International Development

Core modules:

Ideas and Practice in International Development

This module introduces students to key theoretical debates in international development. It explores how thinking about development has changed over time and why it has changed. The module also encourages students to think about the relationship between development theory and development practice. This is achieved by introducing key topics and issues areas in the field and having students think critically about the ways in which practitioners have approached development issues and defined development problems at various points in time, as well as the theoretical viewpoints that have informed their actions.

15 credits

Research Design and Methods for Development

Research methods are a key part of international development research within academic and practitioner institutions. This module takes you through the research process, from designing a viable project, through to development issues in a range of research methods, forms of analysis, and approaches to writing and dissemination. The module covers both quantitative research methods, such as questionnaire surveys, and qualitative research methods, including the use of interviews and focus groups, and the analysis and formulation of research findings for academic and professional purposes.

15 credits

Professional Skills for Development

In this module, students gain a critically engaged understanding of professional practice in international development and develop a range of professional skills for future career paths. Students learn to apply academic training to real-world situations, such as stakeholder engagement and the design and progressing of development projects. Planning an international development project for a tender bid is a core element. The module may also include guest sessions led by professional practitioners. There is a strong emphasis on employability-related skills and approaches and techniques used in the workplace, as well as widely applicable communication skills

15 credits

Optional modules (full list TBC):

Theory and Debates in Food Security and Food Justice

Food Security and Food Justice are areas of increasing importance at local, national, transnational and global scales. Political and non-political agents at multiple scales have recognised that Global Hunger and Food Security (of which Food Justice is a primary component) is a key challenge requiring urgent interdisciplinary investigation and problem solving. There remains limited agreement as to how best to approach these issues. This module provides students with a background to the problems encompassed within the food security/food justice nexus by drawing on academic and policy debates that focus on both the macro as well as the micro impacts. By looking across food systems, the module also critically evaluates different strategies for mitigating the impacts of food insecurity and injustice. In addition to academic, knowledge and critical thinking skills, the module will help students to develop the following attributes: Communication, Networking, Collaboration, Influencing, Inclusivity, Defining Purpose, and Growth Mindset.

15 credits

The Science of Environmental Change

This module gives students a critical understanding of the science behind historical and recent environmental change. The module covers the core debates in environmental change, the science behind these changes, methods for detecting environmental change, and the impacts of these changes.

15 credits

Key Issues in Global Public Health

This module introduces contemporary and historical public health discourses, policies and practices, before critically examining their practical and theoretical underpinnings. The module goes on to explore the role and actions of key global health players (e.g. individual governments, United Nations organisations, bilateral and multilateral partnerships, local and international non-governmental organisations and health care industries), and discusses the social determinants of health, considering how they might be tackled for improved health equity and social justice. The module then provides an introduction to major public health challenges in the contemporary world, illustrated through health issues (e.g. malnutrition, maternal and child health, mental health, sexual and reproductive health), socio-political issues (e.g. gender equity, trade, conflict, famine), and environmental issues (e.g. climate change, urbanisation, food security, waste management). Lastly, the module concludes by looking forward, in light of contemporary trends, whilst reflecting on lessons learnt, in order to sustainably improve global health in the future.

15 credits

Principles of GIS

This module introduces students to the core principles and skills of GIS. It covers the major sources of data used to study the lived environment and the variety of ways it can be displayed to aid both understanding and analysis. The module has a particular focus on techniques used in the analysis of socio-economic and demographic data and its potential applications. It is taught through a combination of lectures and practical workshops using ArcGIS software.

15 credits

Urban Development in the Global South

This module explores the challenges of urban planning and development in the global South: how are conflicting imperatives of ecological sustainability, social inclusion and economic competitiveness being balanced by practitioners, and what implications does this have for those living there? The module will develop understanding of how urban planning systems are constructed and mediated by different actors. The unit will use a series of scenarios; representing some of the diversity of conditions that exist in the global South, to develop understandings of how planning systems shape and are shaped by the contexts in which they operate.

