Studying at York
Advanced Issues & skills in Global Development - POL00066H
Module summary
This module is compulsory for all students in the third year of the BA in Global Development and it builds on Foundational Issues in Global Development, Research Methods for Global Development and Issues and Skills in Global Development. You will further and deepen your understanding of theories relevant to global development and explore research strategies to identify, evaluate and apply those theories to a broad range of integrated and practical issues relevant to global development, such as production, food, the role of finance in development, discrimination and poverty. You will delve deeper into important development debates and issues, such as the relationship between development, colonialism, and global capitalism, and also choose specific theories and methodologies to explore and apply more in-depth.
Professional requirements
No professional requirements.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Autumn Term 2022-23 |
Module aims
This module enables you to continue to develop and deepen you understanding of key issues and methods in global development, and the relationship between and among them. You will build on the skills associated with problem-based learning, which you started to develop in Foundational Issues of Global Development. You will continue to develop, and to evidence through your oral and written communication, key skills associated with global development scholarship, including those relating to the undertaking of research, the development of reasoned arguments, the use of evidence, and the practice of critical evaluation. Building on previous modules, you will continue to develop advanced awareness of the linkages between core principles, methods, theories and historical debates that constitute research programmes relevant to global development. You will also continue to reflect on the development of your learning, and to consider strategies and techniques for developing your competence as a scholar.
Module learning outcomes
By the end of this module, you should be able to 1. Demonstrate a positive contribution to your learning and development, and those of others, by regular attendance and active participation in learning activities in PBL workshops. 2. Communicate with clarity, precision, orally and in writing, with student and staff colleagues, about issues relevant to global development. 3. Undertake, describe and reflect on research tasks relevant to global development. 4. Identify, evaluate and apply key and core principles, methods, theories, and historical debates relevant to global development to understand a broad range of integrated and practical issues across a variety of interdisciplinary contexts. 5. Develop an independent and critical mentality through producing well-reasoned, critical and creative arguments in a range of media 6. Take into account how different paradigms of problem formation connect ethical, social, political, economic, geographical, environmental, historical, financial, policy, human rights, ethnic, gender and other interest considerations when evaluating and dealing with problems relevant to global development, integrating different disciplinary perspectives and interests.
Module content
Learning in this module builds directly on that in Foundational Issues in Global Development, Research Methods in Global Development and Issues and Skills in Global Development.
Indicative subject content includes: 1) What is Development - Coloniality, decolonization debates, neo-colonialism, 2) Global Governance of Development - Debt Crises. Dependency literature, History of debt crises and domestic and international responses, Global rules for sovereign debt restructuring and international debt relief programs. 3) Social Programs - Financial inclusion, micro-credit, money and banking in development, financial regulation, financial literacy, financialization of poverty 4) Marginalised groups - Indigenous people's rights, human rights, The role of international institutions in securing human rights 5) Sustainability - Global governance of food, agro-business, resource management and extraction, right to food, intellectual property rights in agriculture
Indicative skills include: 1) Working in a group, 2) Leadership skills, 3) Communicate with an advanced level of clarity and precision with student and staff colleagues, 3) Undertake, describe and reflect on advanced research tasks relevant to global development , 4) Analyse and evaluate global development issues in a range of scenarios and suggest solutions to global development problems, 5) Develop reasoned arguments and practice basic critical evaluation in relation to global development, 6) Reflect and draw conclusions on the development of your learning.
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Additional assessment information
The group presentations (both formative and summative) will be assessed based on content and structure, as well as the groups' chairing of the session and the provision of constructive feedback to the other group presentation(s).
Reassessment will be required if students fail the whole module. The reassessment will assess core knowledge as well as the initial ability to work in a PBL environment. The latter is done through a shorter reflection piece and the former in a comprehensive essay.
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Module feedback
Students will receive timely written feedback on their formative and summative assessment, no later than 20 working days after submission/presentation. The module tutor will hold a specific session to discuss feedback, which students can also opt to attend. They will also have the opportunity to discuss their feedback during the module tutor’s regular feedback and guidance hours.
The feedback on the formative presentation given in week 6 will be given the following week, in order to be helpful for the students' preparation for the presentation in week 10.
Indicative reading
Advanced Issues and Skills in Global Development forms a part of the problem-based learning component of the Global Development undergraduate program. PBL does not involve the use of 'reading lists' in the conventional sense. However, a range of texts will be presented in a reading guide for students. Some examples of texts that will be included are:
Bateman, Milford, Stephanie Blankenburg, and Richard Kozul-Wright. 2018. The Rise and Fall of Global Microcredit - Development, Debt and Disillusion. Routledge.
Chang, Ha-Joon. 2002. Kicking Away the Ladder: Development Strategy in Historical Perspective: Policies and Institutions for Economic Development in Historical Perspective. Anthem Press.
Gardner, Brian. 2014. Global Food Futures - Feeding the World in 2050. Bloomsbury.
Heron, Barbara. 2007. Desire for Development Whiteness, Gender, and the Helping Imperative. WLU Press.
Mcewan, Cheryl. 2008. Postcolonialism and development. Routledge Perspectives on Development.
Reinert, Erik, Jayati Ghosh, Rainer Kattel. 2016. The Handbook of Alternative Theories of Economic Development.
Roy, Ananya. 2010. Poverty Capital - Microfinance and the Making of Development. Routledge.
Stavenhagen, Rodolfo. 2013. Peasants, Culture and Indigenous Peoples - Critical Issues. Springer.
Swinnen, J. 2018. The Political Economy of Agricultural and Food Policies. Palgrave MacMillan.
Tooze, Adam. 2018. Crashed - How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World. Penguin Books.
World Bank. 2017. World Development Report 2017: Governance and the Law.