BSc International Development

Compulsory modules

Global Sustainability: Challenges and Prospects 

Examine ecological crises of today including climate change, biodiversity loss, and soil erosion. You’ll consider their cause, relationship to other social and economic issues, and potential responses. 

The Economic Environment 

Discover microeconomic and macroeconomic concepts including taxes, market competition, and interest rates. You’ll consider these topics in relation to challenges facing individuals, businesses, and societies across the globe.  

International Development: Global and Local Issues 

Identify the challenges that confront societies, governments, and households. You’ll examine how researchers seek to understand these challenges to enhance welfare, global sustainability, and protection of rural livelihoods. 

Alternative Voices: Changing Perspectives of International Development 

Consider alternative voices in the narrative of the history of international development. Through case studies, you’ll appreciate that there is no singular history of development, but plural histories rooted in diverse geographies and trajectories of change. 

Optional modules

Contemporary World Cultures: An Introduction to Social Anthropology 

Gain a general introduction to social anthropology – the study of human societies and cultures. You’ll explore key themes in the discipline through the study of topics including kingship and marriage, gender and sexuality, the role of religion, ritual and witchcraft in social life, and contemporary hunting and gathering societies.

Global Justice 

Discover global perspectives on justice and freedom, from the Buddha to Christian female mystics, to acquire new insights and question your own beliefs and ideas. 

Introduction to Political Ideas 

Explore some of the major debates in political theory through the study of four themes: authority, freedom, democracy, and social justice. You’ll focus on conceptual and normative debates about politics and critically analyse, deconstruct, and develop arguments.

The Fundamentals of Management and Marketing 

Discover approaches to marketing and management. Through readings and case studies, you’ll address the latest thinking on these concepts, considering their relation to contemporary practice, and how different businesses operate.

Inequality

Analyse and understand the evolution of inequality, both over time and across developed countries. You’ll explore the economic, normative, and political implications of different forms of inequality, particularly in relation to gender and race.

War and Warfare

Acquire a grounding knowledge of the role of war in international relations. You’ll focus on concepts and types of war, their causes, and how they relate to real-world issues in international relations and international security.  

Geographical Imaginaries

Understand how geographical knowledge and methods have changed over time and how these changes are crucial to understanding how and why we do geography today. Recognise how geographical knowledge will evolve in response to changing social, environmental and technological needs and opportunities.

Human Geographies – Concepts, Theory and Practice

These are the modules that we currently offer for 2024/25 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them.

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.

Compulsory modules

Research Methods for International Development 

Gain the competency to work with qualitative and quantitative research regarding problems in developing countries. You’ll use a range of methods to understand the intricacies of processing data derived from developing-economy contexts. 

Approaches to International Development 

Explore theoretical approaches to the study of international development. You’ll identify and analyse conceptual frameworks that explain development issues and discover contributions that development economists have made to understanding changes. 

Professional Practice Placement for International Development 

Network with a range of employers in the development sector. You’ll organise and complete a work placement, or alternatively conduct interviews with potential employers to deepen your understanding of careers in development. 

Optional modules

Global Politics and History 

Learn how the study of history and the analysis of past events influence the study, contemporary debates, and practice of world politics.

Environment and Development 

Investigate the two-way relationship between environment and development by exploring the theoretical frameworks such as political ecology and post-colonial theory to assess how societal values and power dynamics drive environmental management approaches and sustain uneven and unequal development.  

Energy Resources  

Explore past, present, and future social, environmental, health and political aspects of energy resource use. Gain a holistic consideration of the role of different energy resources in the national, international, and global energy mix. 

Analysing Social Data: Techniques and Applications

Analyse social data using quantitative and qualitative methods to foster persuasive communication and comprehensive illustrations of your understanding. Become a well-informed, confident, and discerning users of social data. 

Development of Transferable Skills through a School Placement 

Receive specialist training and complete a placement in Reading secondary schools. You’ll plan and deliver a session that shares knowledge of your degree specialism to small groups of students and reflect on the experience.

Optional Language or University Wide Module

Study a module from outside your department to enhance your understanding of history and culture. Alternatively, you can learn one of ten languages offered by the University at a level appropriate for you.  

These are the modules that we currently offer for 2024/25 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them.

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.

Compulsory modules

Dissertation

Refine your research skills by completing a project on a topic of your choice within international development. You’ll gather data, critically review information, present your findings, and analyse the results. 

Power and Development 

Investigate whether power lies in development and how to advocate for social change. You’ll gain understanding of the agendas and functioning of global institutions, the role of the state in development, and the power of civil society.

Optional modules

Consumption, Politics and Space 

Appreciate the broad theoretical and empirical links between geography, consumption, media and the politics of sustainability and sustainable behaviour change. Develop a critical understanding of the cultural and geographical politics of contemporary society through the mediatised framings of environmental and social problems and solutions.   

Politics and International Relations of the Middle East  

Gain a nuanced understanding of the politics of Middle Eastern states and how they relate with international tensions and conflicts of the region. You’ll study the history of these countries and their state-civil society relations, as well as the international politics, roles of superpowers, and their interests in the area. 

International Political Economy  

Explore the interaction between states and markets, and between winners and losers, at domestic and international levels. You’ll discover the major theoretical approaches to international political economy through a range of topics, including international trade and finance, development, the effects of globalisation on the welfare state and the environment, and the use of economic sanctions.

War, Peace and International Ethics

Examine the ethical questions involved in war through real-world case studies and philosophical thought-experiments. You’ll discuss different moral issues, such as humanitarian intervention, the role of individual and collective self-defence, civilian immunity, terrorism, torture, and the punishment of war crimes.

International Organisations in Global Politics

Develop your knowledge of international organisations, how they work, major challenges that they face and how they respond to them. This will also develop your employability skills for roles within this sector. 

Global Justice, Labour and Development

Understand poverty, inequality, and unequal development from different perspectives. You’ll explore contested spaces of labour, critically explore policy debates, and interrogate the roles played by those who promote decent work and social justice. 

Feminism and Political Theory

Explore the role of feminism in the political landscape and the theoretical controversies surrounding it. You’ll examine a range of pressing issues in feminist politics, such as abortion, surrogacy, pornography, marriage, and the body. 

These are the modules that we currently offer for 2024/25 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them.

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.