Global Development Studies (GDST)

GDST 1000  Global Development in Turbulent Times    
3 credit hours  
Students explore the idea of development and its changing and contested nature from colonialism to the current era of globalization. With an eye toward social change and uneven power, students unpack concrete case studies in resistance and domination, analyzing the causes and consequences of global social, environmental, and economic crises in these turbulent times.

GDST 1800 – 1825 Special Topics in Global Development Studies
6 credit hours
Course content varies from year to year.

GDST 1826 – 1849 Special Topics in Global Development Studies
3 credit hours
Course content varies from year to year.

GDST 2301  Global Development: History & Perspectives    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: 9 credit hours
Students are introduced to the history and scope of global development studies as an interdisciplinary field. Students explore different, competing, and contested perspectives on development, poverty, and prosperity while examining a wide spectrum of social, political, environmental and economic challenges throughout the world.
Note: Please note this course was formerly IDST 2301.
GDST 2302  Global Development: Policies and Issues    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: 9 credit hours
This is a continuation of GDST 2301. Students explore development policies and contemporary issues in the context of an uneven global order. Students examine the role, practices, and actions of the state, local communities, international institutions, nongovernmental organizations, transnational corporations and other actors, critically analyzing their impacts on society, the environment, and the economy.
Note: Please note this course was formerly IDST 2302.
GDST 2401  Fair Trade and Free Trade    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: 9 credit hours
Students explore the great fair trade/free trade debate, examining fair trade projects, free trade theory, and trade agreements. Student investigate labour, environmental, gender, and human rights with a focus on trade, justice, and social power.
Note: Please note this course was formerly IDST 2401.
GDST 2425  Rising Powers in a Globalized World    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: 9 credit hours
Students explore how BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) evolved into emerging global powers and the international development issues that they face in the twenty-first century.
Note: Please note this course was formerly IDST 2425.
GDST 2460  Development Practice    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: GDST 2302 and permission of the GDST Program Coordinator
In this experiential learning course students have an opportunity to link development theory and development practice, and to integrate their GDST classroom learning with their experience of developing society realities.
Note: Please note this course was formerly IDST 2460.

GDST 2800 - 2825 Special Topics in Global Development Studies
3 credit hours
The subject matter of these courses will vary from year to year depending on the interests of students and instructor.

GDST 2826-2849 Special Topics in Global Development Studies
3 credit hours
The subject matter of these courses will vary from year to year depending on the interests of students and instructor.

GDST 3314  Politics of the Global South  POLI 3314  
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: Three (3) credit hours in POLI
Students explore the Global South's main political and social challenges. They gain a general understanding of selected countries and regions and examine specific topics of relevance, such as gender, migration, religion, human rights, urban politics, and social movements. Equally important, students become familiar with creative and powerful democratic experiments, and have the opportunity to reflect critically on lessons that the so-called developed world could potentially learn from them.
GDST 3355  Minorities, States and Development    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: Three (3) credit hours in GDST or thirty (30) credit hours overall
Students explore the relationship between marginalized and minority groups (ethnic minorities, ‘racial’ minorities, indigenous peoples, etc.), states and development, drawing on cases from different countries. The meaning of “minority”, its social construction and consequences in terms of rights and in development projects in different places and times are problematized.
Note: Please note this course was formerly IDST 3355.
GDST 3360  Migration and Development    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: Three (3) credit hours in GDST or thirty (30) credit hours overall
Students explore the contemporary and dialectical relationship between migration and development. More specifically, the interactive processes of migration and development are examined through the lens of structure and agency, analyzing the constructed and constructing role of various migration and development agencies, nation states, state agencies, private companies, global enterprises, and international organizations. The impact of migration on socio-economic development is assessed as well as the impact of development on migration processes, both internal and external.
GDST 3380  Health and Development    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: Three (3) credit hours in GDST or thirty (30) credit hours overall
Fostering a healthy population is of critical concern to international development policy and practice, and is considered both a goal of and necessity for development. Students examine how different social and economic policies influence health and well-being, and critically explore the impacts of national and global medical and public health programs. Students explore the relationship between health and development, taking examples from around the world.
Note: Please note this course was formerly IDST 3380.
GDST 3401  The Political Economy of Development    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: Three (3) credit hours in GDST or thirty (30) credit hours overall
This is a core GDST course in which students examine key theories concerning the political economy of development. The course pays particular attention to the ways that the inequalities of race, gender, nationality, and class have been built into the global economy. Students are exposed to historical and contemporary trends in the global economy and will consider topics like land, labour, capital, and the state.
Note: Please note this course was formerly IDST 3401.
GDST 3402  Seminar in Development Studies: Contemporary Issues    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: GDST 3401
A continuation of the core GDST 3401 lecture/seminar. Students research and analyze selected problems of development in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Oceania, or Middle East/North Africa. Students read and discuss a common body of readings, discussing existing programs, policy implications, and contemporary development practices and write one or more major research papers.
Note: Please note this course was formerly IDST 3402.
GDST 3424  Research & Action in Development    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: Three (3) credit hours in GDST or thirty (30) credit hours overall
In this course students explore the basics of research design, ethics, data collection and analysis for the study and practice of global development.
Note: Please note this course was formerly IDST 3424.
GDST 3460  Development Practice    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: GDST 2302 and permission of GDST Department Chair
Students are provided with an experiential learning opportunity to link development theory and development practice. This may take many forms, such as acting as a volunteer with an NGO or community-based organizations, pursuing an internship with a multilateral agency, or other forms of University and Program-approved field experience overseas or in Canada.
Note: Please note this course was formerly IDST 3460.
GDST 3490  The Everyday Politics of Global Environmental Problems    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: Three (3) credit hours in GDST or thirty (30) credit hours overall
Students are introduced to key concepts in the study of environment, politics, and development, and examine the chains of connection between everyday activities in the Global North (food choices, plastic use, clothing purchases), and communities, livelihoods, and politics in the Global South. The political difficulties of confronting globalized environmental problems are explored.
GDST 3777  Peace and Development in Colombia Field Course  SPAN 3777  
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: 6 credit hours in Spanish or in courses that count toward the minor in Latin American Studies
In partnership with Universidad de Antioquia, students in this field school will develop a deeper understanding of how different grassroots organizations work with historical memory, reconciliation and peace projects in Colombia. Students will gain firsthand knowledge from and participate in different community projects in some of the areas most affected by the conflict. Students will visit public institutions related to historical memory and will participate in discussion with scholars, community leaders and Colombian students. Taught in English.
Note: This course will be delivered during three weeks in the month of June.

