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Would you like to develop the specialist skills and knowledge required to work in a range of international development careers?

The MSc International Development will equip you with a critical and up-to-date understanding of the field of international development. It is hosted by the Northumbria Centre for Global Development, which brings together students, academics and practitioners.

The course attracts a cohort of students from a wide variety of professional and disciplinary backgrounds. This includes those from government, the private sector and NGOs. It is also popular with students who have studied social sciences, law, geography and business at undergraduate level.

You will engage with contemporary debates on the issues that are currently defining the sector. Alongside this you will also critically examine key international development policies, theories, strategies and practices. Your analytical skills will be developed through analysing the ways in which poverty and marginalisation is experienced and challenged.

As part of your dissertation, you will have the opportunity to undertake a research placement on a self funded basis. This will allow you to apply your knowledge in a real-world environment. You will also have the opportunity to engage with guest lecturers from industry.

This International Development course is delivered by our specialist teaching team of internationally recognised academics. Our staff draw on their extensive experience to ensure that you graduate with knowledge that is at the forefront of the sector.

When studying the MSc International Development course, you will be part of the Centre for International Development. The centre is a vibrant, multidisciplinary virtual research hub, providing an engaging and supportive research-rich learning environment.

Should you wish to find out further information you can contact the Programme Leader Dr Stephen Taylor, Stephen.a.Taylor@northumbria.ac.uk.

 

Course Information

Level of Study
Postgraduate

Mode of Study
1 year full-time
3 other options available

Department
Geography and Environmental Sciences

Location
City Campus, Northumbria University

City
Newcastle

Start
September 2024

Fee Information

Module Information

Videos / What is International Development

Listen to Associate Professor, Dr. Oliver Hensengerth, discuss the International Development MSc at Northumbria University and hear from our student, James, as he talks about why he chose the course.

Dr Oliver Hensentgerth talks more about the International Development masters at Northumbria University. Find out more about the course here: northumbria.ac.uk/study-at-northumbria/courses/international-development-dtfitz6/

MSc International Development student James Haswell tells us about his experience as a postgraduate student, what modules he undertook, the skills he developed and why he enjoyed studying at Northumbria University. For more information on MSc International Development, please visit: northumbria.ac.uk/study-at-northumbria/courses/international-development-dtfitz6/ To read about how a postgraduate degree can prepare you for professional success, please visit: northumbria.ac.uk/the-hub/entries/curating-my-own-future/ See why postgraduate students chose Northumbria University here: northumbria.ac.uk/the-hub/entries/why-northumbria-why-postgraduate/

Further information / Discover more about the course

Discover NU World / A virtual journey through everything Northumbria has to offer.

Explore our immersive 360 tours, informative subject videos, inspirational student profiles, ground-breaking research, and a range of life at university blogs videos and articles.

Funding and Scholarships

Discover the funding options available to you.

Entry Requirements 2024/25

Standard Entry

Applicants should normally have:

A minimum of a 2:2 honours degree in any subject. Applicants with appropriate work experience and/or a relevant professional qualification will be considered.

International qualifications:

If you have studied a non UK qualification, you can see how your qualifications compare to the standard entry criteria, by selecting the country that you received the qualification in, from our country pages. Visit www.northumbria.ac.uk/yourcountry

English language requirements:

International applicants are required to have a minimum overall IELTS (Academic) score of 6.5 with 5.5 in each component (or approved equivalent*).

 *The university accepts a large number of UK and International Qualifications in place of IELTS.  You can find details of acceptable tests and the required grades you will need in our English Language section. Visit www.northumbria.ac.uk/englishqualifications

Fees and Funding 2024/25 Entry

Full UK Fee: £9,250

Full EU Fee: £18,250

Full International Fee: £18,250



Scholarships and Discounts

Click here for UK, EU and International scholarship, fees, and funding information.

ADDITIONAL COSTS

Optional Field Trip module - should students opt for the module 'International Development Study Trip', costs for flights and visas (to India) up to £1300.

