GV2H1-Geographies of Development

Module Provider: Geography and Environmental Science
Number of credits: 10 [5 ECTS credits]
Level:5
Terms in which taught: Spring term module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2021/2

Module Convenor: Dr Sally Lloyd-Evans
Email: s.lloyd-evans@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

This module aims to increase the student's knowledge and understanding of the main theoretical perspectives on development, and the key institutions, actors and discourses. It will equip students with the skills to identify, analyse and evaluate ways in which development issues have been identified and addressed in the past and present. It is taught through a series of lectures and seminars with assessment based on a 2-hr written examination.

Aims:
This module aims to increase the student's knowledge and understanding of the main theoretical perspectives on development, and the key institutions, actors and discourses. It will equip students with the skills to identify, analyse and evaluate ways in which development problems have been identified and addressed in the past and present. It will also enable them to assess and reflect upon the politics of developmental discourse and practice.

Assessable learning outcomes:
On completion of this module it is expected that a student will be able to:
£ Assess the competing theories of development, as these have been elaborated over the last fifty years and more
£ Examine the historical emergence of the global developmental agenda and related institutions
£ Identify and critically appraise the discourses and practices of a range of development institutions and the politics in which they are embedded at local, national and global scales
£ Evalua te critical perspectives on the dominant technical discourse of development
£ Assemble appropriate information and develop written arguments effectively and independently.

Additional outcomes:
Students will develop their IT skills by use of relevant web sources and databases. They will develop numeracy skills by interpretation of various quantitative development indicators, but simultaneously become conversant with more qualitative assessments of unevenness and inequalities.

Outline content:

The topics covered by this module are: theories of development, including modernisation, dependency; postcolonialism and race; gender relations and social inequalities; migration and transnationalism; processes of globalisation and their impact on people and places; ICT and digital development; rural spaces and transformations; cities and urbanisation; poverty, risk and the informal economy; and the development practices of states, international organisations and non-governmental organisation s.

Global context:
The module focuses on international development and it draws upon example studies from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

This is a 10 credit module, which means that it is intended to occupy you for 100 hours of work: seminar preparation, background reading, essay reading, revision and sitting the examination. With that in mind the kind of workload you should expect might be as follows:

• 20 contact hours in formal teaching sessions that normally include a 1-2 hour lecture each week, seminars, discussions, videos and a guest lecture.


• 20 hours engaged in reading and note taking from ‘essential reading lists’ for each week


• 30 hours background reading for lectures/seminars


• 26 hours exam revision


• 2 hour revision workshop


• 2 hour examination (Summer Term)

Contact hours:

	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Lectures		18
Seminars		2
Practicals classes and workshops		2
Guided independent study:		78
Total hours by term	0	100	0
Total hours for module	100

Summative Assessment Methods:

Method	Percentage
Written exam	100

Summative assessment- Examinations:
Two hours

Summative assessment- Coursework and in-class tests:
The assessment for this module will take the form of a two-hour written exam during which candidates will be required to answer two of five questions.

Formative assessment methods:
Students will have the opportunity to send practice examination answer plans to the module convenor for informal feedback.

Penalties for late submission:

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of five working days;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than five working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: http://www.reading.ac.uk/web/FILES/qualitysupport/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf
You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Assessment requirements for a pass:
A mark of 40% overall

Reassessment arrangements:
Re-examination in August/September

Additional Costs (specified where applicable):

There are no additional costs associated with this module

Last updated: 8 April 2021