The following courses will be offered in the Spring of 2023:
- DEVS 101-700: Development Studies in Global Perspective. Instructor: M. Taylor (Online)
- DEVS 220-700: Introduction to Indigenous Studies. Instructor: I. Fanning (Online)
- DEVS 260-700: Gender and Development. Instructor: A. Tomac (Online)
- DEVS 362-700: Globally Engaged Experiential Learning. Instructor: K. Fizzell (Online)
- DEVS 380-001: Contemporary Food Issues. Instructor: J. Haase (In-Person)
For more information on each course, please see the course descriptions below.
For more detailed course information please visit the Faculty of Arts and Science website. Please note that course information listed in the Arts and Science Course Calendar supersedes information listed within the DEVS website.
Instructor: Marcus Taylor
Course Title: Development Studies in Global Perspective
Explores the relationships between global economic integration, technological change, environmental sustainability, political systems and cultural diversity. Introduces essential interdisciplinary perspectives for complex global challenges from poverty to climate change, and builds the foundations for ethical cross-cultural engagement.
Learning Hours: 120 (36aO; 36Tl, 74P)
Exclusion: DEVS 100/6.0 and DEVS 105/3.0
Instructors: Rebecca Hall
Course Title: Canada in the World
Canada in the World will help students build knowledge and analytical capacities in global development, with a focus on Canada. The course examines how processes of global development are differentiated across borders and axes of gender, racialization and colonization. Students will explore applications of theories of global change.
Learning Hours: 120 (36aO; 36Tl, 74P)
Exclusion: DEVS 100/6.0
Instructors: Mark Hostetler and Scott Rutherford
Course Title: Canada and the "Third World"
Introduces basic theoretical concepts of development studies, the history of global inequality, the role of local and transnational actors and institutions such as the World Bank, key debates in development policy, and short histories of alternative development strategies. Case studies of Canada's ties to the so-called "third world" will include missionaries, military, business, and aid. Canadian colonialism over First Nations peoples will introduce basic issues in Aboriginal Studies.
Instructor: Bernadette P. Resurrección
Course Title: Development in Practice
Development in Practice focuses on institutional efforts to frame, plan, and manage development and change towards sustainable, just and positive outcomes. It will examine political negotiations in setting strategic development agendas and goals. It also includes critically learning about practical planning approaches used in development programs.
The history of international development policy and aid is complex, a mixture of hopeful altruism, negotiated agreement, diverse interests and difficult reality. Development policy and practice is a matter of framing: defining development problems such as persistent poverty, environmental insecurity and social inequality in much of the developing world often designing different approaches to mitigate and address such problems. Many of these problems over the last 50 years have remained or escalated. Thus, Development Studies is frequently linked, directly or indirectly, to policy – to action – which is the core area of work and responsibility of development practice and often the career trajectory of the development expert. Development in practice is about the workings of development; it is about the ‘doing’ and ‘planning’ of development, which is fraught with political stakes, interests and unexpected outcomes despite contemporary technocratic efforts to predict, manage and govern its conduct. It is the need to roadmap and govern development. Students will have the opportunity to understand a brief history and politics of development cooperation and aid that inform development agendas.
This course aims to provide a knowledge base on the ways with which development practice is concretely carried out through various methods of project design and intervention. It will also prepare students to engage with various actors and institutions within the architecture of development practice and politics while being reflective of their own positionality and vision for change in this world. They will have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with current approaches being used to plan development projects and programs. They will come to know about complex global, national and local development institutions and networks of relationships between international development donors, national states, NGOs, professionals, and ‘recipient’ communities as they coalesce around, adapt or negotiate development agendas. Finally, they will also reflect on the role played by development professionals who advance such agendas and interface with so-called beneficiary groups.
Emerging insights from development practice over the years also shed light on the dynamic yet unequal terms of engagement and knowledge transfers between the Global North and Global South.
Learning Hours: 120 (24L;12T;84P)
Prerequisites: Level 2 or above and registration in any DEVS plan or permission of the department
Instructor: Ian Fanning
Course Title: Introduction to Indigenous Studies
An introduction to Indigenous ways of knowing organized on a historical basis, from creation to present day, emphasizing Indigenous cultures and experiences in Canada. Students will critically examine colonialism. Indigenous perspectives will be introduced through lecture, reading and assignments, and from contributions from elders, members of Indigenous communities and Indigenous scholars.
Instructor: Ian Fanning
Course Title: Indigenous Studies II
Indigenous Studies II highlights the resilience and resistance of Indigenous communities as they grapple with gendered settler colonialism. The course examines Indigenous knowledge and governance within the settler nation state and the re-building of Indigenous communities. Topics include contemporary issues in Indigenous healing, art, teaching and learning, Indigenous activism, and socio-political life. Students engage in work that centers the voices of Indigenous peoples.
Note: Also offered online. Consult Arts and Science Online. Learning Hours may vary.
Learning Hours: 120 (24L;12T; 84P)
Prerequisite: DEVS 220/3.0
Instructor: Susanne Soederberg (Fall)
Course Title: The Global Political Economy of Development
This course introduces students to important debates, concepts and themes in the global political economy of development. Using a political economy perspective, we examine how different types of power relations are formed around the production, distribution and consumption of goods across local, national and international settings. We also examine how these power relations structure the institutions, processes and outcomes of global development. The course proceeds historically starting with an examination of the ways in which post-colonial countries were integrated into the world economy in the decades following the Second World War. Subsequently, we use this as a basis to examine more contemporary issues including good governance, free trade, and corporate social responsibility. No prior study of economics is needed for this course – we will be concerned with the real world of development, not abstract mathematical models.
Prerequisites: DEVS 100/6.0 or DEVS 105/3.0 (DEVS 100/6.0 can be taken concurrently in exceptional circumstances).
