Course description

MSc International Development: Poverty, Conflict and Reconstruction examines contemporary and established analytical and conceptual frameworks relating to poverty, conflict analysis and the reconstruction of conflict and disaster-affected societies.

The impoverishment of more than 1.4 billion people, plus growing levels of inequality, presents the world with its greatest moral challenge. This course is designed to help you understand and tackle the problems of poverty and inequality in a critical and constructive way.

You will learn about the different conceptualisations and characteristics of poverty and inequality through high-level academic training from leading academics, in a vibrant and stimulating environment.

The course looks at policies and practices, by which individuals, communities and organisations seek to reduce poverty, understand conflict and initiate humanitarian interventions.

It is therefore ideal if you'd like to learn more about poverty and conflict, are intrigued by the reconstruction of conflict- and disaster-affected societies, and are interested in the policies and practices used to reduce poverty.

Aims

Provide you with an opportunity to deepen your critical understanding of key theoretical and practical issues relating to poverty analysis and reduction, conflict analysis and reconstruction;

Provide you with a thorough conceptual framework and the skills necessary to critically analyse key theoretical and practical issues relating to poverty, conflict and reconstruction and make judgements about related policies and their implementation;

Provide critical insights into the key strategies, policies and practices currently employed to promote development and poverty reduction

Develop professionally-oriented skills related to formulating, investigating and implementing different practical approaches to poverty, conflict and reconstruction;

Provide a wide range of options for advanced training in areas of specialist expertise relevant to poverty, conflict and reconstruction;

Develop advanced competencies in transferable areas, including developing reasoned arguments, gathering, organising and using evidence and information from a wide variety of sources, undertaking both team-based and independent work to deadlines, and both written and verbal forms of communication

Assist you in developing your specialist area of expertise within the field of poverty, conflict and reconstruction, and applying your understanding and skills through supervised individual research culminating in a dissertation.

Special features

We're the largest development-focused teaching and research institute in Europe, and have been at the forefront of development studies for more than 60 years.

We're ranked 14th in the world for development studies (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2018).

We're dedicated to addressing global poverty and inequality.

Our research was ranked first in the UK for impact and second in the UK for quality in the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014).

We're home to a multicultural community of 450 students from 30 countries.

We have numerous scholarship opportunities for outstanding applicants.

Our alumni are recognised for their contribution to global development across the globe.

The combined field experience of our staff covers 60 countries.

We've trained almost 10,000 individuals from more than 170 countries.

Many of our master's include fieldwork, giving you the opportunity to observe development interventions in situ and to reflect on how theoretical explorations of development are operationalised in the real world. Recent destinations include Uganda, South Africa and Cyprus. Find out more at Fieldwork .

Teaching and learning

An overseas field visit is an integral part of the course. Recent fieldtrip locations have included Uganda, Ghana, Sri Lanka and India.

Please note that field visits may be scheduled at any point during the course, including during University vacations. You are expected to be available to attend.

Part-time students complete the full-time programme over 27 months. There are no evening or weekend course units available on the part-time programme, therefore if you are considering taking a programme on a part-time basis, you should discuss the requirements with the Programme Director and seek approval from your employer to have the relevant time off.  Timetabling information is normally available from late August from the Programme Administrator and you will have the opportunity to discuss course unit choices during induction week with the Programme Director.

Coursework and assessment

The taught elements of the course, carrying 120 credits overall, is continuously assessed by a variety of methods (eg project-based reports, essays), involving largely individual submissions, but also elements of group work.

You must also complete a 12,000-15,000 word dissertation on a topic of your choice approved by the Programme Directors. You are encouraged to base your dissertation on topics of direct professional concern.