Bachelor's programme in Development Studies (BIDS)

About the programme

As our student, you learn to critically examine global and local preconditions and processes of development. The scientific traditions from four disciplines are combined in the study plan: Sociology, Political Science, Human Geography and Economic History. Our students get both a multi-disciplinary perspective on development studies and an opportunity to deepen their knowledge in any of these four subjects.

Career prospects

You will get both the theoretical knowledge and the practical skills needed for jobs in the development sector. Upon graduation you can continue with Master’s and Doctoral studies; or pursue various positions within government agencies, private firms and NGOs.

• Read more details about the programme and apply at lunduniversity.lu.se
• Additional information about 'Development Studies - Bachelor of Science Programme' on the department's (or similar) website
• Programme fact sheet (PDF - new window)
• Syllabus (PDF - new window)

Courses at the Department of Political Science

Term 3

The Politics of Development STVC02 (15 credits):

The course explores the political dimension of development policies and processes with an emphasis on the global and national levels and their interplay. We look into governance structures, department, and power relation shaping current development thought and practice in area such as poverty, health, climate change and the environment, human rights, and gender equality. The course pays particular attentionalso examines to relation between states, international organisation, civilian society, and private business, and other actors in international development cooperation.. A recurrent theme throughout the course ice the intersection between the international human rights framework and development policies in a so called rights based approach to development. With regard to the national level, the major main themes include democracy and processes of are democratization/autocratization, and state building, aligned with questions on what development ice and ought to ask in those processes.

• Course Syllabus STVC02 (pdf, new window) 
• Literature STVC02 (pdf, new window)

International Political Economy and Development STVC05 (15 credits):

This course introduces International Political Economy (IPE) with an emphasis on theories, theorists and issues that problematise the politics and political economy of development, North-South relations and ethics. The first part of the course is designed to examine the roots of International Political Economy and a range of critical theories and approaches that inform the study of processes of socio-economic transformation in the global South. The second substantive part of the course explores issues at the forefront of contemporary debates at the intersection of IPE and development. These include finance, financialisation and crises, trade and fair trade, multinational corporations and corporate social responsibility, the global division of labour and trade unions, global economic governance and the greening of the global political economy.

• Course Syllabus STVC05 (pdf, new window)
• Literature STVC05, (pdf, new window)

Term 6

Field Work, Internship, Research Overview STVB30 (15 credits):

The course aims at giving the students the experience of working in a development context. It may also serves as a means of gathering material for the forthcoming bachelor’s thesis. The course is divided into three 15-credit tracks, and the student has to choose one of these. Two tracks give the opportunity to do a field study or an internship within a development organisation, while the third track, the research overview, is an option for those who choose to remain at Lund University. The three tracks differ as specified below but all include compulsory readings and assignments.

• Course Syllabus STVB30 (pdf, new window)

Bachelor Thesis STVK12 (15 credits):

In this course the student designs and executes a scientific inquiry on his or her own. The student should identify a relevant research problem, select an appropriate method, process a comprehensive theoretical and empirical material, and report the findings in the form of a written text. The work process is guided by a supervisor appointed by the department. Whereas the supervisor provides constructive feedback on the basic structure of the inquiry, the course represents an independent research effort, and the responsibility for the final product rests with the student him- or herself.

• Course Syllabus STVK12 (pdf, new window)