Instructor: Ayca Tomac
Course Title: Culture and Development
This course will explore how theories and practices of 'development' are entwined with different conceptions of culture. It starts by examining how the West constructed itself as the civilising force in the world and viewed the mass poverty of 'Third World' peoples as a product of their conservative traditions and cultural practices. The course will examine ways that colonial perceptions and practices still imbue development discourse today, and how they are being challenged. How have new social movements, art forms, and technologies opened up to engage with, resist and contest the current model of market driven development, and how does the latter incorporate or co-opt the critiques? Specific topics will include science, religion, sports, art and music. After completing the course, students should be able to demonstrate a critical awareness of everyday events in the Global South and among indigenous peoples as reported, for example, in the media or as performed through hip hop and the many other forms of resistance culture.
Learning Hours: 120 (24L;12T;84P)
Prerequisites: (DEVS 100/6.0 or DEVS 105/3.0) and DEVS 230/3.0. (DEVS 100/6.0 can be taken concurrently in exceptional circumstances)
Instructor: Marcus Taylor
Course Title: Global Environmental Transformations
Examines the relationship between development and environmental change by introducing social science perspectives on themes including energy, agriculture, climate, urbanisation and water. With a focus on combining macro and micro analysis, the course reflects on the meaning of development in an era of global environmental transformation. LEARNING HOURS 120 (18L;18G;84P) PREREQUISITES: Level two standing or above.Learning Hours: 120 (36aO; 36Tl, 74P)
Prerequisites: Level 2 or above.
Instructor: Reena Kukreja
Course Title: Globalization, Gender, and Development
This course is designed for those interested in undertaking a critical analysis of the gendered impact of the globalization process and development policies with a focus on women in the Global South.
Note: Also offered as a distance course. Consult Arts and Science Online at https://www.queensu.ca/artsci/programs-and-degrees/online-and-distance-courses. Learning Hours may vary.
Learning Hours: 120 (24L;12T;84P)
Prerequisites: (DEVS100 or DEVS 105/3.0) and (Level 2 or above or registration in the GAEN certificate) or permission of instructor.
Instructor: Kathryn Fizzell
Course Title: Global Engagement
This course explores current thinking around the motivations for, and ethical implications of, working with communities on issues of social justice, inequality, and sustainable development. Students will engage in self-reflexive practices and work collaboratively to create tools and action plans for ethical global engagement in the future.
Note: Only offered online. Consult Arts and Science Online.
Learning Hours: 120 (84O;36P)
Prerequisites: (DEVS100 or DEVS 105/3.0) and (Level 2 or above or registration in the GAEN certificate)] or permission of instructor.
Instructor: Kilian Atuoye
Course Title: Global Health and Development
This course examines the nexus between global health and development with a focus on preparing students for work on contemporary health and wellbeing issues. It takes a multidisciplinary perspective, but largely from the field of social science, to analyze current global challenges including environmental and social transformations, and changing disease burden. Using case studies, students will learn important concepts and principles in global health and development. Innovative approaches that bridge global health and development will also be introduced in this course.
Learning Hours: 120 (24L;12T;84P)
Prerequisites: Level 2 or above and registration in any DEVS Plan or permission of the Department.
Instructor: Mark Hostetler
Course Title: Cross-Cultural Research Methods
How do we go from an idea or question to designing a research project to answer it? Students will learn how to prepare and design cross-cultural research projects for international development work, to understand and use selected methods from a critical perspective, to understand important elements underlying successful fieldwork and to learn to develop a development research proposal. We will cover research design, choosing the instruments, cross-checking and in-the-field analysis, entering the field, choosing the informants, analyzing the data and proposal writing.
Learning Hours: 132 (24L;12G;96P)
Prerequisites (DEVS 100/6.0 or DEVS 105/3.0) and DEVS 230/3.0 and DEVS 240/3.0 (DEVS 100/6.0 can be taken concurrently with DEVS 230/3.0 or DEVS 240/3.0 in exceptional circumstances).
Instructors: Karen Dubinsky and Susan Lord
Course Title: Cuban Culture and Society I
This course introduces students to Cuban society and culture. The focus is on the period from the Cuban revolution (1959) to the present. Students will examine some of the main events and highlights of Cuban history, politics and culture in this era. This is a prerequisite for DEVS 307 Cuban Culture and Society II, held in Havana during the Spring Term.
Learning Hours: 120(36L;84P)
Prerequisite: Level 3 or above and registration in any Arts and Science Plan.
Exclusion: No more than 6.0 units from DEVS 305/6.0; DEVS 306/3.0; DEVS 307/3.0
For more information see Global Development Studies department website: https://www.queensu.ca/devs/undergraduate-program/international-study-program-cuba
See also Queen's Cuban Culture and Society course page on Facebook www.facebook.com/QueensCubanCultureAndSocietyCourse
Instructors: Susan Lord and Karen Dubinsky
Course Title: *Cuban Culture and Society II
An experiential learning course that takes place in Havana, in collaboration with U of Havana. Begins with pre-departure sessions at Queen’s followed by two weeks in Havana. Havana instructors include professors, musicians, filmmakers, artists. Havana site visits include museums, art schools, organic gardens, galleries, medical schools, theatres. NOTE Students are expected to pay an ancillary fee for travel and accommodation while in Havana. Estimated costs $3200.00. Students are expected to attend pre-departure orientation prior to leaving for Havana.
*Students must apply to take this course.
Learning Hours: 120(120Oc)
Prerequisite: DEVS 306/3.0
Exclusions: No more than 6.0 units from DEVS 305/6.0; DEVS 306/3.0; DEVS 307/3.0
For more information see Global Development Studies department website: https://www.queensu.ca/devs/undergraduate-program/international-study-program-cuba
See also Queen's Cuban Culture and Society course page on Facebook www.facebook.com/QueensCubanCultureAndSocietyCourse
Instructor: Paritosh Kumar
Course Title: Theories of Development
This course introduces students to various theories that attempt to explain what ‘development’ is, how it occurs (or why it does not occur) and to whose benefit. Despite the frequent use of the term ‘development’ in academic, policy and journalistic writings, there is little consensus on what it actually entails – or even if some discernable process exists at all. For example, while modernisation theory suggests that development is a sequence of structural changes that all societies eventually go through; post-development theories argue that the notion of ‘development’ is merely a rhetorical device that reproduces power relations between the West and the Rest. To begin to understand these debates – and the political issues at stake – we survey several broad areas of development theory including classical political economy, modernisation theory, dependency theory, neoclassicism, neoinstitutionalism, Marxism, post-colonialism, post-development, feminist theories and global political-ecology.
