About Us

The UNSW Development Studies Program covers a wide range of issues concerning the nature and processes associated with 'development', the actors, organisations and institutions, and of course, the politics and power involved.    

This Development Studies @ UNSW site is designed to introduce the Development Studies team at UNSW to potential students and research collaborators and partners, and seeks to play a role in linking current students and staff.  More about our team members can be found under Our People.  In brief, we are a newly formed team coming from a variety of different disciplines - from anthropology to forestry, social work to international relations, economics to public health.  From these disciplinary bases we interact around current debates in the field of development, examining the underlying processes, objectives, and the impact they have on the lives of many of the world's people.  

Each team member is involved with teaching, researching, and supervising PhD and other students - we welcome your enquiries. 

We offer an undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Development Studies, and a postgraduate degree, the Master of Development Studies, which has two streams, one concerned with international development generally, the other focused more specifically on forced migration, displacement, and human rights.  

If you are interested in research there are opportunities within the Honours program, within the Masters Program, and of course at PhD level.  We welcome opportunities to work with engaged and critical thinkers.

The field of Development Studies is a dynamic and rapidly changing one; there are many challenges and many changes. Economic development is proceeding rapidly in some countries, while others are being left behind. Urbanisation is accelerating; disparities are widening; the environment is threatened; communciation and other technologies have been transformed - nothing stands still and development gains for some often lead to losses for others. There are no simple answers, but engage with us through this site in examining and exploring the issues and generating ideas and mechanisms to promote solutions. 

For more information on the Development Studies Programs offered at UNSW click here