On this MA, you’ll benefit from a multidisciplinary approach to international development, drawing from areas such as politics, economics, anthropology, philosophy, sociology, geography, and environmental science.

You’ll discover the importance of historical context when trying to make sense of current development challenges. You’ll also discover how to fully get to grips with international development issues by viewing them as a complex interrelation between society, economics, politics and the environment.

You’ll be able to tailor your studies to your interests and ambitions, choosing from a large range of modules within and beyond the School of International Development. You’ll also choose whether to write a dissertation or do a summer placement – so there are plenty of opportunities to shine.

Not only will you gain comprehensive knowledge of your subject, you’ll also build the necessary skills for a successful and effective, career in the field, and/or PhD study.

Please note we are changing our name to the School of Global Development from 1 August 2023, as we mark our 50th Anniversary.

ABOUT

On this course, you'll cover the key issues in international development within the context of contemporary global change.

You’ll address your subject from social, economic, historical, political and environmental standpoints. You’ll learn to ask, and propose answers to, questions about the origins and persistence of poverty, inequality, illiteracy, gender discrimination, oppression, environmental change, and much more.

You’ll address how international development has been shaped by discussions such as the state vs. market debate, by processes such as neoliberalism, globalisation and urbanisation, by intellectual frameworks such as the basic needs, human development and the capability approach, and by moral dilemmas such as cosmopolitan justice and the existence of obligations towards poor citizens in poor countries.

You’ll consider the long-term processes which have shaped and hindered progress in many regions of the world. You’ll also discover the main theoretical and pragmatic approaches to international development that have been proposed and adopted since the post-World War II period.

You’ll learn to critically analyse different development patterns and pathways, as well as exploring the causes and effects of recent trends in major development areas.

In addition, you’ll become familiar with concrete case studies of problems affecting developing areas and evaluate possible policies and strategies at both national and international levels to overcome these problems.

Most importantly, you’ll develop the ability to think critically about development issues. This will be enhanced by insider perspectives on our lecturers’ own research findings within a wide range of areas.

You will have the option of doing a work placement instead of writing a standard MA dissertation during the summer, of the duration of around 8 weeks (exact duration may vary). In this case you'll carry out a more practical activity and write a reflective report on this experience (considerably shorter than the average dissertation). You'll be supported by us in finding a placement, which can take place in a range of organisations (from large international organisations to research centres, government agencies or NGOs, to name a few).