I just wrapped up my second week of classes at LSE. Much like Kalamazoo College, LSE operates on a quarter system of three ten week terms and then summer making the fourth quarter. Unlike K, you primarily take a single set of four classes that last you through all three of your quarters. The result is that each class ends up going into more depth than your typical semester or quarter long course. For example, LSE's year long introductory math course rolls together calc II, calc III, and linear algebra. Because signing up for a course is a year long commitment, students are encouraged to shop around a bit for the first two or even three weeks to make sure their courses are a good fit. Each course has two different kinds of meetings: classes and lectures. At lectures, the professor speaks to everyone signed up for the course. During class, the students meet with a class teacher (often different than the professor) and have discussions or turn/receive feedback on homework. Classes are capped at fifteen students, so there are often many different classes for a single course. Another difference between LSE and most US universities is that the third quarter is entirely about preparing for a big exam or final paper. Each course only meets a handful of times, and students spend the majority of the time studying independently while meeting with course teachers and lecturers to revise essays and ask questions. This final paper/exam makes up the entire grade for each course, so this time is generally a big deal.
Anyways, the courses I've settled on are: History of Russia, Economic History of Africa, Game Theory, and Econometrics. A little about each:
History of Russia:
I signed up for this course because it seemed unique from what's typically offered in the history department at K. We're covering the tsarist period from 1645-1825, not that I have a solid idea of what the different periods are in Russian history. It's a small course, so there's only one lecture and one class, both of which are taught by the same professor. There's a lot of reading for it, but I really enjoyed our first class discussion.
Economic History of Africa:
LSE has an entire department for economic history, something that's pretty unique. I kind of picked Economic History of Africa at random from among the different economic history offerings, but it's turned out to be a very interesting choice. The field is relatively new and the data before 1960 (or even now, for that matter) is highly unreliable. Of course, the economic history of Africa raises many interesting questions ranging from the impact of the slave trade to why the continent's growth has generally lagged behind. The discipline itself is also interesting because you combine a historian's study of primary sources and broad historical trends with an economist's analysis of statistics and basic principles.
Game Theory:
This is a math course all about mathematizing scenarios where players are competing against each other. The most famous example of game theory is probably the Prisoner's Dilemma. While economists sometimes use game theory to model competing firms and political scientists use it to model competing countries, we're starting off with a more abstract game: Nim. Here's a video the professor showed us where some of the characters play Nim. I played it a bit with my friends and we got really into it, to the point where they could beat me pretty consistently (except now we've learned the formula for how to make the winning move, so it's not much competition anymore). The professor for the course is also my academic advisor and he seems really cool. When we first met, we ended up talking about our favorite board games, with him mentioning one I'd never heard of before, Wealth of Nations. I'm hoping I can get him to come to board game club sometime.
More updates to come soon, hopefully! Check my facebook for pictures.
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