GDST 3800 - 3825 Special Topics in Global Development Studies
3 credit hours
​Course content varies from year to year.

GDST 3826 - 3849 Special Topics in Global Development Studies
3 credit hours
Course content varies from year to year.

GDST 4120 - 4123 Development Studies Field School
3 credit hours
Prerequisite: GDST 2302 or permission of the instructor
This course involves hands on, experimental learning and field work. Trip destinations may vary in different years according to faculty interests and opportunities as they arise. Students will be required to attend orientation and preparation classes before the trip, and to complete assigned course work after the trip. Teaching will combine seminars and lectures with guest lectures from local community and government leaders and/or field trips to local sites.

GDST 4402  Model United Nations  POLI 4402  
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: POLI 3321 (or equivalent) and instructor approval
The objective of this course is to foster a greater understanding of the United Nations (UN). Students may have an opportunity to participate in a university-level Model UN simulation. The goal is to gain an in-depth knowledge of the UN’s organizational structure, activities and rules of procedure by engaging in experiential learning in and outside the classroom.
GDST 4410  Global Food Sovereignty and Food Security    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: Three (3) credit hours in GDST or thirty (30) credit hours overall
Students explore different approaches, policies and theories addressing global food sovereignty and food security. Using examples from different countries, students examine the relationships between food/livelihood security with labour, gender, trade, social power, and rights to natural resources. Students consider the social justice and human rights dimensions of hunger and food insecurity, and how this relates to international and national development policy.
Note: Please note this course was formerly IDST 4410.
GDST 4415  Borders, Migration and Development    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: Three (3) credit hours in GDST or thirty (30) credit hours overall
Students examine bordering and migration as an integral part of the development process. The impacts of remittances, the brain "drain"- "gain" debate and diaspora mobilizations will be examined as well as states’ role in bordering, migration governance and "containment development" in the context of Africa/Europe and South/North America.
Note: Please note this course was formerly IDST 4415.
GDST 4426  International Human Rights and Development    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: Three (3) credit hours in GDST or thirty (30) credit hours overall
Although most countries have accepted international human rights instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the full realization of human rights remains problematic across the world. Students achieve an understanding of how development policies and practices impede or facilitate the realization of human rights in ways which are gendered, racialized, and classed.
Note: Please note this course was formerly IDST 4426.
GDST 4460  Development Practice    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: GDST 2301/2302 and permission of the IDS Program Coordinator
In this experiential learning course students have an opportunity to link development theory and development practice, and to integrate their IDS classroom learning with their experience of developing society realities.
Note: Please note this course was formerly IDST 4460.
GDST 4461  South East Asia: Contemporary Development Issues    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: Three (3) credit hours in GDST or thirty (30) credit hours overall
Students explore development issues in the context of South East Asia, focusing on the nation-state and its development strategies, as well as broader, regional issues of economic and social development. Issues include the emergence of high- growth rate, newly-industrializing countries, the impact of the Asian financial crises and globalization. The course begins from the perspective of common colonial roots and identify the current sub-regional models of development. Students explore current alternative approaches articulated by Asian scholars and grassroots organizations.
Note: This course is cross-listed with Asian studies at the undergraduate level. Please note this course was formerly IDST 4461.
GDST 4462  Africa: Contemporary Development Issues    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: GDST 2302 or permission of instructor
Students explore development issues in Africa, focusing on the nation-state, the colonial legacy, the impact of structural adjustment programs, the persistence of traditional forms of socio-political organization, and current development strategies. The objective is to present the dynamic nature of policy debates articulated by African scholars and grassroot organizations.
GDST 4463  Latin American: Contemporary Development Issues    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: Three (3) credit hours in GDST or thirty (30) credit hours overall
Students explore central development issues in Latin America, focusing on the nation-state and its development strategies, as well as broader issues of economic and social development. Such issues include the impact of globalization and liberalization, efforts towards political democratization including the role of popular organizations and alternative approaches articulated by Latin American scholars and grassroots organizations. Sub-regional differences are discussed and compared.
Note: Please note this course was formerly IDST 4463.
GDST 4465  Labour and Development    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: Three (3) credit hours in GDST or thirty (30) credit hours overall