Learning Hours; 120 (24L;12T;84P)
Prerequisites: (DEVS 100/6.0 or DEVS 105/3.0) and DEVS 230/3.0 and DEVS 240/3.0. (DEVS 100/6.0 can be taken concurrently with DEVS 230/3.0 or DEVS 240/3.0 in exceptional circumstances).
Exclusions: POLS 346/3.0.
Instructor: Diana Córdoba
Course Title: Technology and Development
This course teams Arts and Science with Applied Science students to explore and analyse different theoretical and practical perspectives on technology and development. Students then apply their evolving collective understanding to the creation of a proposal for a technology related development project. Throughout the course, we introduce students to the socio-economic, cultural and political factors surrounding technology and its relationship to the development in both advanced industrial societies and developing nations. We focus in particular on the interaction of politics and policy with technological choice and design, critically exploring ideas including appropriate, intermediate and sustainable technologies.
Learning Hours: 120 (36L;84P)
Prerequisites: Level 3 or above and (registration in any DEVS Plan or registration in any Applied Science Program), or permission of the Department.
Equivalency: DEVS 330/3.0
Instructor: Susanne Soederberg
Course Title: Business and Global Development
Over the past several decades, business – particularly large multinational corporations - have come to play an increasingly dominant role in global development. This course will interrogate the structures, processes and practices employed by corporations as they forge new partnerships with states, inter-governmental organizations (e.g., the United Nations), non-governmental organizations. In so doing, we will use lectures, tutorials and case studies to learn about the anatomy of corporate power (legal structure, governance and decision making processes) and how this power is brokered across the globe through themes such as: divestment campaigns, microcredit, and shelter loans for slum dwellers, corporate philanthropy, disaster management, the sustainable development goals, and corporate social responsibility.
Learning Hours: 120 (24L;12T;84P)
Prerequisites: One of COMM 200/3.0; COMM 372/3.0; COMM 375/3.0; COMM 407/3.0; DEVS 230/3.0; DEVS 250/3.0; GPHY 228/3.0; POLS 262/3.0; SOCY 225/3.0.
Equivalency: DEVS 333/3.0
Instructor: David McDonald
Course Title: Cities and Urbanization in the South
This course examines cities and urbanization in countries in the South, looking at similarities and differences between and across regions, and the extent to which these cities connect (or not) with urban areas in the North.
NOTE: Priority will be given to students registered in a DEVS Plan during course selection.
Learning Hours: 120 (24L;12T;84P)
Prerequisites: Level 3 or above and (DEVS 230/3.0 or DEVS 250/3.0)
Equivalency: DEVS 270/3.0 AND DEVS 292/3.0 Topic: Urbanization in the South
Instructor: Rebecca Hall
Course Title: The Political Economy of Resource Extraction
This course analyzes the political economy of resource extraction, focusing on Canadian extraction, domestically and globally. Students will critically examine historical and contemporary extraction and its role in economies, livelihoods and transnational movement (e.g. migration and colonialism) and explore alternative extractive futures.
Learning Hours: 120 (36L;84P)
Prerequisites: Level 3 or above and (DEVS 230/3.0 or DEVS 250/3.0)
Exclusions: DEVS 392/3.0 Topic: The Political Economy of Resource Extraction
Instructor: Diana Córdoba
Course Title: NGO Policy-making and Development
Non-governmental organization (NGOs) have become key actors in the world of development influencing both the decision-making process and policy implementation. This course aims to provide students with basic knowledge and skills in preparation for work in the NGOs’ sector and a critical overview of the major issues involved in their interventions. The first part of the course introduces students to critical theories and debates on NGOs’ governance, state-society relationships and democracy. Special attention is given to the role and effectiveness of NGOs to influence the decision-making process and to impact policy implementation. The second part of the course focuses on NGOs’ managerial practices and knowledges and the challenges and constraints associated with their growing dependency on external funding. Thus, students explore aspects such as NGOs’ organisational management, legitimacy and accountability, the way these organisations facilitate capacity development, and NGOs future opportunities. Using a case-based approach, in the third part of the course students analyze the structures, missions and intervention approaches in a variety of international NGO areas such as agricultural development, poverty reduction, climate change adaptation and mitigation, women’s rights, and humanitarian relief.
Learning Hours: 120(36L;84P)
Prerequisites: Level 3 or above
Exclusions: DEVS 392/3.0 Non-Governmental Organisations, Policy Making and Development
Instructors: Scott Rutherford
Course Title: Project Planning and Policy Advocacy
This course is designed to equip students with critical understanding of strategies, techniques and mindsets that can help social movements and other justice-oriented organizations contribute to policy advocacy in Global Development. This course connects theory with practice through four in-depth modules on policy advocacy in Global Development. Through independent historical and sociological research students will apply core concepts and best practices to develop new understandings about the challenges of designing a public campaign aimed at legal and policy changes toward the goal of global justice advocacy. Students will also learn to assess where policy advocacy fits within a broader spectrum of transformative societal change.
Note: This course no longer includes project planning. Students interested in project planning are encouraged to take DEVS 210 (Development in Practice)
NOTE Only offered online. Consult Arts and Science Online.
Learning Hours 120 (72O;48P)
Prerequisites: [(DEVS 240/3.0 or DEVS 280/3.0) and (Level 2 or above or registration in GAEN certificate)] or permission of instructor.
