Implementing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is the biggest challenge facing our planet today. The dynamic MA in International Development Practice (MIDP) at University of Galway focuses on the wide-ranging social, economic, political and environmental challenges of our rapidly changing world. Spanning global concerns, from sustainable development and climate action to food security and alleviating poverty, this MA’s focus on international development challenges enables you to develop your capacities to understand and engage with both theories and practices relating to contemporary international development as a distinct career path, with a strong emphasis on inter-disciplinarity. Given that international development challenges are multi-dimensional, they require interlinked strategies across multiple disciplines and perspectives. The programme is led by highly experienced staff who work in multilateral agencies, and have a background in human rights, policy, planning, gender, migration etc, along with practical field-based research experience across many countries worldwide.

Objectives of the Programme:

Equip you with the theoretical and evaluative capacity to critically interrogate development policy and practice from a range of multidisciplinary perspectives.

Develop the skills required to analyse the multi-dimensional challenges inherent in sustainable development and to work in a development programme implementation environment.

Build competencies that are required to work professionally in an international development context/organization.

The MIDP contains core modules in development theory, policy and practice that incorporate academic, practitioner and policy orientations to link development theory and practice. Building upon this, the programme then provides a number of elective pathways through which you develop interdisciplinary expertise in key development issues, including environment, gender, human rights, food security, climate change and agriculture. Through these cross-college elective pathways you are afforded a unique opportunity to build on previous learning experiences and develop a specialised prospective career path. You will have the opportunity to combine the study of the socio-technical aspects of development practice with a reflective practice-based learning experience. The programme culminates with a practice-based dissertation in which students undertake a research placement in a development organisation.