Development and Emergency Practice

MA / PGDip / PGCert

The award-winning master's degree in Development and Emergency Practice (DEP) presented by the Centre for Development and Emergency Practice (CENDEP) provides a unique academic setting for the study of poverty, international development, conflict and disaster management. With its core emphasis on practice, the programme offers students the opportunity to develop knowledge, skills and attitudes in the rapidly changing field of development and emergencies.

The programme attracts students from all backgrounds, from experienced practitioners to those new to development. Well over 500 students have attended the programme since 1991 from Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and the USA with many going on to join development and emergency organisations throughout the World.

The programme offers modules in development, disasters and risk, humanitarianism and conflict, human rights, globalisation and partnerships, with optional field trips and internships in India, South Africa and Peru. In 2006 the singer Annie Lennox became Patron reflecting the programme’s commitment to human rights.

Programme aims and content

In 2001 the programme was recognised by the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education
Oxford Brookes University has gained an international reputation for pioneering education and training for humanitarian aid workers. Combining innovative practice-based study with a multi-disciplinary academic approach, its unique emphasis on educating humanitarian practitioners for work in war, political violence and disaster is a model for others.

Teaching and learning strategies are grounded in theory, case studies and field-based experience. The programme concentrates on the development of intellectual knowledge and the cultivation of academic skills including synthesis, analysis, interpretation, understanding and judgement. The programme also focuses on the practitioner’s approach, with particular reference to:

• the setting in which they work (poverty, conflict, power, vulnerability, capability, risk, urbanisation, environmental change and the history and dynamics of particular places, their people and their society)
• the set of approaches they adopt (community mobilisation, aid, advocacy, governance, risk reduction, livelihoods, humanitarian protection, accompaniment and empowerment)
• themselves (the personal motivations that drive and shape their own vocation, their particular personality, temperament, strengths, abilities and weaknesses).

The intention is that a deeper understanding of these settings will enable students to move beyond rigid professional boxes to become more self-aware, knowledge-based practitioners able to work flexibly around a variety of problems in different situations of poverty, conflict and disaster.

Programme modules

The course is offered at three levels: a postgraduate certificate (PG Cert), a postgraduate diploma (PGDip) and a master's degree (MA). Elective modules are drawn from other specialisations or from an additional list of freestanding electives offered as part of other programmes within the School of the Built Environment.

Compulsory modules include:

• Theory of practice: approaches and understandings
• Practice of theory: tools and methods

Optional modules include:

• Armed conflict and international humanitarianism
• Globalisation: environment and development
• Globalisation: global institutions
• Disasters, risk, vulnerability and climate change
• Human rights: law and activism
• Partnerships for development: a critical assessment
• World of refugees: learning practice masterclass
• Learning practice masterclass
• Independent study.

Additional modules for the MA are:

• Research methods
• MA dissertation.

Programme staff

Core academic staff

• Dr Rod Burgess, specialist in urbanisation, globalisation and Latin America. Guest Professor at Delft University of Technology
• Dr Brigitte Piquard, formerly Professor at Catholic University of Louvain. Specialist in humanitarianism, Middle East issues
• Dr David Sanderson, Programme Leader and Director of CENDEP. Experience working for NGOs in Africa, Asia, Latin America and The Caribbean

Visiting module leaders

• Richard Carver, expert in human rights and formerly with Amnesty International
• Simon Fisher, expert in peacebuilding and founder of Responding To Conflict.
• Emeritus Professor Nabeel Hamdi, action planning, shelter and urban specialist, author of Small Change (Earthscan 2004).
• Prof Mohamed Hamza, specialist in natural disasters and vulnerability. Currently adviser to the UN in Afghanistan
• Leda Stott, expert in cross-sector partnerships and development issues. Editor of the journal Partnership Matters

CENDEP Associates

Associates are experienced practitioners who are based at CENDEP and work with students on areas of mutual interest. These currently include:

• Visiting Professor Ian Davis, expert in disaster management and winner of the 1996 UN Sasakawa Award for contributions to disaster prevention

Field trips

The course offers several field trip options each year. Previous field trips have been to South Africa, India, Thailand, Cambodia, Peru, Armenia, Bosnia, Northern Ireland, Jamaica and Bethlehem. These usually take place in late January just before the beginning of the second semester. Note that field trips are at an additional cost to the programme fee, to reflect the fact that some students prefer not to take up this option.

Admission to the programme

Each year the programme attracts students from all around the world. For example the 2008/9 intake comprised 47 students from over 20 countries.

The programme is open to all candidates who fulfil at least one of the following conditions:

This is a programme of truly international standing. It has a well defined niche in a highly competitive market, continually adapts to new ideas and staff strengths, combines practical learning with academic excellence, and receives very strong student feedback.
External Examiner's report, 2007/8

• hold a good honours degree in a relevant discipline
• hold a relevant recognised diploma or professional qualification
• have substantial and proven field experience.

Applicants whose first language is not English must demonstrate that their level of English is appropriate for postgraduate study. For Oxford Brookes the normal minimum score for IELTS is 6.0 to 6.5 and for TOEFL 550-575 (paper-based) or 213-232 (computer-based), with 4.5 in the Test of Written English (TWE).

How to apply

You apply for this course through UKPASS.

Career opportunities

Increasingly a master's degree is seen as an entry level qualification for many development and emergency related posts.

Graduates of this programme have gone on to work with governments, aid agencies, donors and non-governmental organisations all over the world.

The DEP course's emphasis on practice convinced me that this is the course that will be most useful and relevant to me especially after working almost 14 years in both development and emergencies.
Coree Alvarez, DEP student, 2007/8

Internships

CENDEP offers a number of internships to enable students to undertake field based research. Internships are currently offered to:

• All India Disaster Mitigation Institute (AIDMI), Ahmedabad, India
• CARE Bangladesh
• Department of institutional housing, Polokwani Provincial Government, South Africa
• RAPID LatinoAmerica, Peru
• SEEDS India, based in Delhi