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Course Directory > Postgraduate (taught) > MSc Development Studies
(School of Oriental & African Studies)

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Course Type: Postgraduate (taught)
Training Provider: School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS)
School/Institute/Dept./Centre: Department of Development Studies

Development Studies is a dynamic field concerned with processes of change in the South - social and economic, political and cultural - and the major policy challenges they present to efforts to overcome poverty and insecurity in the world today.

This MSc is designed to provide a solid interdisciplinary social science formation in development theory and practice and to develop students’ capacities for independent and critical analysis.

The aim is to equip students with a wide intellectual grounding and interdisciplinary competence in development issues. This will enable them to make their own analyses and judgements in developmental contexts, and in relation to developmental interventions.

This emphasis on transferable analytical skills has been of great benefit to the many graduates of the MSc programmes at SOAS who have returned to, or taken up, professional careers in development in international organisations, government agencies and non-government organisations.

The MSc Development Studies has four components: two compulsory courses; one full-course option or two half-course options; and a dissertation of 10,000 words.

Compulsory Elements

Political Economy of Development
Theory, Practice and Policy of Development
A written dissertation of 10,000 words

Optional Courses

One of the following courses, or two half-courses:

Offered in the Department of Development Studies:

Civil Society, Social Movements And The Development Process (Term 2)
Children and Development (Term 2)
Development Practice (Term 2)
Gender and Development (Term 2)
Non-Governmental Organisations as Development Agencies (Term 1)
Globalisation And Development (Term 1)
Civil Society, Social Movements And The Development Process (Term 2)
Issues in Forced Migration (Term1)

Globalisation And Development (Term 1)

Political & Economic Development of Latin America (Term 2)

Fundementals of Research Methods for Development Studies (Term 1)

War to Peace Transitions (Term 2)
Neo-Liberalism & the State: Society, Politics & Culture (Term 1)

Marxist Political Economy and Global Development
Political Economy of Violence & Conflict

Offered in other departments of SOAS:

Department of Anthropology and Sociology

Anthropology of Development
Issues in the Anthropology of Food (half course)
Issues in the Anthropology of Education (half course)
Therapy and Culture (half course)

Department of Economics

Contemporary Taiwan: the Evolution of a New Development Model
Economic Development in Africa
Economic Development of South East Asia
Economic Development of the Middle East
Economic Dynamics of the Asia-Pacific Region
Economics of Development with reference to South Asia
Economic Problems and Policies in Modern China
Economic Problems of South Asia

Department of Geography

Agricultural & Environmental Issues in Sub-Saharan Africa
Southern Africa: The Political Ecology of Land & Agriculture
Sustainable Urbanization
Urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa
Water Resources and Water Policy

Department of History

Economic and Social History of Modern Japan
Economic Change in South East Asia c.1800-c1940.
Evolution of the State and Politics in Colonial India

Department of Law

Chinese Law I: Foundations of Chinese Law
Chinese Law II: Modern Chinese Law
Colonialism and Development in East and Central Africa
Islamic Law I

Department of Political Studies

Comparative Politics of the Contemporary Middle East II
Government and Politics of Modern South Asia
Government and Politics of Modern South East Asia
Government and Politics of Tropical Africa
Politics and Society in Central Asia
State and Development in Asia and Africa

Department of the Languages and Cultures of Africa

Media and Performance for Participatory Development in Africa (+VCD)

Language Departments:

Department of East Asia: Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese, Korean and Tibetan.
Department of the Languages and Cultures of South East Asia: Burmese, Cambodian, Indonesian, Thai and Vietnamese.
Department of South Asia: Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Nepali, Sinhalese, Tamil, Urdu and Sanskrit
Department of Near and Middle East: Arabic, Hebrew, Yiddish, Georgian, Persian and Turkish.
Department of Africa: Amharic, Hausa, Somali, Swahili, Yoruba and Zulu.

Course Details

Staff:
http://www.soas.ac.uk/staff/staff.cfm?deptid=9

Entry Requirements:
A good first degree in a social science is preferred, although good degrees in other subjects may be considered. We also welcome applications from those who have worked in the broad field of development, or those who can demonstrate a strong interest in, and understanding of, development issues.

Course Duration:
One calendar year (full-time) Two (part-time, daytime only). We recommend that part-time students have between two and a half and three days free in the week to pursue their course of study.

Language(s) of Instruction:

English

Mode of Study:

residential

Thematic Focus:

Anthropology/Sociology
Development Economics
Development Studies

Country(ies):

United Kingdom

Town(s) or City(ies):
London

Course fees:
http://www.soas.ac.uk/studying/index.cfm?navid=781

Further Funding Information:
http://www.soas.ac.uk/departments/index.cfm?navid=832

Course's Webpage:
http://www.soas.ac.uk/studying/courseinfo.cfm?courseinfoid=5

School/Institute/Dept./Centre

Department of Development Studies
Training Provider: School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS)
Contact Telephone: +44 (0)207 898 4505
Courses: 2

Development studies is a rapidly growing area of study concerned with social and economic changes in the developing world. Development studies at SOAS offers unrivalled regional specialisation and language combinations not found anywhere else in Europe.

All Staff who contribute to the degree programmes have extensive first-hand development experience in the field, working in many different countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Additionally, many members of staff remain actively engaged in development consultancy and the practical nature of much of the resulting research is reflected in the applied nature of many of the course units. Interests in development issues in the School are broad but include globalisation, gender and development, environmental change and the politics of development.

There are two distinctive features of SOAS which give development studies here characteristics not available elsewhere and both are particularly relevant for the changing, less Eurocentric approaches to development in today’s world. Firstly, the School’s reputation for the study of non-western systems of thought in areas such as science, technology, health, education, food systems and law. Secondly, the unparalleled regional specialisation in the School gives historical and cultural depth, based on knowledge of Asian and African languages and the full range of social sciences.