Labour conditions and the role of labour in social change are key issues in the study of international development. Exploration of these topics will link to issues of changing production patterns in developing countries, changing labour and social conditions as well as issues around labour organization and their participation in political and economic processes.
Note: Please note this course was formerly IDST 4465.
GDST 4466  Urbanization and Development    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: Three (3) credit hours in GDST or thirty (30) credit hours overall
Students are introduced to the special development problems associated with urbanization in developing societies, the broad spectrum of complex challenges arising from rapid urban development (rural-urban migration, formation of slums) and the development dynamics which serve to perpetuate the complex relationship between urban, suburban, peri-urban, and rural spaces in developing societies.
Note: Please note this course was formerly IDST 4466.
GDST 4467  Climate, Security, and Global Development  POLI 4467  
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: Three (3) credit hours in GDST or thirty (30) credits overall
Students will examine how security as a concept frames the problem of climate change and its impacts, and how competing security frameworks shape national and international policy interventions to mitigate climate change. Asking whose security matters, students will explore the practical, political, and ethical challenges of developing equitable and effective climate policy in a globally divided world.
GDST 4470  Environment and Development    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: Three (3) credit hours in GDST or thirty (30) credit hours overall
Students explore the implications for world economic and social development of environmental problems, as well as the question of what mainstream economic development might mean in the context of tackling the growing disruption of the global ecosystem. Along with an in-depth discussion of the possible ecological outcomes of environmental modification, the importance of a sociological and political-economic analysis of the problems of environmental disruption and change will be emphasized.
Note: Please note this course was formerly IDST 4470.
GDST 4472  Trade and Development    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: Three (3) credit hours in GDST or thirty (30) credit hours overall
Students examine trade and development, not solely as a technical or policy issue, but as a political, economic, and ideological package rooted in complex social forces. Students assess the dominant trade regime as well as a variety of trade alternatives from new South-South trade relations to fair trade.
Note: Please note this course was formerly IDST 4472.
GDST 4500  Honours Thesis  POLI 4500  
6 credit hours  
Prerequisite: Open to Honours students in Political Science and Global Development Studies
Through regular meetings with their Honours Supervisor, students will use this course to prepare an honours essay in their major area of study.
GDST 4501  Honours Seminar in Development Studies    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: GDST 3401 and GDST 3424
Students registered in the Global Development Studies Honours Program use this seminar as an on-going forum in which to complete the required honours thesis. Using a sequence of assignments, discussions, and seminar presentations the student will be introduced to the requirements of conducting empirical research and advanced undergraduate scholarly research writing.
GDST 4502  Honours Thesis Research    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Honours Program.
Honours students have access to a course that allows time for the research students will undertake in order to complete their Honours Thesis. The course will be taken concurrent with, and as a complement to, GDST 4500.
GDST 4510  Honours Seminar  POLI 4510  
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: Open to Honours students in Political Science and Global Development Studies.
The Honours Seminar will examine selected aspects of one of the following fields: Canadian Politics, Comparative Politics, International Relations, Global Development Studies, and Political Thought.
GDST 4520  Honours Colloquium  POLI 4520  
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: Open to Honours students in Political Science and Global Development Studies.
The Honours Colloquium exposes Honours students to specialized dimensions of Political Science and Global Development Studies and offers opportunities to develop advanced research and writing skills.

GDST 4800 – 4825 Special Topics in Development Studies
3 credit hours
Prerequisite: GDST 2302
These courses will investigate in-depth a particular topic or set of topics in Development Studies. The specific topic(s) will vary from year to year, depending on the availability of visiting scholars, invited research fellows, or the research plans of associated faculty.

GDST 4826 – 4849 Special Topics in Development Studies
3 credit hours
Prerequisite: GDST 2302
These courses will investigate in-depth a particular topic or set of topics in Development Studies. The specific topic(s) will vary from year to year, depending on the availability of visiting scholars, invited research fellows, or the research plans of associated faculty.

GDST 4876 – 4899  Directed Study
3 credit hours
Prerequisite: GDST 2302, or permission of Coordinator
These courses provide an opportunity for students to pursue advanced study individually with resident or adjunct faculty concerning topics not normally covered by regular course offerings. Students are expected to demonstrate initiative and independence and will normally produce a substantial written document such as an annotated bibliography summarizing their literature research.