Innovative
Aspects
Emphasis on the
range and diversity of Southern actors:
In selecting the material you see here
we have sought specifically to draw
material from a diverse range of
Southern actors – academics,
practitioners, grassroots activists, and
so on. The objective here is to help
students appreciate that thinking and
theorization of gender occurs in
multiple sites – and adds different
kinds of value to our knowledge.
Emphasis on the theory-praxis nexus:
Our hope is that the material here will
enable the typical university student,
while significantly engaging with the
theoretical literature on gender and
development, to do so in a much less
abstracted way. The
practitioner on the other hand will be
required to engage with those
theoretical concepts which help to make
sense of what would otherwise constitute
separate and diverse empirical case
studies - and sometimes discrete experiences of the practitioner.
Relevance for practice:
Students using material from this
teaching tool would be in a unique
position to utilize the knowledge and
experience acquired in the course in
order to develop practical skills. In
particular, in studying gender and
development from diverse Southern
perspectives, students in the course
will be asked to evaluate the extent to which
specific development policies and
projects emerging from mainstream
institutional settings conform to the
experiences of Southern actors. By evaluating
development outcomes as experienced by
Southern actors, students will gain much
needed insight into what policy and
practice requires if it is to be
meaningful and successful for its
intended recipients.
Collaborative research: A course
constructed from this resource could
encourage students to engage in a
collaborative research project with a
Southern partner. This would be
done long-distance, involving at least
two students from the course and the
Southern partner, who would together
design and implement a research project.
Many creative choices of topic and
arrangements are possible, depending on
the students and the resources
available. At the very least, we
expect that the student will learn about
the gains to be made from collaborative
research, and the challenges involved.
