Global Development: Intermediate Topics in Politics, Policy, and Data

Catalog description

New sources of data (big data, small data and everything in between) raise the exciting possibility that such data could benefit the world’s poor. This course provides students with an intermediate-level review of recent research that deploys new data for insights on development and hands-on analysis of different kinds of datasets. Students will investigate key themes in development –citizen tech for accountability, corruption, household economics, climate change resilience and press freedom. As we explore these topics, students will develop data analytical skills that are useful across a wide range of research and real-world applications. As such, students will come face-to-face with the opportunities and challenges for data-intensive approaches to international development. Students should have taken PSCI 1800 or an equivalent course and be ready to both discuss course readings and engage with data assignments in the programming language R (students more comfortable in Python are welcome). This class is also designed as a follow-up to PSCI 1102 , and students are encouraged (but not required) to take that course before this one.