Course: Introduction to Development Studies

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Course title Introduction to Development Studies
Course code KAP/URSN
Organizational form of instruction Lecture + Seminary
Level of course Master
Year of study 1
Semester Winter
Number of ECTS credits 6
Language of instruction Czech
Status of course Compulsory
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Lecturer(s)
  • Horký-Hlucháň Ondřej, Ing. PhD.
Course content
1. From colonization to decolonization and the beginning of the "developing world" 2. Characteristics of the developing world 3. The 1960s and the first international development decade - the importance of classical economic theories and theories of modernization 4. The 1970s and the first redefinitions of modernization theory - the concept of basic needs 5. The 1980s and the lost development decade (return to theory of modernization' 6. The 1990s and the onset of new thinking about development (the concept of human development) 7. Millennium Development Goals and their revision 8. Alternative approaches to development (dependency theory, world-system theory, cultural approaches, Third World approaches, post-development) 9. Measuring development 10. Development aid (general characteristics and examples of key donors) 11. United Nations development activities 12. Development activities of the IMF and the WB 13. United States development activities 14. OECD development activities

Learning activities and teaching methods
  • Contact hours - 52 hours per semester
  • Graduate study programme term essay (40-50) - 40 hours per semester
  • Presentation preparation (report) (1-10) - 10 hours per semester
  • Preparation for an examination (30-60) - 54 hours per semester
prerequisite
Knowledge
to characterize development studies as a sub-discipline of international relations studies
to describe and explain methods of data collection and interpretation in social sciences
Skills
to operationalize terms from the field of international relations
to analyze selected problems of the contemporary international system
Competences
N/A
learning outcomes
Knowledge
to evaluate the concepts of human development, the concept of basic needs and classical economic concepts of development
to explain theoretical concepts of development in individual decades
to relate the development and security
to specify changes in the definition of development in individual decades
to characterize different types of development cooperation
Skills
to demonstrate the relationship between development and humanitarian aid on selected examples
to assess the strengths and weaknesses of UN development activities
to evaluate the importance of development cooperation for the international system
to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of development cooperation of various donors in the international system
Competences
N/A
N/A
teaching methods
Knowledge
Lecture supplemented with a discussion
Self-study of literature
Skills
Seminar
Textual studies
Competences
Seminar
Textual studies
assessment methods
Knowledge
Combined exam
Skills
Skills demonstration during practicum
Seminar work
Individual presentation at a seminar
Competences
Seminar work
Individual presentation at a seminar
Recommended literature
  • Carothers, Thomas. Development aid confronts politics the almost revolution. Washington : Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2013. ISBN 978-0-87003-400-8.
  • Dušková, Lenka. Encyklopedie rozvojových studií. 1. vyd. Olomouc : Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci, 2011. ISBN 978-80-244-2948-9.
  • Easterly, William Russell. Břímě bílého muže : proč pomoc Západu třetímu světu selhává?. Vyd. 1. Praha : Academia, 2010. ISBN 978-80-200-1776-5.
  • Peet, Richard - Hartwick, Elaine. Theories of Development. Contentions, Arguments, Alternatives. Guilford Press: New York, 2015.
  • Sen, Amartya Kumar. Development as freedom / Amartya Sen. New York : Anchor Books, 2000. ISBN 0-385-72027-0.
  • Ziai, Aram (ed.). Exploring Post-Development: Theory and Practice, Problems and Perspectives. Routledge: New York, 2013.


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): Foreign Relations (20-4) Category: Social sciences 1 Recommended year of study:1, Recommended semester: Winter