Minor Development Studies

ECTS: 30

Code: MILET41 

Contents:

This interfaculty Minor is taught in English. Coordinator: Dr. P. Boele van Hensbroek; Globalisation Studies Groningen, 050 363 3666, p.boele@rug.nl

You participate in an integrated programme, including seminar sessions, guest speakers, paper writing and Development Game. The programme consists of six core courses with one elective option. All core courses are offered in the Minor semester (September to February). Most of the courses can also be followed separately as an elective, if the complete Minor does not fit your schedule.

This minor provides you with a profound introduction into development problems in the age of globalisation. It offers elementary as well as more advanced discussions of a range of development related problems, including discussions on contrasting approaches in the analyses of development and topical themes. Last year some students commented: “this was the best semester in my studies to date”. For a global-minded student, this will be a study semester to enjoy and remember! The courses cover a broad range of different development issues, including theories of development, Development Economics, Social Change, Environment, Culture and Politics. They are also offered by different faculties, so you will follow course from: Economics & Business, Humanities, Natural Sciences, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Humanities, and Spatial Sciences. In the second half of the semester the course Topical Themes involves an individual paper, presentations and group discussions, this course can be exchanged for Population & Development. The Reading Seminar consists of discussions on key texts in the development literature in seminar group setting.

Whether your future career is in government, banking, NGOs, health, or a water- or energy company, global operations may be part of your work and you will require insight into development problems as well as organisational and public relations skills and change management skills. For those who want to continue in a master programme in Development Studies and proceed into a career directly in development the minor is a must.  

 

Global Development Studies

ECTS: 5
Why are some countries rich and others poor? And what policies can lead to successful socio-economic development? This course gives a broad overview of development issues. The core of the course is to explain the dynamics in the world economy and to analyse why some countries seem stuck in poverty, while others are forging ahead. Explanations involve economic factors such as trade, accumulation and productivity, as well as demographic, social, historical, political and institutional ones. Coordinator: Dr. D.J. Bezemer (Faculty of Economics and Business).

 

Ethnicity, Culture and Politics

ECTS: 5
The course discusses cultural, political, and social aspects of globalisation and of development problems, focusing especially on societies outside the North-Atlantic world. It discusses questions such as: Which processes have led to the development of the modern state, democracy and civil society? What is the historical and cultural basis of nationalism and ethnicity? How can personal and collective identity be understood? What is identity politics and how does it operate in contemporary conflicts in developing countries as well as in our own? What approaches are available in the analysis of contemporary globalisation? The course applies innovative anthopological, political and philosophical theories of culture, identity, nationalism and globalisation from the last few decades and discusses several case studies from Africa. The course provides students with a good background to further specialise in development related aspects of their own main field of study. Coordinator: Dr. P. Boele van Hensbroek (Faculty of Arts & Globalisation Studies Groningen).

 

Environment and Development

ECTS: 5
This course studies the relation between environment and development in developing countries with an eye to societal problems, such as poverty, population, natural hazards, migration, and a weak institutional and political structure. Possible policies and strategies for environmental improvement are reviewed using case-studies from different countries and sectors. The causes of environmental problems are analyzed on the local, national and international level, whereby the following issues will be touched upon: the depletion of natural resources; democracy and good environmental governance; globalization and the international dimension of environmental problems; and the “greening” of developmental debates. Each class is organized around one particular theoretical or thematic topic of environment and development in developing countries. The course consists of lectures and plenary discussions. During class key concepts and theories related to the topic will be explained. Coordinator: M.R.Berger (Faculty of Natural Sciences).

 

Social and Institutional Change

ECTS: 5
This course discusses the roles of cultural norms and institutional rules in economic life in general and in socio-economic development in particular. It discusses insights from recent development in New Economic Sociology, neo-institutional economics, as well as cross-cultural social psychology. Among others, the following topics will be raised: problems of measuring the quality of life; the role of cultural and institutional contexts in development theory; differences in national and organizational cultures; the role of gender arrangements, legal institutions, religious beliefs, and social capital; the social embeddedness of markets, entrepreneurship, and ‘ethnic economies’ and the problems of bringing insights from social theory into practice. Co-ordinator: prof. dr. Rafael Wittek (Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences).

 

Topical Themes in Development

ECTS: 5
This course aims at providing an in-depth understanding of a particular set of problems in development, working in a small-group setting with a mentor-lecturer. Writing a paper, presenting and discussing papers constitute the core of this course. It builds upon the broad range of the content fields of the other courses in the Minor and features a number of theme groups of which the student chooses one. Themes may include: Social and political development of Africa, The pros and cons of globalization, An evaluation of the Millennium Development Goals, Environmentally sustainable development. This last theme group may be organised as a co-production with the Minor “Science in Context” of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. Coordinator: Dr. L.A.Vergara-Camus (Globalisation Studies Groningen). [This course can only be followed by Minor Development Studies students; it can be exchanged for Population & Development]

 

Population & Development

ECTS: 5
Why are fertility levels higher in Malawi than in India? Why is maternal mortality so high in countries in the South and what can be done about it? Why do both underweight and overweight particularly affect low income families in Brazil? How do families in South Africa deal with the HIV/AIDS epidemic? These are some of the questions addressed in this course. The course gives an overview of world-wide differences in fertility, mortality and migration, the role of biology, and nutrition, and the relationship with economic and socio-cultural development. Theories from different disciplines will be brought together in explaining  these demographic processes. Coordinators: Dr.ir. Hinke Haisma, Drs. Marieke van der Pers.
[this course can be followed in place of Topical Themes]

 

Reading Seminar: Key Debates in Development Studies

ECTS: 5
The course is entirely based on discussion seminars (seminar groups of 20 students led by the lecturer) around three to five scholarly readings per week, thus providing the students with a lively and interactive context to sharpen their views on development issues. Following previous courses of the minor, where students are given an overview of Development Studies from the perspective of a specific academic discipline, the second half of the semester will privilege courses that deepen their understanding and require students to actively use and reflect on the knowledge they have acquired in the first half. This course complements the Topical Theme in Development course, which is an exploration of one specific topic through bibliographic research and paper-writing. The themes of the seminar are: 1) The Classics foundations for understanding the state and the market, 2) Contrasting paradigms in Development Studies, 3) Agriculture and Rural Development, 4) The state and the market in industrialization, 5) The informal market and development from below, 6) The role of international institutions and community. Coordinator: Dr. L.A.Vergara-Camus (Globalisation Studies Groningen).  [This course can only be followed by Minor Development Studies students]