Course Introduction

DEVS 100 and 230 have provided you with a foundation in development studies and equipped you with some critical analytic tools to think through concepts like "development," "modernity," "tradition," and "progress," that are at the heart of contemporary development studies.

In this course we will proceed from that foundation to focus on the role of "culture" in relation to "development" both as concepts that are studied and also in terms of their practical meaning for the "development work" of NGOs and others, the policy of nation-states and international bodies, and social movements.

Some key themes will include the "modernity"/"tradition" binary, the legacy and ongoing forms of colonialism, and, of course, the continual need to address power relations and situate analyses in a time/space context.

In short, we will encounter controversial debates that should provoke you to critically examine your own positions on a variety of issues central to the relationship between "culture" and "development.

Course Objectives

The primary goal of this course is to help you to identify the processes by which we come to hold views and to refine the analytical lens that you use to address these questions as development studies students, global citizens, and activists for a more socially just and ecologically sustainable world.

Also to examine and discuss;

• The contested meanings of the term ‘development’ and the power relationships, social formations, and historical contexts that give these meanings their legitimacy (or lack thereof).
• The implications on policy, political activism, and academic analysis of thinking of development as an outcome of representational inequality, as well as cultural exchange, flows, and struggle. 
• The implications on policy, political activism, and academic analysis of using culture to institutionalize inequality and imperialism on the one hand, and using culture to construct social justice and creative struggles on the other hand.

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More information:

• Computer Requirements and Internet Access
• Moodle, Our Online Learning Environment 
• Academic Integrity
• Evaluation
• Suggested Time Commitment
• Required Material