Instructor: Kathryn Fizzell
Course Title: Globally Engaged Experiential Learning (ONLINE ONLY)
This course builds on DEVS 280/3.0 by facilitating an 80-hour experience related to global engagement. Students will engage with concepts of ethical engagement and relationship building as they are guided through a practical experiential learning opportunity in the field of global engagement.
NOTE Only offered online.
Learning Hours: 120 (72 Online Activity, 48 Private Study)
Requirements: Prerequisite (DEVS 280 and [Level 2 or above or registration in the GAEN Certificate]); Students must also complete a ‘Petition of Entry’ form, accessible on the DEVS 362 course page (to be created/hyperlinked). Students must also secure placements that meet specific requirements and are expected to complete pre-departure documentation as well as other protocols, including covering all costs associated with the placements.
Instructor: Marc Epprecht
Course Title: Contemporary Southern Africa: Development Trends and Challenges
This course first provides the historical and regional context necessary to understand urban southern Africa’s contemporary struggles, then examines strategies to address key development challenges and how they may be creating opportunities for new ways of thinking about citizenship in South Africa and the Global South more generally.
NOTE: DEVS 363 is the qualifying course for students who wish to attend the summer study program in South Africa.
Learning Hours: 20 (24L;12T;8G;84P)
Prerequisites: Level 3 or above
Instructor: Michelle Kennedy
Course Title: The (De) Colonial Struggle
This course will challenge students to critically examine the ways in which colonialism and decolonization has shaped the social, political, historical, and economic landscapes of settler states. The first part of this course focuses on the relational dynamics between the colonizer and the colonized, elucidating how this relationship has impacted historic and contemporary understandings of indigeneity and sovereignty. The second part of the course addresses the various ways that both Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples work towards decolonization through processes of ‘unlearning’ and re-presencing.
Learning Hours: 120 (36O;84P)
Instructor: Kyla Tienhaara
Course Title: Trade and Investment in the Global South
As we enter the third decade of the 21st century, the future of globalization is highly uncertain. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fragility of global supply chains for everything from medical equipment to basic food supplies and has led many to argue that countries need to be more self-sufficient. But even before the pandemic hit, there was trouble brewing. The turn to more mercantilist policies by President Trump brought the term “trade war” back into vogue and the “rules-based” order for trade and investment into crisis. In this course, students will examine this shifting landscape and what it means in a development context. Would the breakdown of the World Trade Organization (WTO) benefit or hurt countries in the Global South? What does the regionalization of trade rules mean for the “development agenda”? Students will also critically assess alternatives to the current system, with a focus on fair trade. Finally, the course will address the intersection between global trade and investment and the climate crisis.
Learning Hours: 120 (36L;84P)
Instructor: Janette Haase
Course Title: Contemporary Food Systems
This course is an experiential learning course that combines an in-class component with a practical volunteer or workplace opportunity. In class, students will learn about the two major contemporary agricultural paradigms - industrial agriculture and agroecology as well as the major elements that make up a farm – the land, the farmer, the crops and livestock – considering both the industrial and agroecological models. Attention will also be given to some of the major topics in food systems and agriculture such as trade restrictions, environmental sustainability, indigenous agriculture, food sovereignty and development approaches.
The practical experience involves a minimum of 7 hours per week at a local farm, food security organization or other placement relevant to the course content. Students will use their placement to gain practical, hands-on experience within the agri-cultural community from which they can reflect and integrate into their classroom learning and then apply in future career situations.
Learning Hours: 240 hours (36L/12O/70Oc/122P)
- 36 Lecture
- 12 Online
- 70 Off campus Activity
- 122 Private Study
Prerequisites: Level 3 and permission from the instructor.
Instructor: Alina Dixon
Course Title: Transitions to Youth-Inclusive Peacebuilding
Young people are often some of the most severely impacted by conflicts yet are continually excluded from the spaces, processes, knowledge creation, and decisions that attempt to reconstruct communities and build lasting peace after conflict. Part One of this course is devoted to engagement with the theoretical roots of youth exclusion from peacebuilding and the emerging debates that are carving out new spaces for the contributions of young people. Part Two will apply this theoretical grounding to a range of practical examples of youth peacebuilding across a variety of geographic locations. Some of the topics we will explore in Part Two include healing through performance art in Uganda and Parkour as peacebuilding in Gaza. The course offers an approach to the study of youth peacebuilding lies at the intersection of the theory of youth as peacebuilders and the practical experiences of youth themselves.
NOTE Priority will be given to students registered in a DEVS Plan during course selection.
Learning Hours: 120 (36L;84P)
Prerequisites: Level 3 or above and registration in any DEVS Plan, or permission of the Department.
Instructor: Hannah Ascough
Course Title: Talk DEVS To Me: Communicating Development
When we talk about “development”, we are talking about growth as a marker of “progress”. And when “development” talks, it too is steeped in a growth-oriented mindset which values prosperity, and justifies (neo)colonial, capitalist violences. In this course, we will first critically engage with “development” in its conceptual forms, grounding our study of development communication in theoretical perspectives, and interrogating where hegemonic development values are re/produced in mainstream, popular media. We will then look at the strategies development organizations employ to sell “growth”, and identify the corresponding political agendas these discourses justify. Finally, we will turn to alternative iterations of development, and the discursive strategies employed by activists, community organizers, and artists to incite resistance. Throughout the course, we will engage a plurality of development materials – including theory, movies, poetry, NGO advertising, and more – to better understand how development discourses seep into and reflect everyday life, and to learn to communicate our own creative, alternative development messages.NOTE Priority will be given to students registered in a DEVS Plan during course selection.
Learning Hours: 120 (36L;84P)
Prerequisites: Level 3 or above and registration in any DEVS Plan, or permission of the Department.
