International Development

Each stage of the degree involves core modules that enhance your knowledge of development challenges and their perceived causes; enrich your understanding of theories of development and Southern responses to underdevelopment; and build the hands-on skills you'll need in the professional workplace. You’ll also be able to choose discovery modules from complementary subject areas.

Year 1 equips you with the skills you’ll need to study and research international development. You’ll begin to consider the causes and factors that have influenced modern development challenges, examining the effects of colonialism and the legacy of colonial rule across the Americas, Africa and Asia. You’ll also put your development knowledge into the context of political theory and international politics.

A further core module provides key insights into global development challenges and how these might be tackled. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between economic, social and political factors that shape development processes. This includes exploring, for instance, how global-level commitments to promote socially just development, such as ‘Education for All’ (EFA) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), align with dominant economic development priorities, and the ways in which these different ideas are taken up in a diversity of regions and countries.

Building on this foundation, core modules in Year 2 will allow you to explore the theoretical debates that underpin international development. You’ll also see how theory translates to real-world situations, as you examine aspects of development practice and a wide range of development agencies. You’ll also improve your research skills and gain an understanding of the methods and techniques used to create new insights into the subject. Diverse optional modules will allow you to focus on related topics such as public policy, security studies and international relations.

If you choose to spend a semester abroad during this year, you’ll study modules at your host institution that replace some of those you would be expected to take in Leeds.

Much of your final year will be dedicated to your dissertation – an independently researched project on a topic of your choice, which allows you to demonstrate the interdisciplinary, critical and research skills you have gained. To complete your studies, you’ll choose up to three optional modules from a set related to international development, and you could choose up to two modules from across the School of Politics and International Studies, including topics such as US foreign policy and political psychology.

Course structure

These are typical modules/components studied and may change from time to time. Read more in our Terms and conditions.

Modules Year 1

Compulsory modules

• Studying and Researching in POLIS 5 credits
• Comparative Politics 20 credits
• Global Development Challenges 20 credits
• Making of the Modern World 20 credits
• International Politics 20 credits
• Freedom, Power and Resistance: An Introduction to Political Ideas 20 credits

Optional modules

• British Politics 20 credits
• Contemporary Africas: Politics, Society and the Environment 20 credits

Discovery modules

• You may choose up to 20 credits of discovery modules

Year 2

Compulsory modules

• Development Theory and Practice 20 credits
• Approaches to Analysis 20 credits

Optional modules

• North-South Linkages 20 credits
• Politics and Policy in the EU 20 credits
• Comparative Politics of Pacific Asia 20 credits
• Politics of Contemporary China 20 credits
• State and Politics in Africa 20 credits
• United States Politics 20 credits
• Security Studies 20 credits
• Revolution and Reaction: Political Problems in the 20th Century 20 credits
• Justice, Community and Conflict 20 credits
• Career Planning for POLIS Students 20 credits