If you’d like to receive the latest updates from Northumbria about our courses, events, finance & funding then enter your details below.

* At Northumbria we are strongly committed to protecting the privacy of personal data. To view the University’s Privacy Notice please click here

Modules

Module information is indicative and is reviewed annually therefore may be subject to change. Applicants will be informed if there are any changes.

KE7006 -

Health and Well-being in Disaster and Development (Optional,20 Credits)

You will learn approaches to physical, psychological, social, political, economic, cultural and environmental aspects of health and well-being associated with immediate crises and longer-term health burdens. This lays foundations for comparing and contrasting strategic policy for preparedness and responses to emergent health hazards, complex political disasters, resilient health care and ways of looking at communities and the socio-economic, political, psychological and environmental characteristics they exhibit. This agenda is based on a demand to understand the nature and context of changes in human health and well-being in response to local and global crisis. It provides grounding in applied principles and practices of health and well-being centred disaster risk reduction and health care relative to conceptions of ‘health and well-being’ in emergency’, and transformations, bottom-up capabilities, leadership and hopes from inside and outside a community. Critical issues in both minority and majority worlds are examined either in terms of health hazards, vulnerability, resilience, coping, individual and institutional health care and societal responses and in terms of a virtual or real project in community well-being. These central themes, which are adjustable to most health and well-being phenomena, are addressed for the cases of infectious disease, nutrition, mental health and well-being, primary and emergency health care systems, the political economy of care, self-care, one health and other integrated well-being perspectives. A prime purpose of the module is that students from varied backgrounds will be equipped to contribute to policy and practice debates or health disaster avoidance, survivability and sustainable well-being.

More information

KE7015 -

Research or Work Related Dissertation (Core,60 Credits)

You will learn to identify research questions and project ideas by critically evaluating current research and /or practice in a discipline and identifying an appropriate topic for your own exploration through reviews and analyses of appropriate literature and the planning, development and management of a study. The module enables you to design your research using appropriate project methodologies including through analysis and evaluation of data and within the context of existing literature. You will learn to apply concepts, models or theories to consolidate an extended knowledge in your chosen field of study whilst being aware of your own influence on the research and project process. In formulating, researching, and writing your dissertation you will be guided by your dissertation supervisor. The dissertation is the culmination of your taught experience and will enable you to deploy the skills develop during the taught programme.

The module enables you to apply combinations of theoretical, empirical or practice-based analysis in proceeding to further research and/or practice and to present findings effectively using academic conventions. You will learn to comprehend the importance and application of research and project ethics, good practice and health and safety aspects of field research and projects including confidentiality and data protection. You will be able to write up the research in the form of a 20,000-word dissertation. The dissertation module equips you to cope with an extended piece of work that significantly increases your employability in the sectors represented by the MSc programme. This may include through an internship with an external organisation.

More information

KE7022 -

Postgraduate Research Methods (Core,20 Credits)

You will learn about the foundations (research theories), benefits / advantages and limits /drawbacks of a range of advanced standard social science research methodologies. You will thus be in a better position to design a research strategy and operationalise this, particularly for your Masters Dissertation or Project, but also for future graduate employment in knowledge societies and research-rich or informed careers and professions. You will also be better prepared to scrutinise other people’s / organisations’ research, and to what extent it is appropriate, robust and meaningful – particularly the connection between research objectives / questions and methods and interpretation of findings.
Research methods covered will include both qualitative and quantitative methods and techniques to explore issues in disaster and development studies, and global development from a human / societal / social processes / organisations / communities perspective. Particular attention will be devoted to evidence-based policy making and “wicked issues”. “Natural” environmental processes will be within the scope of the module as far as a social science-based exploration of “produced nature” is fruitful and necessary.