Instructor: Brandon Pryce
Course Title: Development and Race
“How have racial identities been socially created, contested, and resisted within contemporary discourses around development? This seminar will introduce students to the topics of race, racialization, and racism to critically examine how these issues impact development in both theory and practice. From historical debates around the creation of racial(ized) identities, to the 2020 murder of George Floyd, this course unpacks race as a key factor in development approaches and outcomes. The course outlines how development discourse is simultaneously steeped in racist and racialized language and practices, while also functioning as a key site for the creation and distribution of racist and racialized dialogue.”
NOTE Priority will be given to students registered in a DEVS Plan during course selection.
Learning Hours: 120 (36L;84P)
Prerequisites: Level 3 or above and registration in any DEVS Plan, or permission of the Department.
Instructor: David McDonald
Course Title: Covid19 in the Global South
The effects of Covid-19 have been highly unequal around the world, with low-income communities in the Global South amongst the worst affected by its direct health impacts and its indirect social, economic and political fallout. Uneven access to health care facilities, lack of support for lost incomes, racialized discrimination, and authoritarian restrictions on movement are just a few examples of the ways in which Covid-19 has served to exacerbate global inequalities. And yet, some governments and communities in the Global South have handled Covid-19 in remarkably positive ways, managing its spread and mitigating its effects. This course will provide a survey of how Covid-19 is unfolding in different regions/countries as well as examining a range of thematic issues such as migrant workers, access to clean water, impacts on official development assistance, and the gendered nature of the pandemic.
NOTE Priority will be given to students registered in a DEVS Plan during course selection.
Learning Hours: 132 (24L;12T;96P)
Prerequisites: Level 3 or above and registration in any DEVS Plan, or permission of the Department.
Instructor: Bernadette Resurrección
Course Title: Climate Change and Disaster Risk
The world is experiencing increasing extreme and slow onset climate change events and intensifying disasters. Cyclones, floods, heat waves and longer dry spells are now more intense and frequent, having immediate- and long-term adverse effects on agriculture, water systems, urban living, and food security. Globally, marginalized groups least responsible for climate change are also its most vulnerable. Climate change and disasters thus exacerbate already existing and unjust conditions of vulnerability and insecurity. The first part of the course will examine the ontological framings of climate change, disaster risk, vulnerability and resilience from various intellectual streams such as: risk/hazards, ecological resilience, and political ecology. The second part will explore how these ontological framings translate into practical responses and programs such as climate change adaptation, mitigation, resilience-building, and disaster risk reduction. Despite considerable traction and resources that characterize these programs today, there is heightened concern and unease that unjust conditions of vulnerability continue unaddressed. Finally, in the search for counterpoint pathways, the course will be bookended by visions and platforms that imagine more ecologically just, ‘care-ful’ and convivial futures envisaged by the climate, gender and environmental justice and degrowth-oriented scholars and movements.
NOTE Priority will be given to students registered in a DEVS Plan during course selection.
Learning Hours: 120 (36L;84P)
Prerequisites: Level 3 or above and registration in any DEVS Plan, or permission of the Department.
Instructor: Kilian Atuoye
Course Title: Land Politics and Health
This course explores the complexity of land politics and its implications for health and health promotion at local and global levels. It starts by conceptualizing land politics as deeply steeped in political ecologies which produce and reinforce health inequities. With such theoretical framing, students will learn the situatedness of contemporary concepts and processes in land politics (including environmental appropriation, exploitation, dispossession, and repossession) in broader discourses of environmental (in)justice and sustainability. It will also discuss how power and politics over land access are organized and operationalized at multiple scales to influence longstanding health inequalities. The course will conclude by examining ways in which global health can benefit from equity in land politics, and assist students to examine their future roles in promoting healthy environments and healthy populations through ‘equitable land reforms’ in communities and at the global level.
NOTE Priority will be given to students registered in a DEVS Plan during course selection.
Prerequisites: Level 3 or above and registration in any DEVS Plan, or permission of the Department.
Instructor: Please contact the DEVS Placement Coordinator
Course Title: Work Placement in Development Studies
Provides students with first-hand experience working with an agency involved in international development, either in Canada or abroad. The placement will normally be for 10-20 weeks, to be negotiated with the sponsoring agency. Students are required to attend preparatory meetings (in Winter Term), prepare a work-study proposal, a research paper on the placement and maintain a journal on a continuing basis while on their placement. In addition to academic requirements, students are required to enroll in the Queen's Emergency Support Program, attend pre-departure orientation and complete Queen's Off-Campus Activity Safety Policy (OCASP) requirements.
Note: Students must apply to take this course and are normally responsible for all costs associated with participation in this course.
Learning Hours: 260 (60G;200P)
Prerequisites: Level 3 or above and registration in the DEVS Major Plan and departmental approval in advance from the Head of Global Development Studies.
Co-requisite: DEVS 411/3.0 (Under special circumstances a student can substitute DEVS 502/3.0 (Directed Readings in Development Studies) for DEVS 411/3.0. Permission for the latter may be granted to students who have completed all other degree requirements, and who do not need to return to Queen's University campus following completion of their placement. Students must seek prior approval from the Placement Coordinator, Global Development Studies for this option).
Exclusions: No more than one course from DEVS 410/6.0; DEVS 420/3.0; DEVS 432/6.0.
Instructor: Paritosh Kumar
Course Title: Post Placement Seminar in Development Studies
Required for students who have successfully completed the course requirements for DEVS 410. The course will provide a forum for students to debrief and to critically examine their placement experience. Evaluation based on presentation, participation, journal synthesis and a final report.
Learning Hours: 120 (36S;84P)
Prerequisites: DEVS 410/6.0 and Level 3 or above and registration in the DEVS Major Plan and departmental approval in advance from the Placement Coordinator, Global Development Studies.
One-Way Exclusion: May not be taken with or after DEVS 420/3.0; DEVS 421/3.0.
Instructor: Please contact DEVS Program Assistant
Course Title: Study Placement in Development Studies
Participation in an organized educational or cultural exchange, either
i) one term of studies at a developing-country university, or
ii) an exchange program in a developing-country setting with an organization such as Canada World Youth or Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute for at least 6 weeks.
