Bachelor's Programme in Global Development Studies

Are you interested in understanding the dynamics of poverty, inequality and power? Do you want to know more about the main critical issues and challenges in the development of the 21st century? The bachelor’s programme in global development studies at UiA provides a thorough understanding of these issues and the complex interconnections of culture, globalisation, migration, international and national power structures, economic interests, and resource control and management.

Our courses provide a critical introduction to the complexities of development processes. You will get theoretical knowledge and practical experiences and insights.

In the second semester, you will have the possibility to go on a field course to a country in Africa, Asia or Latin America. In addition, in the fourth semester, you will also have the option to go on exchange.

In the final semester, you will spend three months doing fieldwork for the bachelor’s thesis. Here you can choose among our partner universities in the Global South or present your own idea for potential development related fieldwork in a given country. Through the combination of theoretical work and practical field courses and experiences, you will have a great opportunity of understanding a complex and changing world.

What do you learn?

The three-year study programme aims to create an increased understanding of the conditions that lead to differences in social and economic development in various countries and regions. Its goal is to provide knowledge of global relations and development processes from an interdisciplinary perspective and social science point of view. This study programme provides you with a theoretical social scientific background and field experiences related to questions of development, international relations, development cooperation and change processes in a global context.

In the second year of study, you can choose from different studies as a minor. One offer is the minor "Sustainable Transformation", which is about explaining sustainability and how we can bring about sustainable development across different sectors in society.

More about minor options below "Course structure'.