Key topics/themes/issues covered can include, but are not limited to: Approaching Research Methods, Designing Your Research Process, Ethics and Risk Assessment, Fieldwork Research Issues, Consultancy / Stakeholder issues, Case study research, Qualitative / Institutional Research Methods and Analysis, Quantitative Research Methods and (spatial and thematic) Data Analysis, Development Fieldwork through Interviewing, Participatory methods, Survey research, qualitative versus quantitative research and its applications, mixed methods research, research analysis and communication (writing-up and for of presentation).

More information

KE7028 -

Academic Language Skills for Geography (Core – for International and EU students only,0 Credits)

Academic skills when studying away from your home institution can differ due to cultural and language differences in teaching and assessment practices. This module is designed to support your transition in the use and practice of technical language and subject specific skills around assessments and teaching provision in your chosen subject area in the Department of Architecture and Built Environment. The overall aim of this module is to develop your abilities to read and study effectively for academic purposes; to develop your skills in analysing and using source material in seminars and academic writing and to develop your use and application of language and communications skills to a higher level.

The topics you will cover on the module include:

• Understanding assignment briefs and exam questions.
• Developing academic writing skills, including citation, paraphrasing, and summarising.
• Practising ‘critical reading’ and ‘critical writing’.
• Planning and structuring academic assignments (e.g. essays, reports and presentations).
• Avoiding academic misconduct and gaining credit by using academic sources and referencing effectively.
• Listening skills for lectures.
• Speaking in seminar presentations.
• Giving discipline-related academic presentations, experiencing peer observation, and receiving formative feedback.
• Speed reading techniques.
• Discussing ethical issues in research, and analysing results.
• Describing bias and limitations of research.
• Developing self-reflection skills.

More information

KE7044 -

Global Development Futures (Core,20 Credits)

This module aims to provide you with a critical understanding of key debates shaping Global Development Futures. The module examines cutting edge developments in the sector, in the context of demands for innovative responses to issues such as climate change and adaptation, equitable resource management, and decolonising development, including nascent technical fixes and conceptual frameworks disrupting the contemporary development landscape. The module uses the lenses of ‘infrastructures’, ‘economies’ and ‘communities’ to develop an in-depth understanding of innovations across a range of scales, which are re-shaping local and global economies, and the way development is practiced. Practical exercises will help you apply your critical understanding to real-world case studies.

More information

KE7045 -

Geopolitics of Development (Core,20 Credits)

This module aims to provide you with a critical understanding of the key contemporary experiences, policies and debates that characterize development in a time of significant geopolitical change and shifting relationships. The module will enable you to develop cutting edge and nuanced analyses of the changing landscape of global development, and to locate a range of important actors in the global development arena. The module critically debates historical relationships between aid and development, and the predominance of western development agendas and approaches; the emergence of new state and non-state actors, and with this new forms of development cooperation that may transcend the traditional and hierarchical North-South aid relationship; and the implications for development theory and practice. Practical exercises will apply your understanding of geopolitical change and its impacts, to real-world case studies.

More information

KE7046 -

Critical Development Thinking (Core,20 Credits)

How can we explain the continued presence of poverty in many parts of the world? How does development happen? What does development actually mean? This module will critically debate theories of development and the roles of key actors including international organisations, the state, transnational civil society, NGOs and local communities. This will include the different and often contrasting and contradictory roles these actors play, and the ways in which this is captured in different approaches to development theory.

The module will begin by examining debates within development theory and the different propositions that were made to overcome the ‘development impasse’ between state and market led approaches, and post-colonial critiques of traditional development theories espoused after World War II (modernisation theory, dependency theory and World Systems Theory). The module then goes on to explore the meaning of development and ideas of Orientalism, before examining the mainstream neoliberal development project. The module will then engage with a range of critical responses to development, including postcolonialism, the work of Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum and the capabilities approach; alter-globalization; cosmopolitanism; and feminist approaches to theorising development, as well as alternative theoretical approaches coming from the Global South.

More information

KE7047 -

Contemporary Global Challenges (Core,20 Credits)

What are some of the key problems in global development? How can we provide solutions for poverty, hunger, environmental degradation, health and sanitation? This module provides you with an opportunity to explore contemporary global challenges and to develop problem solving skills around real world issues.