Students are required to prepare a work-study proposal, a risk assessment of their placement and attend a pre-departure orientation. Assessment will also be based on a journal and final report.
NOTE Students participating in the study period at the University of Witswatersand (WITS) in Johannesburg will pay ancillary fee for programming (e.g. cultural field trips, bussing). Students will pay all travel and living costs while studying at Wits. The study period at Wits is mid-July to end of August.
Learning Hours: 124 (40G;84P)
Prerequisite: Level 3 or above and registration in the DEVS Major or Joint Honours plan and departmental approval in advance from the Placement Coordinator, Global Development Studies.
Exclusion: No more than 1 course from DEVS 410/6.0; DEVS 420/3.0;
Exclusion: No more than 3.0 units from DEVS 420/3.0; DEVS 421/3.0.
Instructor: Diana Córdoba
Course Title: Political Ecology
The interdisciplinary field of Political ecology highlights the relevance of power and politics for shaping the relationship between humans and their environments. It first emerged in the 1970s and 1980s with the specific aim of challenging ‘apolitical’ accounts of human-environment relations that rely upon simplistic causal links between population growth, poverty, environmental degradation, and social conflicts. In the first part of this course, we will explore core theoretical, conceptual, and methodological trends and debates in the field of political ecology. In the second part, we will cover a range of cases of environmental problems in various socio-ecological contexts including those concerned with the climate emergency, deforestation, water degradation and energy injustices. We will also look for inspiration through the transformative work of organizations, communities and movements crafting solutions to environmental problems. The overall goal of this course is thus to introduce students to important contexts and tools for analyzing the complexity of human systems and their relationships to the natural world and for contributing to solutions to environmental problems.
Note: Taught concurrently with DEVS 8XX/3.0.
Learning Hours: 120 (36L;84P)
Prerequisites: Level 4 and registration in the DEVS Major or Joint Honours Plan and (DEVS 300/3.0 or DEVS 340/3.0) or permission of the Department.
Instructor: Marc Epprecht
Course Title: Tourism in Transition
In 2019, tourism accounted for 10-11% of employment globally. For some countries, its promotion was the principal development strategy, with noteworthy successes achieved over the past few decades. Compelling critiques of tourism’s environmental, cultural, unequal economic and other harmful impacts, as well as rapid changes in technology and in tourist demography, were giving rise both to new harms and new strategies to mitigate them including, notably, “eco-tourism.” COVID-19 largely shut down the industry with devastating impacts in tourism-dependent economies. But it also sparked creative initiatives to re-think tourism as a sustainable, social justice-oriented development strategy. This course critically assesses the history and contemporary practices of tourism planning for a post-pandemic, climate crisis, “new normal” world.
Note: Taught concurrently with DEVS 8XX/3.0.
Learning Hours: 120 (36L;84P)
Prerequisites: Level 4 and registration in the DEVS Major or Joint Honours Plan and (DEVS 300/3.0 or DEVS 340/3.0) or permission of the Department.
Instructor: Scott Rutherford
Course Title: Sport, Justice and Development
This course uses sport to examine broader questions related to the cultural politics of development. The course investigates how sport has been implicated in various processes that came to shape the development project’s cultural politics and its more recent iterations in the twenty first century. Students will be asked to consider how through sport we can explore questions of power and agency within development as well as debates surrounding using the culture of sport as an expedient tool to achieve social, economic and political objectives. Moreover, the course asks students to consider the role of sport as praxis to achieve more equitable futures.
Note: Taught concurrently with DEVS 8XX/3.0.
Learning Hours: 120 (36L;84P)
Prerequisites: Level 4 and registration in the DEVS Major or Joint Honour plan and (DEVS 300/3.0 or DEVS 340/3.0) or permission of the Department.
Instructor: Bernadette Resurrección
Course Title: Feminisms in Environment and Development
The seminar will explore feminisms in environment and development. Feminist discussions will touch on society-nature relations, which are conventionally perceived to be dualistic and binary through colonial processes. Major strands of “women and environment” scholarship have posited nature as an external entity impacting disproportionately on women through its ‘unruly ways’ (WED); as lamenting the demise of pristine nature and along with it, women’s special environmental knowledge (ecofeminism). Other intellectual streams, such as postcolonial feminist political ecology, and feminist environmentalism, instead seek to blur the society-nature dualism by positing their co-constitution: They demonstrate that people interact with nature through multiple knowledges and gendered forms of labor on land, water, forests, in disasters and climate change, be it through productive, reproductive, visible or invisibilized labor. Their bodies are their first territory and the system that exploits nature is the same one that exploits bodies, sexualities and labor as they intersect with hierarchies of race, ethnicity, class and age. This seminar will also provide students with approaches to analyze technological, political economic processes, and policy practices that make up today’s sustainability debates and the positioning of gender discourses in these.
Note: Taught concurrently with DEVS 8XX/3.0.
Learning Hours: 120 (36L;84P)
Prerequisites: Level 4 and registration in the DEVS Major or Joint Honours plan and (DEVS 300/3.0 or DEVS 340/3.0) or permission of the Department.
Instructor: Paritosh Kumar
Course Title: Development and the Global Agrofood System
There can be little doubt that the current era is witnessing dramatic change in the global production and consumption of food. In some respects this represents that continuation of previous trends. However, in number of important ways agricultural restructuring in the late twentieth century appears completely new. Using a diverse disciplinary perspective, this course analyses key aspects of contemporary changes in the global agro-food system. Topics covered will range from industrialization and corporate control of food and farming, the geography of more ‘flexible’ forms of manufacturing and service provisions, feminization of agricultural labour, localized and place-based agriculture, non-agricultural uses of agro-food resources, financialization of food, food sovereignty to new landscapes of consumption, changing forms of political organization and protests and the relationship between food and culture, specifically how communities and societies identify and express themselves through food.
Note: Taught concurrently with DEVS 8XX/3.0.
