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Development Issue Assignment : An Analytic Essay

Worth: 20% of total course grade.

Late assignments will receive a penalty of 10% per day, which includes weekends. An electronic copy must be submitted before 7 pm, and a hard copy must be handed in on the same day at tutorials or at the lecture. Students who submit an electronic copy only will not receive any comments or feedback on their essay.

OBJECTIVE

Development studies is a multidisciplinary field concerned with a range of social, political and economic issues around the world. In this course, we have touched on some, but by no means all, of these topics. In order to expand your understanding of a major issue in international development, in this assignment you will carry out research on one of the development topics listed below.

You will produce an essay which provides historical background on your chosen development issue, addresses the way it has impacted local populations, communities or the environment, and describes the different development interventions or projects that have focused on this particular issue. Development Issue Assignment

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Start by selecting one topic and doing some preliminary research. Try and pick a topic that interests you or that you would like to learn more about. Your essay should include the following components:

1. An introduction in which you briefly summarize the nature of the development issue and its impact. Brief information about the location and the geopolitical, environmental and/or social context of the issue should be provided. You should explain why you picked this topic and why it is of interest to you. You should also provide a thesis statement and a brief outline of your paper in the introduction.
2. Historical background on the issue. What caused this development problem? Who is responsible for it? Is there a colonial or imperial history behind this problem? What sort of populations or communities does it impact? Are there differential impacts? For example, are some groups affected more than others? Does this problem affect men, women and children equally? How does the history of this particular issue relate to the history of the country, region or community? Why does this problem persist?
3. An analysis of existing research on this topic. How have different scholars or organizations approached this development issue? For example, how has this topic been looked at through different development ‘lenses,’ such as health, gender, the environment, politics, geography and so on? Are there differing interpretations among scholars about this development issue? What sort of recommendations have they made to address this issue?
4. Describe two development interventions or projects that address this development issue. Are these interventions led by governments, NGOs, social movements, or private business and individuals? Are they partnerships between multiple countries and organizations? What recommendations have these organizations made? What steps have they taken to address this issue? Have these interventions been successful or have they failed? What sort of obstacles have they encountered in addressing this issue? Do you think these interventions have addressed the root causes of this development problem? In your opinion, what are some of the possible solutions to this development problem?
5. A conclusion explaining how this assignment deepened your understanding of this development issue. Based on material we have covered in the course, why do you think this issue is important for development studies? Sum up the main ideas you presented.

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PAPER REQUIREMENTS

Length: 7 pages maximum (double spaced, 12-point font, 1-inch margins, excluding reference list and cover page; approximately 1750-1800 words), not including the reference page. Development Issue Assignment

Sources: You must use a minimum of FIVE sources (at least three must be from a scholarly article or book from outside of course assigned readings. You must also provide proper references (reference list and in-text citations) using APA citation style.

TOPIC

1. Low-cost private school initiatives in Liberia