The module will bring together the theory and methods part of the programme. Topics you will explore include – but are not limited to – poverty and inequality, hunger, health, sanitation or environmental degradation. You will learn about conflicting theories of solving these problems, contested debates about what poverty and inequality mean and how they are produced and who produces them, and what the best ways are to combat widespread problems such as hunger or environmental pollution.

More information

KE7048 -

International Development Study Visit (Optional,20 Credits)

This is an innovative experiential module that will involve you preparing for, taking part in and reflecting on an overseas study visit. Visits will take place in various locations and will draw on the expertise, partnership, and experiences of the teaching staff. You may visit India, Indonesia, Peru, Uganda or other countries where teaching staff maintain well-established research projects and professional relationships. The location of each study visit will be advertised in advance.

Through this module you will (a) seek to develop a sound knowledge and understanding of the development trajectory of the country/region you are visiting, (b) engage with key civil society development actors and educational partners in that context, (c) deepen your understanding of development practice, (d) develop key transferrable fieldwork skills and (e) develop a critical appreciation of the importance of experiential learning in your own personal and academic development.

The central part of this module will be your experiences whilst overseas in which you will be supported through a range of activities to engage with development practitioners and development challenges as well as the cultural life of the location visited. In order to prepare you for this, workshop will focus on cultural awareness training, the development of core fieldwork skills and planning for enhanced group work activities.

More information

Modules

Module information is indicative and is reviewed annually therefore may be subject to change. Applicants will be informed if there are any changes.

KE7006 -

Health and Well-being in Disaster and Development (Optional,20 Credits)

You will learn approaches to physical, psychological, social, political, economic, cultural and environmental aspects of health and well-being associated with immediate crises and longer-term health burdens. This lays foundations for comparing and contrasting strategic policy for preparedness and responses to emergent health hazards, complex political disasters, resilient health care and ways of looking at communities and the socio-economic, political, psychological and environmental characteristics they exhibit. This agenda is based on a demand to understand the nature and context of changes in human health and well-being in response to local and global crisis. It provides grounding in applied principles and practices of health and well-being centred disaster risk reduction and health care relative to conceptions of ‘health and well-being’ in emergency’, and transformations, bottom-up capabilities, leadership and hopes from inside and outside a community. Critical issues in both minority and majority worlds are examined either in terms of health hazards, vulnerability, resilience, coping, individual and institutional health care and societal responses and in terms of a virtual or real project in community well-being. These central themes, which are adjustable to most health and well-being phenomena, are addressed for the cases of infectious disease, nutrition, mental health and well-being, primary and emergency health care systems, the political economy of care, self-care, one health and other integrated well-being perspectives. A prime purpose of the module is that students from varied backgrounds will be equipped to contribute to policy and practice debates or health disaster avoidance, survivability and sustainable well-being.

More information

KE7015 -

Research or Work Related Dissertation (Core,60 Credits)

You will learn to identify research questions and project ideas by critically evaluating current research and /or practice in a discipline and identifying an appropriate topic for your own exploration through reviews and analyses of appropriate literature and the planning, development and management of a study. The module enables you to design your research using appropriate project methodologies including through analysis and evaluation of data and within the context of existing literature. You will learn to apply concepts, models or theories to consolidate an extended knowledge in your chosen field of study whilst being aware of your own influence on the research and project process. In formulating, researching, and writing your dissertation you will be guided by your dissertation supervisor. The dissertation is the culmination of your taught experience and will enable you to deploy the skills develop during the taught programme.

The module enables you to apply combinations of theoretical, empirical or practice-based analysis in proceeding to further research and/or practice and to present findings effectively using academic conventions. You will learn to comprehend the importance and application of research and project ethics, good practice and health and safety aspects of field research and projects including confidentiality and data protection. You will be able to write up the research in the form of a 20,000-word dissertation. The dissertation module equips you to cope with an extended piece of work that significantly increases your employability in the sectors represented by the MSc programme. This may include through an internship with an external organisation.

