of the appropriate course instructor as soon as possible. All students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have read and acknowledged the Commitment to Academic Integrity and are knowingly responsible for completing all work with integrity and in accordance with the policy: (https://www.umass.edu/senate/book/academic-integrity-policy).

Title IX Statement

In accordance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 that prohibits gender-based discrimination in educational settings that receive federal funds, the University of Massachusetts Amherst is committed to providing a safe learning environment for all students, free from all forms of discrimination, including sexual assault, sexual harassment, domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and retaliation. This includes interactions in person or online through digital platforms and social media. Title IX also protects against discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, false pregnancy, miscarriage, abortion, or related conditions, including recovery. There are resources here on campus to support you. A summary of the available Title IX resources (confidential and non-confidential) can be found at the following link: https://www.umass.edu/titleix/resources. You do not need to make a formal report to access them. If you need immediate support, you are not alone. Free and confidential support is available 24 hours a day / 7 days a week / 365 days a year at the SASA Hotline 413-545-0800.

Diversity Statement

The Department of Resource Economics and the larger University are committed to fostering inclusive learning environments. This course is designed to support the needs of all students and honor the diversity of identities, backgrounds, and experiences of all learners via thoughtful dialogue, course materials, and assignments. Students are asked to help foster inclusion through their words and actions, to hold one another accountable to these ideals whenever possible, and to consult the instructor if there are related questions, concerns, or improvements that can be made, including ways in which the instructor’s may fall short of these goals.

Personal Wellness

The faculty and staff of the Department of Resource Economics (and I, Jamie Mullins, in particular) want to emphasize that your physical and mental health are important to us. Family emergencies, physical or

mental illness, personal crises, or childcare issues can significantly affect your academic performance. If you encounter any issues that severely affect your ability to engage in this course, please contact us so that we can work out a fair resolution. You do not need to tell us all the details of your situation, and you may also speak with someone from student services who can help us determine adequate accommodations without revealing sensitive information to us.

Student Learning Objectives

Student Learning Objective	Relevant Course Component
#1. Creatively apply the acquired knowledge from their respective fields to make optimal choices in their professional and personal lives.	Lectures, readings, and writing assignments promote the broad acquisition and synthesis of information.
#2. Understand and master microeconomics as a foundational theory.	Introduction of foundational concepts of economic growth and development. Opportunity to see them in action throughout the course material.
#4. Acquire a broad knowledge in related fields in order to be well-versed in current economic and policy issues.	Lectures, reading and quizzes, in-class small and large group discussions, and especially writing assignments.
#5.a & b. Communicate effectively orally & in writing.	In class discussions and activities. Weekly and term writing assignments.
#7. Synthesize, analyze, evaluate, and generate effective solutions to evolving problems in their respective fields and personal lives.	Weekly and term writing assignments.
#8. Consistently foster safe, fair, open, and diverse professional and social environments.	Classroom environment and communications with students, in-class discussions & activities.
#9. Continually integrate new knowledge gained from a variety of sources, with ability to discern the quality of the source, in order to make well-informed decisions.	Reading and quizzes. Weekly and term writing assignments. Lectures. In-class small and large group, in-class activities and games.

Experiential Goals	Relevant Course Component
#2. Experience active learning strategies: flipped classrooms, debate, field trips, economic experiments and games, presentations, student- response system (e.g., iClicker, Google Forms), etc.	In-class activities and games, in-class small and large group discussions. Final Presentations
#4. Conduct independent and group research.	Weekly and term writing assignments.