Current Key Issues in Development Studies

This course is about development and sustainability in times of poverty, inequality and climate change. It is interdisciplinary and attracts students from several social science disciplines and teachers from several departments at Lund University.

A major question addressed throughout the course is why there is poverty amidst plenty despite numerous development policies and comprehensive knowledge about inequality.

In the course we will highlight, discuss, and analyse current key issues in and for development and sustainability such as climate change, food production and distribution, global health, work and labour, democracy and governance, and intersectional inequalities based on age, class, gender, ethnicity, sex, and space.

Beyond these issues, the course offers an overview and critical scrutiny of development theory and the development discourse in a historical and social context. In the light of theoretical perspectives you will have the opportunity to deepen your understanding of a range of current and longterm development issues and new sustainability challenges.

The overall aim in this course is to acquire knowledge and skills to critically examine, assess and understand theories, current issues, and long-term debates in development as well as changes over time in relation to various human-environmental conditions. In your own work, and informed by theory and history, you will explore aspects of the issues and their interconnections in further detail. This will promote self-directed and inquiry-based learning and enhance your understanding of development in theory and practice.

The course educates students for research and for professional development work in government agencies, business, NGOs, think tanks, etc. A critical social science approach should prepare you not only for third cycle studies but also for contributions to human development and sustainability, be it as a researcher or as a policymaker, practitioner, or trainer.

For further information: master [at] sam [dot] lu [dot] se