UTVB3130 Nye retninger i utviklingsbistand Emneplan

The course description was approved 24.05.2018 by the Academic Affairs Committee, Faculty of Education and International Studies. Valid from autumn semester 2018.

The Faculty of Education and International Studies at Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences (HiOA) 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 HiOA, 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).

Written assignment

An assignment (approximately 2,000 word +/- 10 %) on a given topic shall be submitted within the set deadline in order to be admitted to the final exam. This assignment gives the student an opportunity to reflect on central topics in the course literature.

Students, who due to illness or other compelling reason, fail to submit this course work requirement within the set deadline, can be given a new deadline. In this case, the student shall present the documents confirming his/her illness or other compelling reasons.

The assignment is evaluated with ¿accepted¿ or ¿not accepted¿. Students who get ¿not accepted¿ on their assignment may rewrite and submit two new versions of the assignment. The student shall contact the teacher to get a new evaluation.

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.

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 HiOA and the Faculty of Education and International Studies. Regulations for new or postponed examinations are available in Regulations relating to studies and examinations at Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences.

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 assessed by one internal and one external examiner.