Elizabeth Toder

Despite some mixed reviews, I actually really enjoyed this course. If you’re someone who doesn’t love heavy math and equations, this is a great option because it’s much more practical and discussion based. The workload is reasonable. The readings are usually just a few articles rather than hundreds of pages, so it never feels overwhelming. A big part of the class centers around discussion, group work, and presentations. The professor is also a major highlight. She is very knowledgeable and brings real-world experience into the classroom. For several readings, she was actually able to speak from personal experience working with microfinance organizations. There are a few written exams, but they are very fair and relaxed. As long as you keep up with the readings and can thoughtfully incorporate your own perspective, you should do well.

Despite some mixed reviews, I actually really enjoyed this course. If you’re someone who doesn’t love heavy math and equations, this is a great option because it’s much more practical and discussion based. The workload is reasonable. The readings are usually just a few articles rather than hundreds of pages, so it never feels overwhe …Read more

This course was less interesting than I had anticipated. Overall, however, the workload was very light. We learned about how the poor in developing countries save money and get loans, about microfinance and microinsurance, and about digital financial services. In class, we had many guest lecturers from different fields such as microfinance and microinsurance. The lectures were often long and boring, though I may just not have been interested in the topics. Even though I didn’t find the class super interesting, I think it helped me gain a better understanding of financial services like insurance and loans. For work, we had two in-class essays, one in-class debate, and two group presentations. For homework we just had to prepare for those things and had readings. Unfortunately, the assigned readings were often outdated, most of them being written before 2015. It often felt like the information we were learning was outdated, especially since the microfinance industry is so new and developing. We also learned about the financial experiences of migrant workers in Addison County, which was the highlight of this course for me! Professor Toder was very nice but sometimes seemed to be changing the class plan on the spot. She kept updating the syllabus, which was usually not accurate, and would constantly email us with new information, making the expectations for assignments very confusing. Luckily, she was a very easy grader, so as long as you showed that you understood the material in some way, you could get a good grade. In class, she wasn’t super engaging, often asking questions that were confusing and difficult to answer. Nonetheless, it was interesting to hear her perspective as an alumnus that is working in the field. She was also always willing to get feedback on the course, so hopefully it will be improved in the future!

This course was less interesting than I had anticipated. Overall, however, the workload was very light. We learned about how the poor in developing countries save money and get loans, about microfinance and microinsurance, and about digital financial services. In class, we had many guest lecturers from different fields such as microf …Read more

The course was fascinating because I had never learned about development finance before and the case studies combined with the in class discussions were quite constructive. The class had very little work outside of class so it was a great chill j-term course. Our main projects were done in groups and spread out. There were no final exams nor tough problem sets.