School of Politics and International Studies

MA Global Development and Africa provides you with up-to-date knowledge and an in-depth understanding of key contemporary debates about Africa's politics, culture, society and sustainable development.

Dedicated core modules, including Africa in the Contemporary World, mean that this pathway will provide you with specialist knowledge in development matters affecting Africa and you will graduate with an MA Global Development and Africa, demonstrating to potential employers your understanding of the issues and debates in Africa today.

The course gives you the opportunity to survey the analytical approaches to the study of Africa's political economy and culture, and examine competing perspectives on core themes in Africa's development experience. You will investigate the major debates in environmental sustainability and agricultural development, and analyse the comparative experiences to be found within Africa, and between Africa and other developing regions.

You will also study the relations between the state, politics and development strategies in Africa since independence, and assess contemporary debates in development situating African and comparative experiences of food security, debt, development and environmental crises. The course will develop your research and presentational skills, and allows for you to specialise in your particular areas of interest.

Compulsory Modules

Africa in the Contemporary World examines development strategies in Africa since independence. You will consider the key elements of the development process and assess options for the future. We compare African nations with other areas of the developing world.

Global Inequalities and Development provides you with an understanding of why and how the world’s inequalities produce advantages and disadvantages in development. You will cover economic, social, and political inequalities to lay the foundation for discussions about poverty, dispossession, food, environment and aid. You will also explore how social movements in the global south claim rights and thereby challenge global inequalities.

Global Development and Africa Dissertation examines research design, different research methods, and techniques of data collection and analysis to help you prepare for your dissertation. Your dissertation will be a 10,000 word piece of research of a theoretical or empirical nature that illuminates an aspect of human and sustainable development in Africa.

Optional Modules

You will also be required to study between two and four of the following optional modules:

• Conflict, Complex Emergencies and Global Governance
• Democracy and Development
• Education in Development
• Famine and Food Security
• Gender, Globalisation and Development
• Political Economy of Resources Development
• Capitalism and Crisis
• Environmental Politics and Policy
• Development Management Techniques
• Research Methodology for Development
• Religions and Global Development

 Please note module options may be subject to change.