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An introduction to
MSc Development Studies

This innovative and interdisciplinary course is designed primarily for those who wish to pursue a career in the development field or enhance their career possibilities in governments, NGOs, international agencies, public and private organisations and enterprises. It can be used for professional upgrading or as a thorough grounding in Development. The course units include:

Images of Development: The analysis of contemporary development issues from Africa, Asia and Latin America.

International Trade and Developing Countries: Focuses on the roles and interrelations between corporations, governments, international agencies and non-governmental organisations in the globalised economy.

Gender and Development: Introduces the concept of gender and its importance for understanding issues of development and change, as well as the social processes that give rise to the disadvantaged position of women.

Research Methods: Enables students to acquire knowledge and skills on statistical tools of analysis such as excel and SPSS, qualitative, quantitative and participatory research methods used in development studies research and fieldwork.

Strategies for Industrialisation: Analyses and assesses the main strategies implemented by developing countries, focusing on case studies from Africa and Asia, with recommendations for developing different types of industrialisation.

Forced Migration and Resettlement: Examines the varied and the complex forms of conflicts that cause internal and external population displacements, protection of refugees in first countries of asylum, urban refugees, assistance complex humanitarian emergencies, emergency relief, self-sufficiency projects, refugee aid and development, refugee rights, the role of inter-governmental and nongovernmental organisations, the relationship between refugees and their hosts, repatriation and (re-)construction of post-conflict societies.

Human Rights: Examines human rights issues in the context of development, with reference particularly to the international legal framework, and to cases from a range of developing countries.

Agrarian Policies: Examines strategies for the development of the rural sector, both historically and in the contemporary development context.

Dissertation: Comprises one third of the marks on the MSc. Students select a topic, design a research framework, and work with their tutor on this project. Overseas students often choose to work on a topic related to the development needs of their particular country.