Kathmandu University
School of Arts(Graduate Program in Development Studies)

Kathmandu University is an autonomous, not-for-profit, non - government institution dedicated to maintain high standards of academic excellence. It is committed to develop leaders in professional areas through quality education.

Graduate Program in Development Studies
The Graduate Program in Development Studies at Kathmandu University is another multidisciplinary course offered to meet the growing complexity of choices, issues, scales and resources encountered in the planning, implementation, evaluation, and monitoring of development activities.

Program Objectives:
On completion of the Graduate Program in Development Studies, students will have

Masters in Development Studies

• All courses offered are of 3 credits each. Students must complete 36 credits of course work and 12 credits of Internship work and field research work, which may include computer lab work as well as special classes in English writing and communications

• Students must enroll in 12 credits each for three semesters and fulfill all the requirements of attendance, participation, exercises, and examinations to successfully complete the course.

• An internship report linked with closely supervised field research (12 credits) on a subject approved by the Course Supervisor must be submitted for external review and oral examination as part of the course requirement.

Career Prospects

• The Masters in Development Studies program trains students in the understanding of current development issues and exposes them to a comprehensive range of tools and methods for the analysis of real-world development issues.

Entry Requirements and Course Charges

Completion of a three-year Bachelor’s degree, or a Master’s degree, with a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 2.5 out of 4.0 or an equivalent of 50 percent marks in general will be the basic criteria. Also, securing an acceptable label or ranking in the entrance exam will be essential. The entrance exam will test the candidate’s language proficiency and analytical abilities. 

Fee Structure
The total amount of fees per student, excluding the costs of books, stationeries, accommodation, and individual thesis research, for the entire duration of two years is NRs. 196, 000. The details of the expenses are as follows:

This amount is payable in eight installments (beginning of each semester). Students from SAARC (excluding Nepal) and outside SAARC countries have to pay 1.5 and 2 times the above amount of charges respectively. The various charges set by the program are subject to change according to KU rules.

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How to Apply

Applications should be made on an official application form which is available from the School of Arts, Kathmandu University, in Balkumari, Lalitpur.
Applicants should submit all relevant transcripts with their application. Any enquiry regarding the Master’s Degree Course in Development Studies at Kathmandu University should be made at the School of Arts, Kathmandu University, in Balkumari, Lalitpur.

Internship Objectives   

The internship programme aims to

• Provide students with opportunities to engage in innovative internships and project work, and to gain first hand knowledge of development issues in their relationships to development practice.

• Enable students to critically appraise particular areas of development policy from within specific institutional settings.

• Enable and encourage  agencies to contribute to the education of students by sharing their philosophies and approaches to development issues

• Collaborate with agencies in developing and promoting resources in the region appropriate for development education.

• Enhance working relationships between Kathmandu University  and development agencies, enable an exchange of ideas concerning student education, development policy and practice, develop partnerships for student research and projects, and assist in preparing students for employment both within the country and globally.
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Description of the Program

• Development Internship is a structured supervised educational course that provides students a practical experience working in selected institutions in selected national development institutions.

• The programme is designed to enable students both to demonstrate and to enhance their development knowledge and skills through placement experience and project work.

• This semester-long course is an internship. Students are placed within a suitable agency and undertake a specific approved project within the agency. Students are also required to attend a number of workshops, including an induction workshop prior to the commencement of the internship, and at least one workshop during the course of the internship in which they will discuss their experiences with relevant teaching faculties and fellow students and outline their reports.

Field Research

During the fourth semester all students will spend a significant amount of time in the field learning about development issues on the ground and getting first hand acquaintance with doing field research. The topic for research will be in the area where the student has completed the Internship. This will provide the student with a first hand familiarity with the issues discussed in an office environment during the Internship. Each student will have to carefully develop and design the work that she wishes to focus on and complete during the period. Field work should involve specific problems specification, data collection based on some sampling framework, use of other methods of developing field level understanding (rapid rural appraisal or participatory research),use of different  analytical tools, discussion of findings and linkage between the Internship and the field work –what was common, what was different and the underlying reasons, and so on.

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Course Curriculum

* Electives may be offered from other courses and will be announced separately for each semester.

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SYLLABUS

DEVS 501: Development Concept and Practices
This is a comprehensive 16-week long course that covers important issues in present day challenges facing most developing countries. The meaning of Development has broadened to reflect all the major issues confronting the developed as well as the developing countries. There are many issues where there is consensus but there are also many differences that must be openly discussed. The wealth of materials that is available in this vast subject makes it necessary to sacrifice some topics but it is hoped that this course will provide a reasonable orientation on most of the important ones.

