IDEV 2500: Introduction to International Development Studies (W10), IDEV 2500 Course Outline

In the Winter 2010 semester, I had the honour of teaching an amazing group of International Development Studies students at the University of Guelph. This course examined development processes, interventions, theories, and policies affecting the lives of poor people in different parts of the world. Students were introduced to a broad range of topics in international development studies viewed from the perspectives of different social-science disciplines and researchers. The course was organized around the seven areas of emphasis of the International Development Studies (IDS) undergraduate program—political economy and administration, environment, history, rural and agricultural studies, economic and business development, women and gender, and Latin American studies—as well as several other areas important to development theory and practice, such as technology and development, EcoHealth, and domestic development. This is a foundation course for students specializing in international development as part of the IDS program.

With 147 students in the class, and two TAs, I was continually looking for ways to engage the students beyond the classroom and the curriculum. As a pedagogical experiment, the students took photographs of themselves with messages depicting their hope for the future of development. I compiled these photographs together to create a video, with music provided by one of the students in the class, Bethany Klapwyk. This video was posted on YouTube (with all the appropriate consent and ethics forms!), and disseminated. Currently, over 2000 people have watched the video. Please check out the blurb and video below:

“Created in February 2010, this community art video was compiled by International Development students in a second year course, IDEV 2500 Introduction to International Development Studies, at the University of Guelph. Connected to a discussion of the impact and community-building potential of the Arts (music, literature, poetry, art, dance, and theatre) on and in International Development, this video was a pedagogical exercise in discovering the power of participating in a large-scale community art project and bringing curriculum ideas and theories into practice.”