Uncategorised Archives - Development Studies Association of Australia

COVID-19, Black Swans and the Citizen Scholar

James Arvanitakis It is now a cliché to describe the way COVID-19 has disrupted higher education: from the pivot to online delivery and the need for budget repair, to re-imagining how we engage with our global partners. For Australian higher education institutions, the lack of student mobility, the tensions with China and a hostile federal government have also highlighted the financial vulnerabilities in the sector. Globally, the re-emergence of the Black Live Matter protests that began with a focus on police brutality towards minority communities in the United States, have expanded to the raise awareness regarding the underlying histories

By dsaalogin|2020-10-05T09:18:57+00:00October 5th, 2020|Uncategorised|Comments Off

Critical Theory, Practice-oriented Skills, and Affective Learning

Kearrin Sims It has long been recognised that development studies must strike a balance between a critical (perhaps radical) interrogation of development, and the delivery of practical skills for undertaking development work. These two undertakings are, of course, interrelated. Good development practice is informed by a sound understanding of relevant theory, and theoretical debates need to be attentive to shifts in policy and practice. As Harris notes, development studies seeks to both understand ‘how and why the social world is constituted’, and to provide strategies and interventions that are intended to bring about change (2005: 18).

By dsaalogin|2020-09-20T07:27:44+00:00September 20th, 2020|Uncategorised|Comments Off

Looking after international students during COVID-19

Tahmina Rashid Australia risks losing billions in revenue, as well as its international reputation, if it continues to ignore the plight of 500,000 international students, Tahmina Rashid writes. Governments in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and New Zealand offered support in sharp contrast to the Australian government when the COVID-19 crisis broke out. As the crisis escalated, Prime Minister Scott Morrison advised international students that “it’s time to go home”. Not only did this advice lack empathy, but it was a poor political move. It garnered a negative response from international students, who continue to suffer – often in silence –

By dsaalogin|2020-08-17T03:14:55+00:00August 17th, 2020|Uncategorised|Comments Off

The Impact of Gender on Teaching

Susan Engel This blog is based on an article I co-authored with Deborah Mayersen, David Pedersen & Joakim Eidenfalk titled ‘The Impact of Gender on International Relations Simulations’ in the Journal of Political Science Education. While it focuses on teaching in politics, the issue of the impact of gender in the classroom more generally is just not discussed enough. Indeed, when starting out tertiary teaching, the text I was recommended on teaching hardly even mentions the terms women or gender and does not discuss the impact of gender on teaching.[^1] Yet classrooms are still very gendered

By dsaalogin|2020-08-09T10:07:31+00:00August 9th, 2020|Uncategorised|Comments Off

State Responses to COVID-19: a Global Snapshot at 1 June 2020

Nichole Georgeou and Charles Hawksley Development studies educators seeking to assist students understand how different states around the world reacted and responded to COVID-19 in the first few months of the pandemic are advised of a new, free, 132-page report —State Responses to COVID-19: a Global Snapshot at 1 June 2020. Published by the Humanitarian and Development Research Initiative (HADRI) at Western Sydney University, and edited by HADRI Director, Associate Professor Nichole Georgeou (WSU) and Dr Charles Hawksley (UOW), the collection represents the work of over 70 academic and professional contributors from across the world, linked through their research connections

By dsaalogin|2020-08-03T00:30:45+00:00August 2nd, 2020|Uncategorised|Comments Off

DSAA Blog Launch: Learning and teaching in development studies

The more radical the person is, the more fully he or she enters into reality so that, knowing it better, he or she can transform it. This individual is not afraid to confront, to listen, to see the world unveiled. This person is not afraid to meet the people or to enter into a dialogue with them. This person does not consider himself or herself the proprietor of history or of all people, or the liberator of the oppressed; but he or she does commit himself or herself, within history, to fight at their side.- Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of

By dsaalogin|2020-07-27T11:26:27+00:00July 25th, 2020|Uncategorised|Comments Off