First graduating cohort for BA in Global Development

Posted on 18 July 2023

This week, the BA in Global Development at the University of York has its first graduating cohort.

Group photo of five graduates, from left to right: Isla, Olivia, Jack, Maryam and Liv.

A close-knit group of less than ten students, it may seem like a small beginning - but these graduates are uniquely equipped to take on big global challenges. Just three years old, but ranked number 11 in the UK, York's BA in Global Development is notable for its unique teaching style, interdisciplinary nature and real-world orientation. Utilising team-based Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in one core module each year, students explore real-life scenarios through analysis, debate, and group work.

The student-directed, yet structured method allows students to examine questions from multiple angles and decide together how to work through each complex problem. For example, our graduates have thought about the social, economic and environmental implications of how and where mobile phones are produced and disposed of, or the ways that current knowledges have been shaped by colonial dynamics.

“What I've enjoyed about this course is... from day one it completely broadened my horizons because I was hearing what everyone else thought and all the different things they were reading, which really helped give me a wider worldview on a lot of topics.″

Olivia, BA Global Development graduate.

This interdisciplinary degree, designed collaboratively by the departments of Environment and Geography, History and Politics, uniquely prepares our Global Development students to take on challenges which cannot be solved by any one discipline. Students can take credit-bearing optional modules in everything from Social Policy and Social Work, to Economics, Education, and Languages to gain a greater diversity of knowledge, and are assessed through real-world tasks such as preparing a group presentation or writing a public-facing blog. This creates a one-of-a-kind degree tailored to each student's strengths and interests, and sets them up for an exciting professional and civic future.

We couldn't be prouder as our first cohort graduate York, ready to put their skills into practice and blaze a trail for others to follow.