Postgraduate Course: Digital Global Development (PGSP11573)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Some of the most fundamental transformations in international development and humanitarian aid now involve digital technology. International organizations use blockchain technology to track funding transmissions and ease transfers of migrant remittances, while new forms of communication, identification technologies, and digital payment solutions are redefining how aid is delivered and received. Aid programmes to support the livelihoods of people in crisis increasingly frame access to online work and remote learning as a humanitarian response mechanism. In the UK and elsewhere, government aid departments see the use of digital technology as an opportunity to get 'better value for money' by modernizing aid bureaucracies and making aid delivery more effective.
This course will equip students with a sound understanding of the implications and applications of digital technology in development and humanitarianism. Students will build important knowledge about the current practice of digital global development, while also learning how to critically examine development practice from an independent researcher's perspective.
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| Course description |
General description
Some of the most fundamental transformations in international development and humanitarian aid now involve digital technology. International organizations use blockchain technology to track funding transmissions and ease transfers of migrant remittances, while new forms of communication, identification technologies, and digital payment solutions are redefining how aid is delivered and received. Aid programmes to support the livelihoods of people in crisis increasingly frame access to online work and remote learning as a humanitarian response mechanism. In the UK and elsewhere, government aid departments see the use of digital technology as an opportunity to get ¿better value for money¿ by modernizing aid bureaucracies and making aid delivery more effective.
This course will equip students with a sound understanding of the implications and applications of digital technology in development and humanitarianism. Students will build important knowledge about the current practice of digital global development, while also learning how to critically examine development practice from an independent researcher¿s perspective.
Course content
Thee course will offer introductory sessions to ground the subsequent weekly discussions in a deeper understanding of how inequalities and technological innovation intersect in development practice and humanitarian aid. The following weekly sessions will cover more focused key themes, such as digital labour, online learning, digital solutions for refugees, as well as blockchain technology and other recent humanitarian experiments with innovative technology (these topics may change from year to year). Throughout the course, students will learn to critically analyse development practice with the help of published research on each theme. The course therefore combines a practice-oriented perspective focusing on applied work with critical research and analysis.
Student learning experience
The lectures will provide the most important key insights on weekly themes. The lectures will balance the analysis of current development practice with a discussion of important research on the topic. Students are expected to read assigned texts before every lecture, in order to enhance their understanding of the lecture's content.
In addition, weekly workshops are designed to engender critical thinking, discussion, and problem-solving teamwork. The workshops will combine small-group exercises and general conversation with specific challenges teams will be tasked to solve. These workshops function similar to tutorials but are held with all students enrolled on the course in attendance. Students are expected to read assigned materials and complete specific preparation tasks before each workshop. The assigned reading will be drawn from a combination of academic texts and materials from development practice (i.e. Project descriptions and evaluations, blog posts, development programme overviews, etc.). Sufficient workshop time will be dedicated to the preparation for the two assignments: a short essay mid-term, and a final report.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Extensive and detailed knowledge of the practical applications and implications of digital technology in international development and humanitarianism.
- A critical awareness of major debates and developments in the scholarship of digital global development, and a capacity to engage them creatively and effectively in professional and scholarly discussion
- The ability to critically examine and synthesize major themes of digital global development by drawing on theories, concepts, and principles in the wider field of international development.
- The ability to independently plan and execute an original project of research on digital global development, and to communicate this research through effective writing and solid argumentation.
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Reading List
Robinson, Laura, Jeremy Schulz, Hopeton S. Dunn, Antonio A. Casilli, Paola Tubaro, Rod Carveth, Wenhong Chen, et al. 2020 'Digital Inequalities 3.0: Emergent Inequalities in the Information Age.' First Monday 25, no. 7.
Dey, Bidit, Sorour, Karim & Filieri, Raffaele, 2015. ICTs in Developing Countries, London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Graham, Mark, Isis Hjorth, and Vili Lehdonvirta. 2017. 'Digital Labour and Development: Impacts of Global Digital Labour Platforms and the Gig Economy on Worker Livelihoods.' Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research 23, no. 2 (2017): 135-62.
Jacobsen, K.L., 2015. The Politics of Humanitarian Technology 1st ed., London: Routledge.
Zwitter, A., Boisse-Despiaux, M. 2018. 'Blockchain for humanitarian action and development aid.' International Journal of Humanitarian Action 3, 16.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
1. Synthesizing and analysing advanced empirical and theoretical materials from a variety of sources, with particular emphasis on lateral thinking.
2. Examining, using, and assessing complex forms of evidence in support of explanatory and normative claims that are grounded in research.
3. Developing and evaluating original arguments that account for different forms of social complexity.
4. Exercising informed independent thought and critical judgment.
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| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Mr Andreas Hackl
Tel: (0131 6)51 5357
Email: ahackl@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Teri Beveridge
Tel: (0131 6)51 3244
Email: tbeveri2@ed.ac.uk |
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