Global Development (Taught)

Our Masters in Global Development explores the challenges people, states and corporations face in addressing demands for growth, citizenship and wellbeing in the Global South. You will engage with existing and emerging solutions to meet these demands, and the range of actors and policies striving to deliver better development outcomes. Drawing on the University of Glasgow’s strengths in global development studies, international relations, politics, economic & social history, sociology and social policy, you will understand the deeply embedded challenges of addressing inequalities in Global South settings and what failing to address them means, for everyone.

WHY THIS PROGRAMME

• This programme offers cutting-edge perspectives on development at a time when aid and multilateralism are under strain, and where the work of development is being distributed across a wider range of public, private and third sector organisations.

• You will gain vital skills for working in this new era of development policy. Innovative teaching will show how development operates beyond aid, builds necessary advocacy & diplomacy skills, and explores the uses of AI & Big Data.

• Our courses have been designed around employability and address key skills gaps identified by partners working in the development sector. You will benefit from exposure to a range of current and emerging development challenges and case studies with solutions analysed from diverse perspectives.

• Opportunities to learn outside the classroom are available through our connections with development practitioners in both the UK and overseas, including the global development teams of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office situated in nearby East Kilbride.

• The city of Glasgow is renowned for its focus on sustainable development and the legacy as host of COP26 in 2021. Glasgow has a thriving third sector and a rich history of grassroots movements and community organising.

• You will have opportunities to build an international network in an inclusive learning environment as you work with students and staff across programmes, including at our annual student-led conference.

• International Relations at Glasgow is ranked 5th in the UK by the Guardian University Guide 2026.

PROGRAMME STRUCTURE
You will take three core and three optional courses, enabling you to create a Masters programme that is tailored to your personal aims and objectives.

Courses are delivered across two semesters, followed by an independent research project that provides an opportunity for in-depth critical exploration of your chosen development challenge.

Core courses
Data for Development
Contemporary Global Challenges
Paying for Development: Policy and Politics in a Post-Aid World

Optional courses
Climate, Energy and International Relations
Corporate Social Responsibility in the Global Economy
Globalisation: Challenges from the South
Development and the Global South: African Experiences since 1945
Development Policy
Gender, Race and International Relations
Global Development and Human Rights
Health Economics in Developing Countries
International Relations and Development
Latin American Development from Independence to the Present
Skills for Development
Social Justice Activism in the Information Age

Research project
Global Challenges Independent Research Project

CAREER PROSPECTS
Early in the programme you will be given advice and support on career pathways and how to achieve them. Careers that Global Development MSc graduates would be well-prepared and suited to do include:

• Civil and diplomatic services

• International organisations such as the United Nations or the European Union

• Non-governmental organisations (NGOs)

• Development and rights consultancies

• Media and Journalism

• Communication

• Think-tanks

• Corporate social responsibility initiatives and foundations

• Social enterprises