More information

KE7022 -

Postgraduate Research Methods (Core,20 Credits)

You will learn about the foundations (research theories), benefits / advantages and limits /drawbacks of a range of advanced standard social science research methodologies. You will thus be in a better position to design a research strategy and operationalise this, particularly for your Masters Dissertation or Project, but also for future graduate employment in knowledge societies and research-rich or informed careers and professions. You will also be better prepared to scrutinise other people’s / organisations’ research, and to what extent it is appropriate, robust and meaningful – particularly the connection between research objectives / questions and methods and interpretation of findings.
Research methods covered will include both qualitative and quantitative methods and techniques to explore issues in disaster and development studies, and global development from a human / societal / social processes / organisations / communities perspective. Particular attention will be devoted to evidence-based policy making and “wicked issues”. “Natural” environmental processes will be within the scope of the module as far as a social science-based exploration of “produced nature” is fruitful and necessary.

Key topics/themes/issues covered can include, but are not limited to: Approaching Research Methods, Designing Your Research Process, Ethics and Risk Assessment, Fieldwork Research Issues, Consultancy / Stakeholder issues, Case study research, Qualitative / Institutional Research Methods and Analysis, Quantitative Research Methods and (spatial and thematic) Data Analysis, Development Fieldwork through Interviewing, Participatory methods, Survey research, qualitative versus quantitative research and its applications, mixed methods research, research analysis and communication (writing-up and for of presentation).

More information

KE7028 -

Academic Language Skills for Geography (Core – for International and EU students only,0 Credits)

Academic skills when studying away from your home institution can differ due to cultural and language differences in teaching and assessment practices. This module is designed to support your transition in the use and practice of technical language and subject specific skills around assessments and teaching provision in your chosen subject area in the Department of Architecture and Built Environment. The overall aim of this module is to develop your abilities to read and study effectively for academic purposes; to develop your skills in analysing and using source material in seminars and academic writing and to develop your use and application of language and communications skills to a higher level.

The topics you will cover on the module include:

• Understanding assignment briefs and exam questions.
• Developing academic writing skills, including citation, paraphrasing, and summarising.
• Practising ‘critical reading’ and ‘critical writing’.
• Planning and structuring academic assignments (e.g. essays, reports and presentations).
• Avoiding academic misconduct and gaining credit by using academic sources and referencing effectively.
• Listening skills for lectures.
• Speaking in seminar presentations.
• Giving discipline-related academic presentations, experiencing peer observation, and receiving formative feedback.
• Speed reading techniques.
• Discussing ethical issues in research, and analysing results.
• Describing bias and limitations of research.
• Developing self-reflection skills.

More information

KE7044 -

Global Development Futures (Core,20 Credits)

This module aims to provide you with a critical understanding of key debates shaping Global Development Futures. The module examines cutting edge developments in the sector, in the context of demands for innovative responses to issues such as climate change and adaptation, equitable resource management, and decolonising development, including nascent technical fixes and conceptual frameworks disrupting the contemporary development landscape. The module uses the lenses of ‘infrastructures’, ‘economies’ and ‘communities’ to develop an in-depth understanding of innovations across a range of scales, which are re-shaping local and global economies, and the way development is practiced. Practical exercises will help you apply your critical understanding to real-world case studies.

More information

KE7045 -

Geopolitics of Development (Core,20 Credits)

This module aims to provide you with a critical understanding of the key contemporary experiences, policies and debates that characterize development in a time of significant geopolitical change and shifting relationships. The module will enable you to develop cutting edge and nuanced analyses of the changing landscape of global development, and to locate a range of important actors in the global development arena. The module critically debates historical relationships between aid and development, and the predominance of western development agendas and approaches; the emergence of new state and non-state actors, and with this new forms of development cooperation that may transcend the traditional and hierarchical North-South aid relationship; and the implications for development theory and practice. Practical exercises will apply your understanding of geopolitical change and its impacts, to real-world case studies.

