Geographies of Development

Module Provider: Geography and Environmental Science
Number of credits: 10 [5 ECTS credits]
Level:5
Terms in which taught: Spring term module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:

Summary module description:
This module aims to increase the student's knowledge and understanding of the main theoretical perspectives on development, and the key institutions, actors and discourses. It will equip students with the skills to identify, analyse and evaluate ways in which development problems have been identified and addressed in the past and present. It is taught through a series of lectures and seminars with assessment based on a 2-hr written examination.

Aims:
This module aims to increase the student's knowledge and understanding of the main theoretical perspectives on development, and the key institutions, actors and discourses. It will equip students with the skills to identify, analyse and evaluate ways in which development problems have been identified and addressed in the past and present. It will also enable them to assess and reflect upon the politics of developmental discourse and practice.

Assessable learning outcomes:
On completion of this module it is expected that a student will be able to:
? Assess the competing theories of development, as these have been elaborated over the last fifty years and more
? Examine the historical emergence of the global developmental agenda and related institutions
? Identify and critically appraise the discourses and practices of a range of development institutions and the politics in which they are embedded at local, national and global scales
? Evaluate critical perspectives on the dominant technical discourse of development
? Assemble appropriate information and develop written arguments effectively and independently.

Additional outcomes:
Students will develop their IT skills by use of relevant web sources and databases. They will develop numeracy skills by interpretation of various quantitative development indicators, but simultaneously become conversant with more qualitative assessments of unevenness and inequalities.

Outline content:
The topics covered by this module are: theories of development, including modernisation, dependency; postcolonialism and race; gender relations and social inequalities; disability and care in the global South; processes of globalisation and their impact on people and places; ICT and digital development; rural spaces and transformations; cities and urbanisation; poverty, risk and the informal economy; and the development practices of states, international organisations and non-governmental organisations.

Global context:
The module focuses on international development and it draws upon example studies from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:
This is a 10 credit module, which means that it is intended to occupy you for 100 hours of work: seminar preparation, background reading, essay reading, revision and sitting the examination. With that in mind the kind of workload you should expect might be as follows:

- 20 contact hours in formal teaching sessions that normally include a 1-2 hour lecture each week, seminars, discussions, videos and a guest lecture.
- 20 hours engaged in reading and note taking from ?essential reading lists? for each week
- 30 hours background reading for lectures/seminars
- 26 hours exam revision
- 2 hour revision workshop
- 2 hour examination (Summer Term)

Contact hours:
Lectures 18
Seminars 2
Practicals classes and workshops 2
Guided independent study 78
Total hours by term 100

Summative Assessment Methods:
Written exam 100

Other information on summative assessment:
The assessment for this module will take the form of a two-hour written exam during which candidates will be required to answer two of five questions.

Formative assessment methods:
Students will have the opportunity to send practice examination answer plans to the module convenor for informal feedback.

Length of examination:
Two hours

Requirements for a pass:
A mark of 40% overall

Reassessment arrangements:
Re-examination in August/September