BA (Hons) Global Development with a Foundation Year

Course Overview

Have you ever wondered about the biggest issues in the world today? About how we tackle the challenges we face in our local communities, our national contexts, and in global society? Questions like: Why is there so much poverty and how can we reduce it? Why do racial, ethnic, class, gender and other inequalities persist and how can we change things? How can we mitigate climate change? You’ll learn to tackle these big questions – and many more – in our BA Global Development with a Foundation Year.

We take an innovative interdisciplinary approach to the study of global development, exploring the most pressing challenges of the 21st century from a range of different perspectives. Fusing insights from anthropology, economics, environmental sciences, geography, media, and politics, you’ll explore the most urgent global challenges of our time, from poverty to inequality, pandemics to climate change, education to civil war. You’ll also obtain research skills training. This, combined with the truly interdisciplinary nature of this course, will develop you into a well-rounded social researcher with a range of skills that are attractive to employers.

You’ll start your degree with a foundation year to help you develop the skills and knowledge you’ll need to succeed. You’ll have the chance to get a taste of new areas of study in a supportive learning environment with higher levels of individual support, so that when you successfully finish your foundation year, you’ll be perfectly placed to progress to Year 1 of our degree programme. During your foundation year, we’ll work with you to help you make the best decision for your developing interests and career goals. At the end of the Foundation Year, you could continue with our BA Global Development degree, or you could choose to follow another of our pathways within the School of Global Development, including: BA Global Development with Economics, BA Global Development with Politics and BA Geography and Global Development. All degrees in the School of Global Development offer additional options to take a study abroad year, a placement year or a placement module.

By studying with us, you’ll join our close-knit academic community, made up of experts from across multiple disciplines, all housed within the School of Global Development. As such, you’ll benefit from a truly vibrant, interdisciplinary environment and learn from researchers who are making a real difference in the world. At UEA, we’re amongst the best in the world for researching, teaching, and practicing development, and our students go on to work in a variety of rewarding careers in development, and beyond. Come and study with us and help to create a fairer world.

Employability

You’ll graduate with knowledge and skills valued by a vast range of organisations related to global development and many of our graduates go on to work in this sector. These include government agencies, the United Nations, private sector companies, consultancy firms, and the many hundreds of large and small non-government organisations that focus on development and humanitarian work.

Alternatively, you could use the academic and transferable skills gained from our degrees for careers in business, the voluntary and public sector, education, and academia.