Undergraduate Programme and Module Handbook 2024-2025

Module ECON1081: INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT

Department: Economics

ECON1081: INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT

Type	Tied	Level	1	Credits	20	Availability	Available in 2024/2025	Module Cap		Location	Durham

Tied to	L100
Tied to	L106
Tied to	L109
Tied to	L103
Tied to	L104
Tied to	L105
Tied to	LL12
Tied to	LL02
Tied to	LL01
Tied to	CFG0
Tied to	CFC0
Tied to	FGC0
Tied to	LA01
Tied to	LA02
Tied to	LMV0

Prerequisites

None.

Corequisites

Principles of Economics (ECON1011).

Excluded Combination of Modules

None

Aims

Provide students with knowledge and understanding of the development of economic ideas.
Provide students with an understanding of how ideas influence events and how events influence ideas.
Inform students of the historical evolution of key concepts relevant to understanding modern economics.
Offer the opportunity to develop key skills.

Content

Topics are likely to include:
Early economic thought.
Adam Smith
The Demographic Pessimism of Robert T. Malthus
Ricardo
The Marxian Critique of Capitalism
John Stuart Mill: Equity and Efficiency
The 1870s Marginalist Revolution
Alfred Marshall and the Birth of Neoclassical Economics
The Great Socialist Debate: Mises and Hayek v Lange
Schumpeter and Entrepreneurship
The Keynesian Revolution
Neoclassical synthesis
Monetarism

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:

Understanding of the key contributors and contributions to the development of economic thought.
Knowledge and understanding of key economic ideas.

Subject-specific Skills:

Ability to understand changes in the basis of economic thought.
Ability to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the major influential contributions to the development of economic analysis.
Ability to identify, interpret how ideas and events interact.

Key Skills:

Examples are provided to demonstrate how students will have the opportunity to develop the following key skills:
Written Communication by completing the summative assessment.
Planning and Organising by preparing for the examination.
Problem Solving by applying the necessary analytical techniques in preparing assessments.
Initiative by searching relevant literature and other information in preparation for the examination.
Computer Literacy accessing and downloading teaching material from Learn Ultra.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

Teaching is by lecture and workshops.
Learning takes place through attendance at lectures, preparation for and participation in workshops, and private study.
Formative assessment is by means of an assignment to help prepare for the examination. Summative assessment is by means of in-person examination to test students' knowledge and understanding of the subject-matter worth 100% of the module mark.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Activity	Number	Frequency	Duration	Total/Hours
Lectures	20	1 per week	1 hour	20
Workshops	8	4 in term 1, 4 in term 2	1 hour	8	■
Revision Lectures	2	2 in Term 3	1 hour	2
Preparation and reading				170
Total				200

Summative Assessment

Component: Examination		Component Weighting: 100%
Element	Length / duration	Element Weighting	Resit Opportunity
One in-person written examination	2 hours	100%	Same

Formative Assessment:

One written piece of work to prepare students for the summative exam.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University