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Course & Unit Catalogues


SP52094: Conflict, development and peacebuilding

[Page last updated: 15 August 2024]

Academic Year: 2024/25
Owning Department/School: Department of Social & Policy Sciences
Credits: 10 [equivalent to 20 CATS credits]
Notional Study Hours: 200
Level: Masters UG & PG (FHEQ level 7)
Period:
Semester 1
Assessment Summary: CWES 75%, CWRI 25%
Assessment Detail:
  • Conflict analysis (CWRI 25%)
  • Essay (CWES 75%)
Supplementary Assessment:
Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations)
Requisites:
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this unit, students will be able to critically:
  • understand the concepts of conflict, peace, and security
  • evaluate contrasting theories on the relationship between conflict and development
  • understand how development and humanitarian responses to conflict have changed over time
  • assess contemporary humanitarian and peacebuilding responses to conflict



Synopsis: Explore conceptual debates in the fields of conflict and development. You'll learn about theoretical perspectives on the causes of violent conflict. In doing so, you will be exposed to a range of perspectives and approaches from politics, sociology, international relations, and economics. Finally, you'll examine peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction, engaging with debates around how the transition to peace is affected by democratisation and economic liberalisation.

Content: This unit will introduce students to the main conceptual debates surrounding the field of conflict and development. It will provide some historical perspective to the analysis of contemporary conflict and introduce students to key academic debates concerning the relationship between development and conflict. Students will explore a range of theoretical perspectives on the causes of violent conflict. In doing so, they will be exposed to a range of disciplinary perspectives and approaches. Students will also be introduced to the major theoretical approaches to peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction - engaging with debates around how the transition to peace is affected by processes of democratisation and economic liberalisation.

Course availability:

SP52094 is a Must Pass Unit on the following courses:

Department of Social & Policy Sciences
  • THSP-AFM43 : MSc International Development with Conflict and Humanitarian Action  
  • THSP-AWM43 : MSc International Development with Conflict and Humanitarian Action  

SP52094 is Optional on the following courses:

Department of Social & Policy Sciences

Notes:

  • This unit catalogue is applicable for the 2024/25 academic year only. Students continuing their studies into 2025/26 and beyond should not assume that this unit will be available in future years in the format displayed here for 2024/25.
  • Courses and units are subject to change in accordance with normal University procedures.
  • Availability of units will be subject to constraints such as staff availability, minimum and maximum group sizes, and timetabling factors as well as a student's ability to meet any pre-requisite rules.
  • Find out more about these and other important University terms and conditions here.