Overview

The central focus of the course is the relationship between active citizenship and development, with the recognition that diverse identities and aspirations are critical components of social change. This course responds to the increasing focus on well-being and ‘people-centred’ approaches, evidenced both by the revised policy priorities of many development agencies, and the discourses of grass-roots organizations, which question market led processes of development. At the same time, there is a need to problematize such approaches, given the power relations operating at various scales, from the global to the local, and the social dynamics of rapidly urbanizing societies. These concerns highlight the challenge of recognising and valuing difference in a way that strengthens, rather than fragments, collective action, and ensures universal principles of equity. This course offers the opportunity to engage with the theoretical and practical implications of promoting well-being and citizenship in the context of social diversity, exploring the traditional realm of the social sector as entry point to influence wider contestations of rights and citizenship as manifested in development initiatives. 

Programme objectives

The course is intended to introduce participants to critical, analytical and practical skills that will be of use in their future careers, whether as academics, social development practitioners or advocates for the need to place the 'social' at the centre of development.

Accordingly it provides participants with the opportunity to critically examine relevant bodies of knowledge, current debates and experience from the field and invites them to consider how social development concerns can be effectively addressed in the processes of development policy, planning and practice.

The programme focuses on international contexts of development which reflect the present day global social realities within which people operate and in this way better illustrates the complexities underlying social development planning and the potential pitfalls when attempting to effect social change initiatives.

Contact details

Programme Co-Directors: Dr Alexandre Apsan Frediani and Julian Walker

Programme Coordinator: Alicia Yon

Structure

The course consists of lectures, seminars, workshops, case study analysis, and field work in the UK and abroad. Students are expected to take an active part in their own learning through reading, essay writing and individual and group project work. Student performance is assessed through course work, examinations, and a dissertation report.

The course consists of the three core modules that are compulsory for all SDP students (90 credits); an optional module (30 credits); and a dissertation report (60 credits).

The core course modules provide the theoretical and methodological components of the course. Participants are required to study a core group of subjects which focus on planning and practice and on the theoretical debates which underpin social development policy and practice generally, and poverty reduction in particular. Course sessions comprise lectures, seminars, group work, debates and practical exercises. An overseas field work assignment is undertaken in term three.

The optional module allows students to select a course from another MSc programme in accordance with their own particular interests.

Dissertation Report

In addition to the taught and practice components, students will complete a Dissertation Report (60 credits) on a topic selected by themselves but which is related to the courses studied and approved by their supervisor. Examples of SDP Dissertation Reports from the last four years include:

• Measuring Women's Empowerment: Processual Framework (2009)
• Education for Human Dignity (2008)
• Understanding Children's Vulnerability and Resilience in Disasters: Towards a Child Sensitive Approach to Disaster Risk Reduction (2008)
• How Do Development Interventions Account for and Cater to the Needs of Collective Identities: The Case of PROGRESA/Oportunidades (2007)
• War, Development and Children: Exclusion of Kurdish Children in Turkey (2006)

Content

Core modules

BENVGSD1 Social Policy and Citizenship looks at socially sensitive development, which has its roots in the social sector and social welfare models that were developed during the last century.

BENVGSD2 Social Diversity, Inequality and Poverty argues that social development is no longer confined to the 'social sector', but is increasingly defined more broadly as an approach that attempts to put 'people' and social equity at the centre of development initiatives across all sectors.

Social Development in Practice is concerned with exploring ways in which a socially sensitive approach can be integrated into development interventions in both northern and southern countries. Such an approach must be based on the key ethical values of respecting and valuing diversity and of ensuring social inclusion in development interventions.

Optional modules

BENVGUE2 Managing the City Economy comprises a series of lectures, seminars and workshops. It is designed to train the participants in the application of economic criteria to the management of the city economy in both developing and developed countries.

BENVGDA1 Management and Planning for Development: International and National Dimensions introduces basic notions of development management and administration, state, market and bureaucracy, and the role of NGOs in the development process.

BENVGBU4 Housing Policy, Progamme and Project Alternatives looks at the substantial changes that have taken place in housing policy over the last few decades. The role of the state, its relation to the other agents and actors involved in housing production and provision, the levels and instruments of public

BENVGBU6 Disaster Risk Reduction in Cities provides a detailed examination and structured understanding of Disaster Studies and Disaster Risk Reduction, with specific reference to urban areas.

BENVGBU8 Critical Urbanism Studio I - Learning from Informality: Case Studies and Alternatives targets individuals of diverse academic backgrounds and levels of professional experience. This studio-based module promotes the merits of existing project scenarios and a critical understanding of case-study analysis and research in design processes.

BENVGBU9 Critical Urbanism Studio II - Investigative Design Strategies for Contested Spaces is the second Critical Urbanism Studio module. It builds upon the accumulated knowledge and conceptual framework of case study analysis (BENVGBU8) while focusing on a more profoundly phenomenological investigation into the multiplicity of contested developing arenas following a 'design as critique/resistance' attitude.

BENVGPU2 Urban Development Policy, Planning and Management: Strategic Action in Theory and Practice explores strategic action in urban development policy, planning and management that recognises social justice in cities.

BENVGPU4 Gender in Policy and Planning is an 18-session module over two terms examining gender relations in the socio-economic, political and environmental processes in the development of human settlements.

BENVGES2 Urban Environmental Planning and Management in Development considers the very large health burden suffered by large sections of the urban population as a result of environmental hazards, especially in urban areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America.

BENVGES4 Urban Agriculture looks at the way in which our rapidly changing world now presents us with immense challenges linked to peak oil and climate change. Rising cereal prices threaten to trigger a global food crisis, while the cost of energy involved in long-distance transportation and refrigeration of food is no longer sustainable.

BENVGES5 Adapting Cities to Climate Change in the Global South aims to provide participants with an understanding of the ways in which climate change will affect urban areas in low- and middle-income countries.

Staff

The MSc SDP is taught by DPU staff and associate teaching fellows held in high esteem by their peers internationally and renowned for their contribution to academic thinking and development practice. Please follow the links below to learn more about the teaching staff and associates.

Programme Co-Directors

Dr Alexandre Apsan Frediani
View Alexandre's profile
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Julian Walker
View Julian's profile
Send Julian an email

Staff currently teaching on the programme include:

Alicia Yon
View Alicia's profile
Send Alicia an email

Applying

Please click through to the UCL graduate prospectus page for this course, from where you can find information on application fees, eligibility, tuition fees, scholarships, and then complete the online application process.

Applicants should also review the faculty specific admissions information and the FAQ on admissions.

Opportunities

The course attracts participants from a wide variety of disciplines including sociology, anthropology, international studies, history, communication studies, geography and psychology.The course focuses on linking an analysis of social development theory with the application of practical development methodologies. The emphasis on UK based and international field work gives student a level of practical experience which is not offered by comparable social development Master’s courses. This puts participants in a good position to pursue careers in international development, by applying acquired skills on the ground to support relationships between community groups and development actors. 

Graduates of the course have moved into a range of professions, including work in: international NGOs, in both specialised social NGOs (for example NGOs concerned with gender equality, youth, or disability) and social roles in mainstream development NGOs; bilateral development agencies as social development specialists; national government in positions related to social policy, and; private sector companies engaged in social appraisal, social research and consultancy. The course has also provided many graduates with the basis to continue into PhD research.