15 credits

Optional modules (full list TBC):

International Development Field class

The field class gives students the opportunity to explore and research development issues at first hand, and to enhance their understanding of grass-roots perspectives in countries of the Global South. The module provides students with hands-on experience of fieldwork, allowing them to practice and build on research skills learnt in Semester 1 through group fieldwork projects. The module contributes to students' transferable skills through teamwork, research design and implementation, and presentation skills.

15 credits

Environment, Society and Development: Key Issues, Debates and Concepts

This module engages critically with the key theoretical debates that shape the relationships between the environment, society and international development. By looking at current questions in development theory and their relationship to development practice in the context of the Anthropocene and environmental change, it encourages students to think critically about the ways in which interdisciplinary approaches define issues and problems, and the theoretical viewpoints that inform their actions. The module is taught primarily through seminars: these structure students’ learning, and provide an environment in which they can develop their skills in researching, presenting and debating arguments drawn from the academic literature on international development.

15 credits

Managing Climate Change

This module aims to provide students with a strong understanding of the social and physical science of climate change with relevance to international development. This understanding is then applied to consider the challenge of living with climate change in the Global South. The module is taught through seminars and lectures. Lectures introduce and impart factual knowledge while seminars allow discussion and an emphasis on applying key concepts to practical situations. Together these structure students' learning, and provide an environment in which they can develop their skills in researching, presenting and debating arguments drawn from the wide ranging literature on climate change.

15 credits

Using Policy to Strengthen Health Systems

The module seeks to build on students' own experiences and knowledge of policy and public health systems. During the module, you will work individually and also in groups to develop a critical understanding of policy within particular public health systems. You will consider how policy to strengthen public health systems is developed and how improvements might be targeted at any combination of the regional, national, district, and community levels.

In the module, policy is interpreted broadly as 'purposeful and deliberate actions' through which efforts can be made to reshape or address issues within public health systems and is about power and politics (cf. Gilson, 2012). Public health systems are understood both as public health systems (covering, for example, health protection, health promotion and health care public health) and, more narrowly, as health care systems. The module is suitable for students with a broad public health and health care knowledge, but also for those with more limited experience.

15 credits

Cities of Diversity

Acknowledging diversity within cities is increasingly regarded as central to successful planning, urban development and city making and is a very hotly debated issue currently, particularly with #MeToo, Brexit and Trump! But what do we mean by diversity and what theories exist to help us understand it? This module will focus on various aspects of diversity in the form of differing social identities (such as age, ethnicity, sexuality, disability and gender – including focusing on masculinity within cities) but also critically explore the ways in which diversity is understood by policy makers and city managers. The module will focus on cities in both the global South and North and consider the significance of migration in relation to diversity in both contexts. The module will rely on a critical engagement with literature from the discipline of geography, planning, urban studies and development studies.

15 credits

Citizen Participation in Planning and Development

Recent decades have seen a proliferation of initiatives to involve citizens in policy-making, planning and urban governance. There is widespread agreement that 'citizen engagement' can play a positive role in democratizing urban development. However, public participation raises a range of significant challenges for urban professional practice. This module will draw on critical debates about the roles citizens and publics can and should play in shaping the city to reflect on the theory and practice of participation. The module is taught through seminars which structure learning, and help students to research case studies of participatory initiatives.

15 credits

Urban Informality

The overall aim of this module is to critically examine informality, with a particular but not exclusive focus on cities of the Global South. The module relies on a mixture of lectures, seminars and student-led group work, with the latter focusing on an in-depth case study of a selected city. It explores patterns and causes of informality and discusses the strengths and limitations of a range of theoretical approaches. It also analyses the success of different real-world urban planning responses (understood in broad terms), including government-led, donor-led and community-focused ones, in addressing key urban issues in the context of informality.

15 credits

Core modules:

Dissertation with Placement

The dissertation-with-placement module combines an independent research project with experience of working (in-person or virtually) with a development related organisation. 
Students are required to make a detailed analysis of an issue, topic or problem agreed with their host organisation, develop a research proposal, carry out research while on placement, and produce both a Masters dissertation and a shorter consultancy-style report based on their dissertation findings. The dissertation is supported by lectures and one-to-one supervision. The module provides valuable experience of real-world development policy and practice, as well as fostering independent research skills.

60 credits