Coursework for International Development and Humanitarian Aid, as well as for the International Scholars Program​

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AEB 4282 International Humanitarian Assistance (final grade: A)

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   Course description: 

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   This course is an examination of humanitarian aid, or actions and funding decisions intended to “save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity during and in the aftermath of emergencies”. These emergencies may be the result of natural disasters, such as an earthquake, a drought, or a cyclone, or man-made, as in the case of armed conflict, terrorist attacks, or political decisions. They may be contained within a country or spill across borders. This class covered the origins and principles of humanitarian assistance as well as related legal, political, and economic considerations. The practice of humanitarian work, along with real challenges and complexities faced, was explored through case studies.

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   Some work I completed through the class:

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What I learned:

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   This course introduced me to the history and complexities of humanitarian aid, giving me an understanding of where organized humanitarian aid originated from, the challenges it faced in the past and faces now, the differences between humanitarian aid and other forms of aid, the importance and value of those distinctions. We spent ample time learning about and discussing specific cases where humanitarian aid has failed in the past, why it failed, the ramifications of that failure, and what, if anything, has been done to avoid those failures in the future. The most valuable thing I've taken from this class is a deeper understanding of just how complex the issue of humanitarian aid is and because of this I've learned new ways to think about issues involving it, like what things to consider, what questions to ask, and how to begin to approach crises. An example of an issue that I would not have considered before this class is how humanitarian aid ties into development, and how aid can sometimes do more harm than good if development doesn't follow it: one case of this is if an area is experiencing food shortage (either lack of food or food is too high priced for many people to afford) and humanitarian organizations come in to supply the people with free food. At first glance, this seems like a great thing, and it may still be, but now I've learned that it isn't that simple- a supply of free food from an international source could drive out local suppliers who can't afford to sell their food for free and thus lose any income, and once the humanitarian organizations leave, some people may be worse off because, without any investment in development, locals in the agriculture industry may have stopped working in the field. Another example that changed my thinking was our case study on Ebola. We learned how many people became infected because they were coming into contact with the dead, who were still contagious, in order to follow their religious beliefs and customs. When international aid workers tried to teach them that this was harming them the local people didn't listen because they didn't trust the workers and valued their own customs more. They were able to mediate this issue by working with local religious leaders who told them it was okay to not do some customs that put the living in harm's way, by allowing a designated group of people wearing protective gear to wash the deceased rather than unprotected family members, and other changes like using white body bags to resemble shrouds. 

 

 

 AEB4283 International Development Policy (final grade: A)

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   Course Description:

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   In the course, concepts that are applicable to life in both developed and developing countries will be embedded within discussions of context-specific subject areas. Among other topics, we will see how abstract imperfect information problems like adverse selection and moral hazard block the poor from obtaining potentially life-changing credit and insurance services. We will analyze collective action problems like free riding, which are common culprits preventing the preservation of the environment and natural resources. We will examine whether people engage in the sunk cost fallacy when choosing healthcare products and services. Throughout the semester, the course will require drawing on strong critical thinking skills while keeping in mind the difference between normative and positive modes of policy analysis.

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   Some work I completed through the class:

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   What I learned: 

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   In this course I learned a number of practical skills related to large-scale economics and international policy and how to apply those skills. Among these topics were: the merits of the different ways to measure inequality, especially Gini coefficients, poverty indicators, estimation of the causal effect of a development policy through the use of differences-in-differences, examination of household behavior, use of economic theory to make predictions about development programs, the effect of bargaining threat points, risk-reward trade offs, expected utility for risk-adverse entities, barriers to technology adoption for developing countries, and risk diversification. Skills required to learn about and apply these topics into practical scenarios as required by the above projects include proficiency in excel, conditional formulas, computing conditional means by conditioning on discrete variables, translating complex mathematical equations into excel formulas, computing the expected value of nonlinear transformation of a random variable, and the use of multiple types of graphs. 

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AEB 3671 Comparative World Agriculture (final grade: A)

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   Course Description:

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   This course teaches the study of the business and economic situations of the food and agriculture sector around the world and will focus on the historical development, the current situation and the future outlook of the food and agriculture sector. The course will cover the European Union, Russia and the Former Soviet Union, MERCOSUR (trading region in South America), East Asia, Oceania, Sub-Saharan Africa, and India regions. The course will focus briefly on the historical development, the current situation, and the future outlook of the food and agriculture sector before delving more deeply into the economic and trade environment surrounding agricultural policy. As economies become more integrated globally, the success of the food and agriculture sector will rest upon comparative advantage. To accurately assess comparative advantage, it is necessary to have a broad understanding of the global food and agriculture sector.

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​​​​​​​​​URP3001 - Cities of the World (final grade: A)

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   Course Description:

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   This course teaches the study of the business and economic situations of the food and agriculture sector around the world and will focus on the historical development, the current situation and the future outlook of the food and agriculture sector. The course will cover the European Union, Russia and the Former Soviet Union, MERCOSUR (trading region in South America), East Asia, Oceania, Sub-Saharan Africa, and India regions. The course will focus briefly on the historical development, the current situation, and the future outlook of the food and agriculture sector before delving more deeply into the economic and trade environment surrounding agricultural policy. As economies become more integrated globally, the success of the food and agriculture sector will rest upon comparative advantage. To accurately assess comparative advantage, it is necessary to have a broad understanding of the global food and agriculture sector.

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FYC4409- Working with Nonprofit Organizations in a Community Setting (final grade: A)

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   Course Description:

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This course offers an overview of nonprofit organizations, their functions and purpose, how they are organized and operate, and the basic structure of an incorporated nonprofit. The course relies heavily on lectures, reading assignments, and a group project. The project is designed to provide students with an opportunity to understand, analyze, and make recommendations regarding an aspect of the nonprofit sector that is of particular interest to them. Students will gain knowledge on the various organizational structures and management functions of nonprofit organizations. Students will also develop a working knowledge of the nonprofit sector and best practices in management and leadership

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