More information

KE7046 -

Critical Development Thinking (Core,20 Credits)

How can we explain the continued presence of poverty in many parts of the world? How does development happen? What does development actually mean? This module will critically debate theories of development and the roles of key actors including international organisations, the state, transnational civil society, NGOs and local communities. This will include the different and often contrasting and contradictory roles these actors play, and the ways in which this is captured in different approaches to development theory.

The module will begin by examining debates within development theory and the different propositions that were made to overcome the ‘development impasse’ between state and market led approaches, and post-colonial critiques of traditional development theories espoused after World War II (modernisation theory, dependency theory and World Systems Theory). The module then goes on to explore the meaning of development and ideas of Orientalism, before examining the mainstream neoliberal development project. The module will then engage with a range of critical responses to development, including postcolonialism, the work of Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum and the capabilities approach; alter-globalization; cosmopolitanism; and feminist approaches to theorising development, as well as alternative theoretical approaches coming from the Global South.

More information

KE7047 -

Contemporary Global Challenges (Core,20 Credits)

What are some of the key problems in global development? How can we provide solutions for poverty, hunger, environmental degradation, health and sanitation? This module provides you with an opportunity to explore contemporary global challenges and to develop problem solving skills around real world issues.

The module will bring together the theory and methods part of the programme. Topics you will explore include – but are not limited to – poverty and inequality, hunger, health, sanitation or environmental degradation. You will learn about conflicting theories of solving these problems, contested debates about what poverty and inequality mean and how they are produced and who produces them, and what the best ways are to combat widespread problems such as hunger or environmental pollution.

More information

KE7048 -

International Development Study Visit (Optional,20 Credits)

This is an innovative experiential module that will involve you preparing for, taking part in and reflecting on an overseas study visit. Visits will take place in various locations and will draw on the expertise, partnership, and experiences of the teaching staff. You may visit India, Indonesia, Peru, Uganda or other countries where teaching staff maintain well-established research projects and professional relationships. The location of each study visit will be advertised in advance.

Through this module you will (a) seek to develop a sound knowledge and understanding of the development trajectory of the country/region you are visiting, (b) engage with key civil society development actors and educational partners in that context, (c) deepen your understanding of development practice, (d) develop key transferrable fieldwork skills and (e) develop a critical appreciation of the importance of experiential learning in your own personal and academic development.

The central part of this module will be your experiences whilst overseas in which you will be supported through a range of activities to engage with development practitioners and development challenges as well as the cultural life of the location visited. In order to prepare you for this, workshop will focus on cultural awareness training, the development of core fieldwork skills and planning for enhanced group work activities.

More information

Study Options

The following alternative study options are available for this course:

Any Questions?

Our Applicant Services team will be happy to help.  They can be contacted on 0191 406 0901 or by using our Contact Form.


All information is accurate at the time of sharing.

Full time Courses starting in 2023 are primarily delivered via on-campus face to face learning but may include elements of online learning. We continue to monitor government and local authority guidance in relation to Covid-19 and we are ready and able to flex accordingly to ensure the health and safety of our students and staff.

Contact time is subject to increase or decrease in line with additional restrictions imposed by the government or the University in the interest of maintaining the health and safety and wellbeing of students, staff, and visitors, potentially to a full online offer, should further restrictions be deemed necessary in future. Our online activity will be delivered through Blackboard Ultra, enabling collaboration, connection and engagement with materials and people.

 

Current, Relevant and Inspiring

We continuously review and improve course content in consultation with our students and employers. To make sure we can inform you of any changes to your course register for updates on the course page.


Your Learning Experience

Find out about our distinctive approach at 
www.northumbria.ac.uk/exp

Admissions Terms and Conditions
northumbria.ac.uk/terms

Fees and Funding
northumbria.ac.uk/fees

Admissions Policy
northumbria.ac.uk/adpolicy

Admissions Complaints Policy
northumbria.ac.uk/complaints

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