2 - General structure of the course

Lubumbashi, DRC (2018)

Figure 2.1: Lubumbashi, DRC (2018)

 

Development is a broad subject beyond the improvement of economic conditions (GDP) in a country. In this course, students will critically examine how different factors shape development in low- and middle-income countries.

2.1 Topics covered

  • What is development? Theories on development, measuring poverty
  • Context: History, conflict, political context
  • Core: Policies and current issues
  • Going beyond: Social and cultural aspects

2.2 Learning outcomes

  • Students will identify the major dimensions of development and distinguish among the theories on development;
  • Students will understand the major debates that exist in the field of international development;
  • Students will recognize different factors and actors that influence development and the major challenges for development;
  • Students will be able to integrate multiple approaches that create a more comprehensive vision on development;
  • Students will critically examine different development policies and will be able to use an evidence-based approach to assess them;
  • Students will appraise the current issues on development that low- and middle-income countries face;
  • Students will become acquainted with the structure of the international aid community and the evolution and impact of its approaches on development.

2.3 Liberal Education Program learning goals

  • Students should develop the ability to make connections across disciplines in order to understand the convergence and divergence of different fields of knowledge and to understand the nature of an academic community;
  • Students should develop the capacity to entertain multiple perspectives and interpretations;
  • Students should develop an understanding of culture and the connections between themselves and others in relation to physical, historical, social, and global contexts.

2.4 Skills developed

  • Interdisciplinary thinking
  • Evidence-based analysis and data scrutiny
  • Academic writing
  • Critical thinking
  • Research
  • Critical analysis of academic and specialized literature
  • Collaborative work, valuing diversity of perspectives
  • Active questioning

2.5 Course assessment

Assignment Weight
Forum participation & Feedback 25%
2 50-hour assessment 25% each
Analysis paper 25%

2.6 Critical reading

Seminar questions will be closely connected to the readings and lecture material. These are some of the steps that you can take to ensure that you get a deeper understanding of the readings that we will do in the course:

  1. Read selectively
  2. Formulate questions: what, when, where, who, how, why
  3. Actively search for the answers to these questions
  4. Reflect on the reading: why did you read it? Do you trust the argument? What is missing? What else would you like to know?

At the end of your reading exercise, make sure you can answer the following questions:

  • In one sentence, what is the argument of the reading?
  • What makes this argument different than other perspectives on the topic?
  • What methods and evidence are used to support the argument?
  • Are these methods and evidence enough to support the argument? Is there something missing?

2.7 How to prepare for the class?

2.7.1 Platforms

To maximize our learning opportunities and taking advantage of the market innovations, please make sure you are familiarized with and have an account in the following platforms (all of them are free of charge):

  • Moodle: Our central platform to coordinate our work
  • Eduflow: We will use this for the seminar questions. Link: https://app.eduflow.com/join/YXRW5S
  • Padlet: We will use this platform for our classroom activities (it will allow us to work together, even if we are not in the same room). I will be sharing the links to our posts. But make sure you have an account, so I can see your name as a contributor.
  • Slack: In case you want to communicate with me (or your classmates) in a rapid, convenient and secure way.

2.7.2 Each week during the course

1. Read the Section on this Guide that belongs to the week analyzed to get an introduction of the topic, guide your reading and start thinking about the seminar questions

  1. Listen to/ Attend the lecture or watch the videos. Go through the lecture material

  2. Read at least two articles per topic (see details on critical reading above)

  3. Answer the discussion questions indicated in this Guide

  4. Provide feedback to your classmates

  5. Participate in the seminar

2.7.3 How to prepare for the assessments?

The assessments will take place on week 3 and 6 of the course. The students will respond to 3 out of 6 essay questions. Each essay should be between 500 and 750 words (2-3 12-point, double-spaced pages). The questions will be closely related to the discussion questions analyzed during class and examined in the seminar.

2.7.4 Analysis paper

This paper will deeply examine one of the Key Questions of the course. The paper will have an approximate length of 2,000 words (8 12-point, double-spaced pages). This paper will be submitted during the last week of the course and completed in teams of 2-3 students.

2.8 Additional sources of information

2.8.1 Books, blogs and podcasts

  • Africa is a vast continent and identifying where African countries are may facilitate your understanding of different topics: https://online.seterra.com/en/l/afr (You can also do the exercise for Latin American and Asian countries)

 

  • In preparation of the class, some books that you may find useful are:

    • Acemoglu, D. & Robinson, J. (2019). The Narrow Corridor: States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty. Paperback edition. New York: Penguin Press.
    • Banerjee, A. V., & Duflo, E. (2012). Poor economics: a radical rethinking of the way to fight global poverty. Paperback edition. New York: PublicAffairs.
    • Banerjee, A. V., & Duflo, E. (2019). Good economics for hard times: better answers to our biggest problems. Paperback edition. New York: PublicAffairs.
    • Sen, A. (2001). Paperback edition. Development as Freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press

     

  • I also recommend that you keep up with the news and learn more about the continent and development. Some exciting blogs/podcast are:

    • All Africa: https://allafrica.com
    • Africa is a Country: https://africasacountry.com
    • Africa Today: Daily podcast with news about the continent from the BBC.
    • Into Africa: Podcast that tries to remove some of the traditional ideas about the African continent. Hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studie
    • On Africa: Podcast about Africa hosted by Travis Adkins
    • Quartz Africa: https://qz.com/africa/
    • Ufahamu Africa: Podcast on African politics hosted by Kim Yi Dionne and Rachel Beatty Riedl

     

  • You can now easily find art produced by African artists. Movies are widely available on Netflix or Amazon Prime. Books by African authors are also widely accessible (AbeBooks sells used books at very accessible prices). This will allow you to improve your understanding of the culture and the livelihoods of people in different parts of Africa.

2.8.2 Data sources

(Feel free to suggest others)