Learning Hours: 120 (36L;84P)
Prerequisites: Level 4 and registration in the DEVS Major or Joint Honours plan and (DEVS 300/3.0 or DEVS 340/3.0) or permission of the Department.
Instructor: David McDonald
Course Title: Energy Democracy
Energy democracy is a relatively new concept that refers to a transformation of the ways in which we produce and consume energy that are more socially and economically just as well as environmentally sustainable. There are radically different visions for what this means in practice, however, with competing notions of what constitutes democratic engagement, who should own and operate energy facilities, what role new technologies should play, etc. This course will focus on electricity in particular, examining spaces of energy poverty and different strategies for improving electricity access and affordability while at the same time expanding democratic engagement and public ownership. The emphasis will be on renewable forms of electricity, comparing energy democracy struggles in the North and the South, with states and communities employing very different strategies to address local contexts while at the same time fighting global challenges such as climate change. Topics to be covered include the shifting roles of (renewable) electricity in global capitalism, the uneven impacts of disruptive technologies, debates over decentralization and decarbonization, and gendered differentials in electricity access.
Note: Taught concurrently with DEVS 8XX/3.0.
Learning Hours: 120 (36L;84P)
Prerequisites: Level 4 and registration in the DEVS Major or Joint Honours plan and (DEVS 300/3.0 or DEVS 340/3.0) or permission of the Department.
Instructor: Jonathan Shaw
Course Title: Education and Development
In the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), access to tertiary education is positioned as a key target, and universities as instrumental in driving all of the goals of development. But are universities equipped to fulfill this role? And if so, what kind of university might do so? In a world struggling with complex environmental and social problems seemingly impervious to current solutions, how might higher education ‘enlarge the space of the possible’ rather than just ‘replicate the existing possible’?
This course explores the interplay between concepts of development and educational development, specifically at the tertiary level. It enables students to understand the role of higher education in development processes by engaging critically with theory and research, through exploration of case studies of development practice involving universities in the Global South, and their local and global partners. Theoretically, the course draws from studies in three fields of enquiry: higher education, global education policy, and education and international development, as well as the broader field of development studies. A capstone project will enable students to design learning experiences that institutes of higher education might develop to achieve real change.
Note: Taught concurrently with DEVS 8XX/3.0.
Learning Hours: 120 (36L;84P)
Prerequisites: Level 4 and registration in the DEVS Major or Joint Honours plan and (DEVS 300/3.0 or DEVS 340/3.0) or permission of the Department.
Instructor: Karen Dubinsky
Course Title: Foreign Policy Without States - Popular Diplomacy
This seminar explores international relations that take place beyond the realm of the state. In addition to government- to- government relations, (Presidents, Prime Ministers, Ministers of External Affairs or Trade) there are many other venues in which relations between people of different nations take place. Here we’ll evaluate “people-to-people relations;” how they animate state initiatives as well as their limitations. Topics include musical, educational and sports exchanges, NGOs, food and tourism. We will also critically interrogate concepts such as soft power and cultural diplomacy. The focus is on Canada, the US and the Global South, but other examples will be included.
Note: Taught concurrently with DEVS 8XX/3.0.
Learning Hours: 120 (36L;84P)
Prerequisites: Level 4 and registration in the DEVS DEVS Major or Joint Honours plan and (DEVS 300/3.0 or DEVS 340/3.0) or permission of the Department.
Instructor: Kyla Tienhaara
Course Title: Economy and the Environment in the Global South
It has been 50 years since The Limits to Growth, a report from the Club of Rome, first sounded the warning that a relentless pursuit of economic growth would result in ecological overshoot and a collapse in global human welfare. Although many of the report’s predictions have proven to be accurate, the relationship between economic growth and environmental sustainability remains a subject of intense debate. The concept of sustainable development that emerged in the late 1980s, in an effort to reconcile the two, has since been joined by related notions of green growth and a green economy. At the same time, there has been a resurgence of interest in limits (framed now as “planetary boundaries”). Degrowth and “doughnut economics” are growing in popularity in certain parts of the Global North, while philosophies like buen vivir are inspiring social movements in the Global South. In addition to addressing economic growth, this course will also look at the relationship between environmental sustainability and economic inequality (both within and between nations). In particular, we will examine proposals for a Global Green New Deal which aim to simultaneously address the climate emergency and improve the lives of the world’s poorest and most marginalised.
Note: Taught concurrently with DEVS 8XX/3.0.
Learning Hours: 120 (36L;84P)
Prerequisites: Level 4 and registration in the DEVS Major or Joint Honours plan and (DEVS 300/3.0 or DEVS 340/3.0) or permission of the Department.
Instructor: Mark Hostetler
Course Title: Approaches to Sustainable Livelihood Development
Sustainable livelihoods approaches have become increasingly important in the discussion of development over the past few decades. These approaches are concerned with understanding the various resources and strategies that people draw on to construct, improve and defend their livelihoods in ways they find meaningful. In this course, we will explore a variety of related theoretical perspectives including those focused on social (and other) capital, human capabilities, and agency. After reviewing these approaches, we will evaluate their efficacy for analysing a variety of rural, urban, and peri-urban development case studies. Based on our review of theory and its application to case studies, students will be tasked with developing their own framework for analysing livelihoods and identifying possible avenues for contributing to their enhancement.
Note: Taught concurrently with DEVS 8XX/3.0.
Learning Hours: 120 (36L;84P)
Prerequisites: Level 4 and registration in the DEVS Major or Joint Honours plan and (DEVS 300/3.0 or DEVS 340/3.0) or permission of the Department.
Instructor: Paritosh Kumar
Course Title: Postcolonial Perspectives
The objective of the course is to provide advanced undergraduate students with an introduction to postcolonial perspective. It is designed to expose students to key readings that will form the foundation for further thinking and exploration of postcolonial thinking.
