New Student Registration: Development Studies

The Program in Development Studies offers one 3-credit course at the 100-level (see course description at the bottom of this page):

• DEVS 101: Intro to Development Studies

This course offers students an introduction to the field of development studies.  It can be used as a course in any Development Studies program, though it is not a required course for those programs or a prerequisite for any upper-year DEVS courses.  It can also be used as an elective in any program, other than the Diploma in Engineering.

Students who wish to pursue this area of study further should take DEVS 201 and 202 in second year, as these are the primary foundational courses for a joint major, joint advanced major, honours, minor, subsidiary, or pair in Development Studies.  DEVS 201 and 202 require prior completion of a minimum of 24 credits, so are not open to first-year students.

Students intending joint major, joint advanced major, or honours programs in Development Studies are required to take ECON 101 and 102, so may wish to take these courses in first year.

Bachelor of Arts students who are considering taking WMGS 100, ANTH 112, DEVS 101, and HIST 141 and 142, may want to explore the option of the Social Justice Colloquium, which offers these courses in a coordinated format.

Development Studies is an interdisciplinary program, meaning that it incorporates relevant courses from other academic subjects. In addition to its core courses, Development Studies has both cross-listed and designated courses from other departments. Cross-listed courses are those that have a much stronger and more direct relationship to this area of study. Designated courses are those that have relevance to the study of development, but are not as strongly related.

Students intending programs in Development Studies may want to consider taking introductory courses in one or more of the interdisciplinary subjects. This will provide necessary prerequisites to take the allowable cross-listed and designated courses in future years. The Development Studies section of the Academic Calendar specifies these allowable courses.  It would be useful for interested students to look in the Calendar to determine courses that are of most interest to them for future years, which in turn would dictate the introductory-level courses that would be good choices for first year.

For all cross-listed courses, either the introductory course(s) for those subjects, or DEVS 201 and 202, are permissible prerequisites. The exception to this is cross-listed courses in Economics, for which only ECON 101 and 102 are allowable prerequisites.

For all designated courses (see the Academic Calendar for the specific list), students should note the following departmental prerequisites, and may wish to take introductory courses in one or more of these subjects:

• ANTH: ANTH 111 and 112 are minimum prerequisites for the anthropology courses.
• AQUA:  AQUA 101 and 102 are the prerequisites for AQUA 201 and 202, and these courses are normally restricted to students in the Aquatic Resources program.  Interested students will require permission from the coordinator of that program.
• BIOL: There is no prerequisite for BIOL 221 or 222, other than second-year status. BIOL 111, 112, and 203 are minimum prerequisites for BIOL 345 and 407.
• BUSI: Business administration courses are normally restricted to students in the Faculty of Business. Interested students will require permission from the chair of business administration to register in these designated courses. Pending availability, this permission will normally be granted to third- and fourth-year Development Studies students.
• CATH: There is no prerequisite for CATH 341, other than second-year status.
• ECON: ECON 101 and 102 are minimum prerequisites for the economics courses.
• ENGL: ENGL 100 or ENGL 111, are minimum prerequisites for the English courses.
• ESCI: ESCI 171, and either ESCI 172 or AQUA 101/102 are prerequisites for ESCI 271 and 272. ESCI 273 and 274 have no prerequisites, other than second-year status.
• HIST: 6 credits of 100-level history are minimum prerequisites for the history courses. This prerequisite is waived for students wishing to take upper-level history courses in third and fourth years.
• HNU: There is no prerequisite for HNU 405, other than third-year status.
• IDS: There are no prerequisites for the IDS courses, other than third-year status.
• PHIL: PHIL 100 is the prerequisite for PHIL 371. The prerequisite for PHIL 333 is PHIL 331 and third-year status. (Second-year students may take PHIL 331 and 333 if PHIL 100 has been completed in first year.)
• PSCI: PSCI 101 and 102 are minimum prerequisites for the political science courses.
• NURS: There is no prerequisite for NURS 364, other than third-year status.
• SOCI: SOCI 101 and 102 are minimum prerequisites for the sociology courses.
• WMGS: The WMGS courses are all cross-listed with other courses on the designated list, so would be governed by any prerequisites for the cross-listed course.  The one exception is WMGS 345 for which WMGS 100 can also serve as a prerequisite.

Course Description

101  Introduction to Development Studies
This course offers students an introduction to the field of development studies. It explores core concepts about ‘development’ and applies these at the global, national and local level. Along with an introduction to international development institutions, topics covered include colonial legacies and First Nations, gender and development, environment and climate change, human rights and diversity. Discussion of these topics will be situated in the context of country case studies. Three credits.

Please refer to Section 9.13 Development Studies in the Academic Calendar.

Click here to go to the Development Studies program webpage.