Development Studies being reformed in cooperation with African universities
The curriculum is presently being reformed, and it defines the competences that master’s and doctoral students of Development Studies will need in modern society.
“The New Directions in Development Studies and Sustainability (NDDS) project offers an excellent forum of global peer contributions to our own ongoing curricula revisions where sustainability, global inequalities, and redefining development are at the core,” says Tiina Kontinen, Associate Professor in International Development Studies and the leader of the International Master's Degree Programme in Development, Education, and International Cooperation (DEICO).
Internationally, the discipline of development studies has increasingly engaged with critical reflection on its colonial legacies. This includes the overall idea of Development Studies in the Global North being preoccupied with the development of their “Others”, that is, the countries in the Global South, whereas Development Studies in, for instance, Africa, have focused more on national development issues.
In the current world where multiple global crises require change and transformation everywhere, joint agendas within global networks need to be drafted that are also sensitive to local nuances.
“This project reflects deeply on the realization that the current paradigms and curricula in Development Studies around the world have become detached and outdated,” says Dr Moonga Mumba from the Department of Development Studies at the University of Zambia. “The project brings on board a fresh look with great expectations and hope that future teachers and researchers from the partner institutions can embrace to further enrich scholarly debates in Development Studies that should anchor development policy and practice for sustainability. NDDS has interesting themes and elements linking global challenges with local realities, such as critical approaches to Sustainable Development Goals, their localisation, and alignment with the African Union’s long-term development plan, Vision 2063.”
There is a great value in getting staff and PhD students from different countries out of their own silos and bringing them together. “The project will provide for PhD students an opportunity to interact with their colleagues,” says Dr Benta Matunga from the University of Dodoma, Tanzania. “They can learn more about other cultures and how things are done differently in solutions to both local and global development challenges.”
The project builds on previous collaborations between the universities of Helsinki, Jyväskylä, Zambia, Dar es Salaam, and Dodoma, Tanzania. In addition to contributing to the curricula, the project offers space for PhD students to discuss their projects, and opportunities for joint publications and designing further research ideas to tackle the burning challenges of our time in a manner that can also produce context-sensitive evidence for development policy and practice.
The project includes both in-person and online intensive workshops arranged in turns by the collaborating universities to discuss emerging themes and draft items for curricula, combined with international visits by the PhD students.
The NDDS project (2022–2024) is funded by Team Knowledge Finland (TFK) and the Global Innovation Network for Teaching and Learning (GINTL) Africa coordinated by the University of Helsinki.
The project also supports other cooperation with African universities carried out within the Africa Networks Coalition of the Ģֱ (JYU-CAN).
Further information:
Tiina Kontinen, +358 40 485 6718, tiina.t.kontinen@jyu.fi
The NDDS project involves the staff and doctoral researchers of Development Studies: /hytk/fi/laitokset/yfi/en/staff/@@groups_view#kehitystutkimus-development-studies