Postcolonialism is an eclectic body of thought that takes many different shapes and interventions but has a shared fundamental claim: that the world we inhabit is impossible to understand except in relationship to the history of imperialism and colonial rule. In other words, postcolonial theory is concerned with social, political, cultural, and economic impact of European colonial rule over most of the world’s population from the 18th century onwards, with forms of colonial authority still lingering after the formal end of colonial rule in the 20th century.
Postcolonial thinking emerged in the 1980s as newly politicised scholars across humanities and social sciences set to examine the affects of colonial rule, its persistence, and repercussions. Perhaps the single book that was most formative in the emergence of the field is Edward Said’s Orientalism. It is also deeply indebted to anti-colonial thought in South Asia and Africa in the first half of the 20th century. The interests of postcolonialism thinking are broad, multifaceted, and committed to those who continue to suffer from the lingering effects of colonialism. It is concerned with forms of political representation; it is invested in reimagining a world after colonialism bereft of imperial remnants; and about theorizing and understanding new forms of human injustices. It has altered the way we understand European philosophy and development theory and the way we read texts and view images. It has made us rethink the ethics and politics of our own knowledge as development studies students.
The purpose of this course is to interrogate the issues listed above through a close reading of scholarly works, as well as focus on some key texts written in earlier decades to tease out the relationship between anti-colonialism and postcolonialism. While the course focuses on foundational works of postcolonialism, it also explores the relationship of postcolonial theory with Marxism.
Note: Taught concurrently with DEVS 8XX/3.0.
Learning Hours: 120 (36L;84P)
Prerequisites: Level 4 and registration in the DEVS Major or Joint Honours plan and (DEVS 300/3.0 or DEVS 340/3.0) or permission of the Department..
Instructor: Robert Lovelace
Course Title: Indigenous Theory
In recent years the term indigenous has become popular in describing Aboriginal people in Canada. This course goes beyond the euphemistic and often politically expedient use of the term to explore the meaning of Indigeneity, the emerging scholarship in Indigenous theory, and the current processes of re-indigenization. Students will explore legal and cultural applications of indigenous identity through a variety of contemporary readings and classroom discussions. Areas of interest will be economics, law, social/cultural development, colonization and de-colonization, and predictive futures. While this course will explore Aboriginal identity in Canada as part of the study, the focus is much broader in examining global indigenous realities as well as an expanded theoretical foundation.
Assessment in this course will be based on an individual contract negotiated between the student and professor within the first three weeks of the course beginning. Students will be expected to read all course material, take part in all informed classroom discussions, produce high quality academic writing or other forms of professional presentations, and meet periodically with the instructor.
Note: Taught concurrently with DEVS 8XX/3.0.
Learning Hours: 120 (36L;84P)
Prerequisites: Level 4 and registration in the DEVS Major or Joint Honours plan and (DEVS 300/3.0 or DEVS 340/3.0) or permission of the Department.
The course will involve a critical review of the literature on a clearly-defined topic relevant to development, a synthesis of ideas, and a final thesis under the supervision of a faculty member.
DEVS 501 is a 6.0 unit full-year course designed to allow academically strong students to pursue in-depth research on a topic of interest with supervision by a faculty member who has expertise in this area. The following criteria apply:
- The option is most suited for students who see pursuing an MA (and potentially a PhD) as a key element of their plans. The course provides a learning experience similar to undertaking graduate studies.
- A minimum GPA of 3.3 (B+) or higher is required for consideration.
- Students must have a core theme or research question that they want to work on: i.e. a subject matter that they are passionate about and are keen to research and write on at length!
- Students must have a faculty member in mind to supervise and that faculty member must agree to supervise. Please note, accepting a 501 student is entirely the prerogative of the faculty member and they are under no obligation to do so. Most faculty members have a large amount of graduate supervision, so accepting DEVS 501 students is not always possible due to time constraints. Many faculty will only agree to supervise a 501 student when they receive a request from an exceptional student who is passionate about a subject area directly related to the faculty member’s own expertise.
Should you meet these criteria and have a suitable faculty member willing to supervise a 501 thesis, please note the following:
The course is a full year course, meaning that it is a heavy workload (equivalent to the reading and writing involved in two 49X seminars). This course is not an easy option! You will need strong powers of self-organization and self-discipline because writing a thesis is a difficult endeavor that demands a lot of time, energy and determination. The challenge of writing a thesis must seem exciting, rather than daunting to you! It’s not for everyone.
The topic of a DEVS 501 Honours Thesis can be on any key question related to the broad field of development studies. You should have a clear idea of what you want to work on before you approach a faculty member (and do make sure that they are suitable in terms of their expertise).
Should they agree to supervise you, there is an official DEVS 501 application form available from the main office located in Macintosh-Corry Hall, Room B411 or by emailing the Academic Programs Assistant. You need to get both yourself and the supervisor sign it to be enrolled. This must be provided to the DEVS Academic Programs Assistant by the end of June prior to course registration.
Note: The student must identify a willing supervisor from DEVS or a cognate department and receive permission of the Department of Global Development Studies (see above).
Learning Hours: 240 (24L;216P)
Prerequisites: Minimum Cumulative GPA of 3.50 and Level 4 and registration in the DEVS Major or Joint Honours Plan.
Exclusion: DEVS 450/3.0.
This course enables a student or a group of students to explore a body of literature on a selected topic in development. The focus may be by theme, by region or by academic approach and can span the humanities, social sciences and environmental sciences. NOTE The students are responsible for approaching a professor with whom they wish to work and who is willing to undertake this project. Please note, accepting a DEVS 502 student is entirely the prerogative of the faculty member and they are under no obligation to do so. Most faculty members have a large amount of graduate supervision, so accepting DEVS 502 students is not always possible due to time constraints.
Learning Hours: 120 (12L;108P)
Prerequisites: Minimum Cumulative GPA of 3.50 and Level 4 and registration in the DEVS Major or Joint Honours Plan.
Please contact the DEVS Academic Programs Assistant to secure a copy of the DEVS 502 Approval Form and Course Outline.