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The Challenges of Global Poverty
MITx
Enrollment is Closed
About This Course
- Do you want to be better prepared to tackle global poverty?
- Do you want a hands-on class with real-world case studies every week?
- Do you want to get to know J-PAL, one of MIT's leading research labs?
- Do you want to satisfy a CI-H requirement?
- Do you want to master the art of effective oral and written presentations?
If so, 14.73 Challenges of World Poverty is exactly the right class for you. This course is designed for those who are interested in the challenges posed by massive and persistent world poverty and are hopeful that economists might have something useful to say about these challenges.
The class has an innovative structure: it features a mix of online lectures, case studies, and in-class writing assignments. In the online lectures, you will get an introduction to development economics based on Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee's award-winning book Poor Economics.
In the case studies, you will apply this knowledge in small teams to solve real-world cases, present them to your peers, and discuss their solutions. Even better, you will write and revise several essays and satisfy your CI-H requirement!
Requirements
There are no prerequisites!
The class is designed for first-year students and should be an excellent introduction to economics: you will see immediately how it can help us solve some of the world's most important problems.
However, there is one requisite: regularly attending class (including recitations). If you cannot attend class regularly, you cannot take this class.
Course Staff
Instructors- Esther Duflo (eduflo@mit.edu, E52-544)
Office hours by appointment. Please email hmccurdy@mit.edu for appointment.
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Erin Grela (grela@mit.edu) [Head TA]
Office hours: Friday 2:00-3:00 pm, E51-057 -
Eugenia Feng (eyf@mit.edu)
Office hours: Monday 2:30-3:30 pm, E51-385 -
James Simon (jbsimon@mit.edu)
Office hours: Thursday 5:00-6:00 pm, E52-432 (will be held in E51-085 on Sep 26)
- JoAnn Graziano (graziano@mit.edu) [Head WA]
Office hours by appointment - Irene Maksymjuk (imaksym@mit.edu)
Office hours by appointment - Emily Robinson (erobin73@mit.edu)
Office hours by appointment