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Faculty Profile

Shamma Alam

Associate Professor of International Studies (2014)

Contact Information

alams@dickinson.edu

Althouse Hall Room 115
717.254.8167
https://sites.google.com/view/shamma-alam

Bio

Shamma Alam’s research focuses on different aspects of international development, such as health economics and health measurements, fertility issues, agricultural economics, public finance, and microcredit. He has worked as a Consultant with different development organizations. He served as a Consultant at the World Bank several times, including in their Economic Policy, Poverty and Gender Group, Development Data Group, and East Asia and Pacific Region group. He also previously served as a consultant in the Agriculture Policy Team at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In addition to teaching at Dickinson, Shamma Alam serves as a Research Associate at the CEQ Institute at Tulane University and contributes courses at the U.S. Army War College. Shamma Alam received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Washington, Seattle, and B.A. in Economics from Franklin & Marshall College.

Education

  • B.A., Franklin & Marshall College, 2009
  • M.A., University of Washington-Seattle, 2011
  • Ph.D., 2014

2022-2023 Academic Year

Fall 2022

INST 200 Global Economy
Cross-listed with ECON 226-01. The course introduces economic theory that builds on ideas from introductory microeconomics and macroeconomics. It uses that theory as a framework for examining developments in the changing global system. Developments include the revolution in information technology; the dynamics of human population growth; the implications of climate change; challenges to human security; and emerging patterns of organizational interdependence and collaboration. Those developments provide the context for business managers and for government officials responsible for shaping strategies and implementing policies. Prerequisite: ECON 111 and 112; concurrent enrollment in ECON 112 by permission of the instructor. This course is cross-listed as ECON 226.

ECON 226 Global Economy
Cross-listed with INST 200-01. The course introduces economic theory that builds on ideas from introductory microeconomics and macroeconomics. It uses that theory as a framework for examining developments in the changing global system. Developments include the revolution in information technology; the dynamics of human population growth; the implications of climate change; challenges to human security; and emerging patterns of organizational interdependence and collaboration. Those developments provide the context for business managers and for government officials responsible for shaping strategies and implementing policies. Prerequisite: ECON 111 and 112; concurrent enrollment in ECON 112 by permission of the instructor. This course is cross-listed as INST 200.

ECON 240 International Development
Cross-listed with INST 240-01 and INBM 300-09.

INST 240 International Development
Cross-listed with ECON 240-01 and INBM 300-09.

INST 290 Global, Inequal & Pers Finance
Note: Students who took INSTS 290-01 "Globalization, Inequality, and Personal Finance in an Independent World" with Prof. Alam in Spring 2021 may NOT take this course due to overlap of content. This course will examine how different factors such as globalization, government policies, social changes and cultures affect our personal fortunes and wealth. Our personal fortunes and wealth creation are no longer only dependent on our local or state’s economic conditions, but increasingly dependent on the global financial market and the health of the world economy. To understand this, we will examine some events in economic history, such as the Great Recession from 2007 to 2009, impact of globalization and technological progress over the last 50 years, and impacts of business cycles, government fiscal and monetary policies, and immigration on our lives. We will also cover social challenges related to wealth such as how we have increasing economic inequality even though we are observing increased GDP growth across the world, effects of Western consumerism culture on happiness, and why many millionaires from other countries decide on moving to the U.S. despite succeeding in their own countries. Examining these challenges can help us derive lessons that we may be able to apply to our own lives. To better understand the challenges and lessons, the course will delve into basic topics in personal finance, such as what are the different kinds of investments (stocks, bonds, real estate, commodities, etc.) available to people in different countries, understanding their historical returns, understanding the importance of savings for the future, understanding different kinds of savings/investment tool and retirement funds available to people, understanding how compound interest works, importance of having a budget, managing/avoiding debt, and so on. The course will cover several case studies of successful investors, understand how they were able to create and preserve wealth by taking advantage of the globalized market despite facing different crises, and their advice on how to succeed in this constantly changing world.

INBM 300 International Development
Cross-listed with INST 240-01 and ECON 240-01.

ECON 500 International Development

ECON 560 Stu/Faculty Collaborative Rsch

ECON 560 The Impact of Covid-induced In

INST 560 Stu/Faculty Collaborative Rsch

Spring 2023

INST 200 Global Economy
Cross-listed with ECON 226-01.Permission of Instructor Required.

ECON 226 Global Economy
Cross-listed with INST 200-01.Permission of Instructor Required.

ECON 240 International Development
Cross-listed with INST 240-01 and INBM 300-07.Permission of Instructor Required.

INST 240 International Development
Cross-listed with ECON 240-01 and INBM 300-07.Permission of Instructor Required.

INBM 300 International Development
Cross-listed with ECON 240-01 and INST 240-01.Permission of Instructor Required.

MGCD 854 Food Security in Rap Chng Wrld
World hunger and a lack of food security continue to be among the biggest challenges facing humanity in the 21st century. This course will focus on the causes of food insecurity and the implications for worldwide hunger in the coming years. For most people, food security is often confused simply with lack of income. However, lack of food security is a very complicated issue in both the developing and the developed world. As pointed out by the famed economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, the reason for world hunger is not that developing countries do not produce enough food. Rather, world hunger is because of poor government policies. This issue is now becoming even more complicated due to climate change. Rising global temperatures are affecting agricultural yields, food production, and fresh water supply. The goal of this course is to shed light on the complicated issue of food insecurity and on how policymakers are trying to deal with the challenges. The class will start by considering how achieving food security was the key to helping European nations become colonial powers. Next, the class will focus on modern challenges: the water-food-energy nexus; the looming water crisis for a quarter of the world’s population; climate change; why many countries seem to be in a poverty trap and find it difficult to get out of poverty; how foreign aid may or may not help those countries; the role of agriculture and farming practices; the importance of access to credits for food security; effects on child labor and education; rising income and changing food diet; how migration and refugee crises may be affected by food insecurity; how malnourishment can be tied to lack of proper sanitation rather than lack of food; and how future demographic shifts may affect food security. Overall, these water security and food security issues will help us understand how international security, terrorism, social unrest, rise of dictatorships, and migration may affect the world, including in developed countries, in coming years.