DEVS 502: Human Development Paradigms
Human development paradigm and its precursors, human capital, ends and means of development; Development as capability expansion; Human development and economic growth, human poverty, gender, good governance, empowerment; Sustainable development concepts, analysis of sustainability and well being of human being and the environment; Other recent propositions in the discussion of development

DEVS 503: Gender, Inclusion and Empowerment
Social Theories, Social Agenda for Development, Social challenges, changing nature of social policies; Understanding the construction of gender, evolution of approaches to gender and development, Gender inequalities feminization of poverty and feminist theories; Ethnicity, inclusion, justice, human rights, religious freedom; Empowerment

DEVS 511: Economic Analysis
This course develops the basic principles of micro- and macroeconomic analysis, and employs them as tools rather than ends unto themselves.  It attempts to introduce students to a method of reasoning; to think like an economist through example and application. It even teaches by showing students how not to think, by exposing them to the errors implicit in much popular reasoning about economic events.

Firms, Objectives of the Firm and Decision Making; Markets, Concepts of Demand and Supply, Issues and Application; Competition and Monopoly, Externalities and Conflicting Rights, Markets and Government; National Income, Concepts and Measurements, Economic growth, Unemployment, Inflation; Multinational Business and International Trade, Economic Performance and Political Economy

DEVS 512: Statistics
The objective of the course is to acquaint the students with basic knowledge of probability and probability distributions, sampling distribution, variables and their measurements, hypothesis, hypothesis testing and level of significance; descriptive and inferential statistical methods including univariate, bivariate and multivariate technique such as, t-test, z-test, chi-square test, analysis of variance, correlation, bivariate and multiple regression (linear regression model using plural independent variables, interaction terms, dummy variables, curvilinear methods and logistic regression. The course will provide comprehensive knowledge and skills on univariate to multivariate techniques for the analysis of survey data.

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DEVS 513: Project Management, Monitoring and Evaluation
The objective of the course is to provide in-depth understanding on the concepts and application of project management, monitoring and evaluation. It will deal with issues such as: relationship between macro, meso and project planning; planning techniques; project formulate techniques; aspects of project appraisal and screening in the context of macro and sectoral plans; project implementation, procurement and contract; operation and maintenance plan; and project monitoring and evaluation process.

DEVS 514: Research Methodology
The objective of this course is to equip students with knowledge and skills on social science research methods with special reference to underdeveloped rural settings. This course covers fundamental concept of research and scientific process, measurement issues and their validity and reliability, sampling techniques, questionnaire designs and interview techniques.

DEVS 521: Introduction to Public Policy
What is Public Policy? Rationale for Public Policy, Market failures, Distributional and other goals; Limits to public intervention; Correcting market and government failures; Policy adoption and implementation; Policy analysis, Review of different policy instruments; Review of Public Policies; Case studies from different countries; Ethnography of selected policies.

DEVS 522: Micro Development Dynamics
Micro level interventions in rural and urban areas are increasing very significantly primarily because of their effectiveness in working with the poor. These interventions include areas such as micro finance, micro enterprises, micro area development, micro contracting, better integration of micro-macro linkages, micro insurance for the poor, micro dynamics of rural households, services as the local level, and so on.

DEVS 523: Globalization and WTO
Introduction to WTO, Overview, Core mandate and activities, Basic principles and organization; Trade negotiations, Implementation & Development; the Doha Agenda, Different Trade related agreements; Globalization, regionalization and alternatives.

DEVS 531: Nepal’s Development Plans and Policies
The objective of this course is to familiarize students with the development approaches, practices and policies in Nepal. It will review the changes in development approaches, overall macroeconomic performance, sectoral development performance, regional and rural development. It will critically review the role of aid, trade and planning in Nepal. There will be guest speakers on special topics.

DEVS 532: Nepal’s Economic Diplomacy with China and India
The objective of this course is to discuss the opportunities for the private sector of Nepal provided by the rapidly growing economies of India and China. Rather than aid, trade will be the focus of the private sector, and it will be very interesting to find out what sort of thinking is going in the minds of the private sector investors in Nepal, including a review of present and future prospects for Nepal to participate beneficially in the growing economies of China and India. This is a seminar type course with guest speakers on different issues.

Contact Address:
Masters in Development Studies
Kathmandu University
School of Arts
Balkumari, Lalitpur
P.O.Box 6250, Kathmandu, Nepal
Tel: 5548891, 5544078
Email: info@ku.edu.np

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