UCU eLearning Platform

The course is compulsory to all postgraduate students of the Department. It is designed to provide students with an understanding of the theoretical and practical principles of digital information systems and services. The course will focus on critical issues surrounding the development of digital information systems and services, and their contents in digital environments. Topics that will be covered in the course include digital information resources and services, digitization of non-digital materials, library automation, open source software, electronic resource management, management of information overload, search strategies, digital preservation, technological skills and training requirement for the digital work environment among others

Disaster management as a course of study introduces participants to the complex interaction between disaster and development, and relief development assistance programs of humanitarian organizations. It intends to lead students from disaster response strategies and programs to alternative strategies and directions in disaster mitigation and preparedness. It is thus expected to provide participants with relevant knowledge on disaster management to enable and facilitate communities appreciate sustainable management practices which enable them to contribute to sustainable development. The content of the course includes: definition, types and disaster management cycle, (mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery), education and public awareness. This course will enable students to develop an awareness of the chronological phases of natural disaster response and refugee relief operations; and understand how the phases of each are parallel and how they differ.

Angukoru Christine

Knowledge and understanding

The course provides a unified treatment of economic policy, introducing the students to a rigorous analysis of its

main topics in order to help the students to build a solid background in economic policy and to become familiar

with new methodologies.

Knowledge and applied understanding

The course provides students with the economic knowledge to enable them to understand major policy issues

in the twenty-first century. By the end of course the student should have an understanding of theoretical

economic models and their implications for economic policy and planning, mainly macroeconomic and labour market policies;

to be able to apply an analytical framework to explain the effects of monetary and fiscal policy on

macroeconomic performance, economic crises, financial and fiscal stability, and income and wage distribution.

CONTENTS

Modern Macroeconomics: A review of methods and tools: IS-LM-MP framework, time series econometrics, and Dynamic General

Equilibrium models. Great Moderation and macro policy. The Great Recession. Budget Deficits and Fiscal Consolidations. Labor

Market Policy: Wage distribution, minimum wage; Unemployment Insurance in OECD countries and the impact on wages,

unemployment, and productivity. International Macroeconomic Policy.

Lecture notes, as the main reference for this course, will be provided prior to the lecture. There are other supplementary readings

from academic journal articles, books, and policy analysis and reports which will be accessible in the course website.

TEXTBOOKS

• David Romer. 2000. "Keynesian Macroeconomics without the LM Curve". Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14(2): 149-169.

• Ben Bernanke. 2004. "The Great Moderation". Remarks at the meetings of Eastern Economic Association, Washington DC.

• Reinhart, Carmen, and Kenneth Rogoff. 2009. "The Aftermath of Financial Crises" in "This Time is Different: Eight Centuries

of Financial Folly"

• Diamond, D. and Philip Dybvig. 1983. "Bank Runs, Deposit Insurance, and Liquidity" Journal of Political Economy. 91(3): 401-

419.

• Tressel, Hierry; Wang, Shengzu; Kang, Joong Shik, and Jay Shambaugh. 2014. “Adjustment in Euro Area Deficit Countries:

Progress, Challenges, and Policies". IMF working paper.

• Jay C. Shambaugh. 2012."The Euro's Three Crises". Brokkings papers on economic activity. 157-187.

• Gauti B. Eggertsson. 2010. "What Fiscal Policy is Effective at Zero Interest Rates?" NBER Macroeconomics Annual.

Course introduction. 

course outline and objectives