MSc International Development: Poverty, Inequality and Development / Course details

MSc International Development: Poverty, Inequality and Development is designed to help you understand and tackle the problems of poverty and inequality in a critical and constructive way.

The current impoverishment of more than 1.4 billion people, plus the growing levels of inequality at national and international levels, present the world with its greatest moral challenge.

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.

• Provide critical insights into different theoretical and disciplinary perspectives on how poverty, inequality and development can be understood, measured and explained
• Provide you with a thorough conceptual framework and the skills necessary to critically analyse key theoretical and practical issues relating to poverty, inequality and development;
• Provide critical insights into the key strategies, policies and practices currently employed to promote development, equality and poverty reduction
• Provide a wide range of options for advanced training in areas of specialist expertise relevant to poverty, inequality and development;
• 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, inequality and development, and applying your understanding and skills through supervised individual research culminating in a dissertation.

• 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 6th in the UK and 10th in the world for development studies (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2019).
• 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

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 course over 24 months. There are no evening or weekend course units available; you should, therefore, discuss course requirements with the Programme Director and seek approval from your employer. Timetabling information is usually available from late August. You can discuss course unit choices during induction week with the Programme Director.

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.