Oxford Course 2008
The fifth training course on Human Development: From Theory to Practice, is jointly organized by UNDP’s Human Development Report Office, HDCA, and Queen Elizabeth House. The course will be held 14 – 26 September 2008 at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford, UK.
The course will contain a mix of applied training sessions, CD-ROM based exercises, quantitative techniques, computer training and traditional classroom teaching. The course is designed for an audience of professionals and policy makers involved in development issues. The training course will cover applied problems of relevance to human development in a dynamic, interactive and stimulating environment. The application and selection process for the 2008 course is now closed. Presentations from the course will be made available on-line later this fall.
The cost of the course is $6,500, which covers tuition as well as accommodation and meals at St. Catherine’s
College for the duration of the programme. This sum does not include travel costs to and from Oxford. Information on logistics, the schedule, readings and presentations are available through this section of our website. Please be advised, we are no longer accepting applications for this course.
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"The Oxford Summer School is a unique institution. It brings together people from around the world to share experience, reflect on strategies for achieving change, and develop their understanding of human development. One of the great strengths of the capabilities framework over the years has been its constant renewal through the analysis of new issues, from human rights to cultural diversity and climate change. The Oxford Summer School is part of this process of renewal. At a time when the world is facing great challenges in the form of rising inequality, globalisation, environmental threats, the erosion of multilateralism, and the regulation of markets, the Oxford event provides a rare opportunity to stand back and sharpen our analytical tools." Kevin Watkins
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Course Structure
Sessions dynamics
- Each session will aim at reflecting not only on conceptual and thematic issues, but also on implications for policy and programming, including focus on marginalized groups, and principles of empowerment, equity, sustainability, and efficiency.
- The length of speaker presentations will be around 30 minutes. Each presentation will be followed, where appropriate, by a 10 minute response by one or two participants in the light of their experience. Some presentations will be followed by free questions; others will be more focused towards working group discussions.
Assignments
- Eight country case studies will be prepared in advance. In addition, eight HD themes will be emphasized in the case materials such as climate change, governance, gender and conflict.
- Teams of 6-8 participants will choose how to apply the HD&C approach to one of these country case studies by preparing one of the following:
- a mock country programming document, e.g., UNDP, donor or NGO programme
- a mock advisory report to government
- a mock HDR outline
- a mock advocacy strategy
- a mock country programming document, e.g., UNDP, donor or NGO programme
- A final determination of assignments and themes will be based partly on the results of a pre-course participant survey. In place of the mock assignments, participants also have the option to propose an actual case study in support of their current work.
- Assignment teams will be encouraged to present their assignments creatively, e.g. through role-playing.
- In addition to the eight teams working on how to apply the HD&C approach, there will be one team working on the HD textbook.
- Clear instructions and evaluation criteria for the assignments will be prepared.
- There will be a Judging Panel of for presentation of assignments. The Panel will draw on resource people already in Oxford at that time.
Pre-course Activities
- A pre-course survey will be distributed to all participants to better understand their needs and interests.
- A set of 5 key readings will be distributed electronically beforehand to all participants. They should come to the course having read those.
Readings
- There will be two readings assigned to each topic covered in the course.
- If there are essential topics that participants should have a grasp of but are not covered in lectures, two core readings on these topics will be added to the set of readings.
- Five hard copies of all readings will be available in the library for participants to consult/photocopy if they wish.
- A CD will be given to all participants with the readings once they arrive.
