Development Studies

The long-run development and international economic relations of developing countries are chosen as the major topic of this course. The long-run growth section deals with structural change from agriculture to industry and services, institutions, distribution, population, education, health, taxation and government expenditure, agriculture, and other resources. The international relations section relates growth to migration, aid, international trade, and foreign debt, the latter including financial crises.

This course provides a broad and balanced picture of China's even growing presence and influence in the developing world, before and since the launch of its Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013. This course examines readings about China in the developing world from Chinese and international sources and perspectives that shed light on the diversity and complexity of this topic. A closely related objective of the course is to encourage students to think critically about the strengths and lessons of China's development model and experience that other developing countries should assess and learn in pursuing their own development paths.

This course offers a dynamic and comprehensive introduction to the systems and politics of global health in low and middle-income countries. Students examine critical challenges, including pandemics, ageing populations, pharmaceutical innovation, and the climate crisis, alongside the key determinants of health and their consequences for development. Students explore policies designed to improve health and development, the barriers to their implementation, and practical strategies to overcome these obstacles. Topics include global health governance, universal health coverage, health system strengthening, and the politics of disease burdens. The course also considers the impacts of migration, conflict, and climate change on health.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program. The course is intended for advanced level students only. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. The course focuses on the global challenges that the planet's population has been facing since the second half of the twentieth century. Among these, the critical relation with natural resources and with the concept of development and, above all, climate change, with its connections to territorial development, ecological risk, food security and the consumption of natural resources. At the end of the course, the students have acquired the theoretical and empirical tools to critically analyze the global strategies of climate resilience and cooperation and the relation between climate change and tourism. They also have acquired the ability to work in groups and develop class discussions. They are able to communicate both in expert and non-expert groups the global dynamics connected to climate change, globalization, poverty, development and tourism. Climate change offers the opportunity for a multidisciplinary analysis and, during the course, the many topics connected to the phenomenon are discussed, using mainly a geographical approach which means having a focus on territorial impacts, policies, and responses. The course concentrates on three main aspects of the phenomenon. PART 1 introduces climate change as a global phenomenon, with its natural and anthropogenic root causes, positioning it inside the wider perspective of environmental degradation and pollution and analyzing the global debate between climate change activists and deniers. In this respect, several activities are carried out, such as group work, presentation, and class discussion. PART 2 analyzes the Kyoto Protocol and the Post Kyoto adaptation and mitigation strategies, with a focus on the policy-making process but also trying to include it in a theoretical framework of adaptation, PART 3 covers climate change and mobility, including the connections between climate change and environmental crisis with migration and tourism.

This course explores the institutions and practices of international aid through the lens of development and humanitarian expertise. The course is structured around a visit in the last lecture from aid practitioners such as from the British Red Cross who discusses their work and how to get into the profession of development, humanitarianism, and other related careers. Students work in groups throughout the semester to prepare for this event, ultimately producing blog entries that showcase what they think anthropology can offer to understand humanitarian and development issues. 

This course explores how anthropologists have evaluated, criticized, and contributed to development. Focusing on both "Big D" development (schemes of improvement or projects) and "little d" development (change which occurs as the result of economic growth or modernization) the course shows how anthropological insights have been used to change practices from within as well as critique development from the outside. From anthropological work which seeks pragmatic engagement to that which deconstructs development as an oppressive and power laden discourse, the course gives students a broad background to the field. Topics covered include the role of the state, participation and farmer first approaches; gender and development; development as discourse and "aidnography"; neo liberalism and global capital; corporate social responsibility; markets and micro credit; and the relationship between "tradition" and modernity.