121-545 Understanding Development

Formerly available as 121-105. Students who have completed 121-105 are not eligible to enrol in this subject.

Admission to postgraduate studies or fourth year honours in development.

This subject forms an introduction to the main past and current theories of development, involving the approaches of several social science disciplines. Students should become familiar with the relationship between global trends in development, on-the-ground changes to people's lives, and the activities of government and non-government organisations. Some seminars will consist of participants' and other professionals' reflections about the relations between their activities and larger scale development problems.

• Thinking critically (for example, about development and its measures);

• Obtaining information to evaluate propositions (about development);

• Writing coherent and researched essays;

• Working in teams (to identify answers to practical problems).

A 15-minute briefing presentation working in a group on an allocated topic 10% (begun in week 4), an associated group-prepared 3000 word briefing paper 30% (due one week after the presentation) and a 3000 word individual essay 60% (due at the end of semester).