UTVB3130 Recent Trends in Development Assistance Course description

The course description was approved 24 May 2018 by the Academic Affairs Committee, Faculty of Education and International Studies. Minor change 8 December 2020. Valid from autumn semester 2021.

The Faculty of Education and International Studies at Oslo and OsloMet offers interdisciplinary courses in Development Studies and North-South relations, leading to a Bacherlor's degree in Development Studies of 180 ECTS credits. This course on Recent Trends in Development Assistance is at the intermediate level and represents a 10 ECTS credits module in the 5th semester of the bachelor programme.

The course will be taught in English (or Norwegian, depending on needs according to the participants' language abilities). The exam papers can be written in English, Norwegian, Swedish or Danish.

The course is open to students who have completed at least a one-year introductory course in Development Studies at either OsloMet, the University of Agder or equivalent courses at other universities/university colleges in Norway or abroad.

At the end of the course the student has obtained the following learning outcome:

Knowledge

The student

• has knowledge of central tendencies in the organization and aims of current development assistance, regarding:

• new actors in international aid
• aid and the Sustainable Development Goals
• the integration of international aid with other global concerns ("environmentalization" and "securitization")
• the "marketization" of aid
• the effects of aid in recipient countries

Skills

The student

• has the ability to analyse and compare current ideas and strategies for development assistance
• has the ability to analyse the interplay between different actors in development programmes
• can analyse the effects of aid in recipient countries

General competence

The student

• is able to formulate central issues regarding overall development objectives and strategies and modalities to achieve them
• is able to discuss how development assistance and its organization may impact positively as well as negatively negatively on recipient countries

The course will cover key issues of international development assistance as it is currently organized. It will focus on processes and trends internationally and in recipient countries. Focus will be on the way aid is organized and implemented today. These issues will be illustrated through empirical case studies from Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The following themes will be included:

• Key actors in development assistance (non-traditional donors, multilateral organizations, for-profit actors)
• Aid and the Sustainable Development Goals (with an emphasis on health and education)
• New modalities of aid (budget support and performance-based aid)
• The "environmentalization", "securitization" and "marketization" of aid
• The effects of aid for recipient countries

There will be lectures and teacher-led seminars. Students are expected to participate actively in group work and discussions during seminars (the seminars are compulsory).

Activities with compulsory attendance

It is compulsory to attend the seminars. These are considered essential for developing skills and general competence, as they give the students the opportunity to verbalize, analyze and discuss key issues of the course. The group work on which the seminars are based require that the majority of students are present.

Students with undocumented absence from more than 25 % of these seminars cannot take the exam. Students who have attended less than 75 % of the seminars, but can document valid compelling reasons for all the absences, will have to submit a written paper on a given theme as compensation in order to be able to take the exam. The length of the paper shall be in the range of 2,000-5,000 words, depending on the number of seminars missed.

Students shall also take part in online discussions on Canvas, on topics from the course. Each student is required to post at least four contributions of a minimum of 50-100 words each. Taking part in an online discussion of the course contents ensures the active involvement of the students with the issues the course deals with, and thus enhances learning. Information on deadlines for posting and questions to respond to will be given at the start of the course. If a deadline is not met, the student will be given a new deadline. However, unless all four posts have been posted by the last lecture/seminar (whichever comes last), the student cannot take the exam.

The assessment is a four-hour written exam based on the course curriculum.

In case of failed exam or legal absence, the student can apply for a new or postponed exam. New or postponed exams are offered within a reasonable time span following the regular exam. The student is responsible for applying for a new exam within the time limits set by OsloMet and the Faculty of Education and International Studies. Regulations for new or postponed examinations are available in Regulations relating to studies and examinations at OsloMet.

No examination support material permitted.

A graded scale from A to E for passed and F for not passed will be used.

The exam will be jointly marked by an internal and an external examiner. The external examiner will read a selection of the exam papers and collaborate with the internal examiner in a way that benefits all the students.