Duration
25h Th, 20h Pr
Number of credits
| Master in population and development studies, professional focus North-South cooperation | 6 crédits | |||
| Extra courses intended for exchange students (Erasmus, ...) (Faculty of social sciences) | 6 crédits |
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
All year long, with partial in January
If a student fails an examination during the first term:
- They are permitted to resit the assessed subject during the second term (May-June);
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
The aim of this course is to enable students to address a central theme of development cooperation, poverty, from different perspectives (disciplinary, theoretical and practical).
The course runs throughout the academic year and seeks to place students both in a learning position and in a position to connect the concepts and practices covered.
The first term is devoted to the conceptual and methodological foundations of poverty analysis: monetary and multidimensional poverty, inequality, vulnerability and deprivation, indicators and measurement tools, drawing on economics, sociology and anthropology.
The second term is built around an intercultural fieldwork project. After methodology sessions on conducting fieldwork in the Global South, students are paired with students from the Institute of Public Policy of Université Cheikh Anta Diop (IPP/UCAD, Dakar). Each pair works on a poverty-related topic, designs a shared interview guide and conducts a series of interviews with people affected by this topic in Senegal, with Liège students taking part remotely by videoconference. The work continues with transcription, joint analysis of the material and a collective pooling session.
The work leads to an individual report that brings together the two parts of the year: a quantitative analysis of poverty using the indicators covered in the first term, and a qualitative analysis based on the interview material produced by the pair.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- understand the concept of poverty and its different dimensions;
- use indicators and measurement tools to characterise a poverty situation;
- design an interview guide and conduct a qualitative interview, including remotely;
- analyse first-hand qualitative material and relate its contributions to a quantitative analysis;
- reflect critically on their own conduct of fieldwork and on intercultural collaboration;
- write a research report combining these different approaches.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
- Reading and writing skills. Ability to connect a theoretical framework, practical exercises and a research topic.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
The course combines theoretical input in the first term with collaborative practice in the second.
In the first term, lectures and practical sessions introduce the notions and approaches of poverty and vulnerability, as well as the main indicators and methods of analysis. The practical sessions directly prepare the quantitative part of the final report.
In the second term, three methodology sessions prepare students for fieldwork: ethics and conditions of fieldwork in the Global South, designing the interview guide, and conducting and analysing qualitative interviews. Students then carry out their fieldwork in pairs with IPP/UCAD students. Three continuous assessment sessions mark this work: presentation of the interview guides, a transcript analysis workshop, and a final pooling session in the form of a debate.
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Face-to-face course
Further information:
Blended learning
Additional information:
This course is given mainly face-to-face throughout the year (timetable available on CELCAT). Attendance and participation in the course are compulsory (absence to be justified, 1 unjustified absence is tolerated).
Course materials and recommended or required readings
Exam(s) in session
Any session
- In-person
written exam ( multiple-choice questionnaire, open-ended questions )
Written work / report
Continuous assessment
Further information:
Exam(s) in session
Any session
- In-person
written exam ( multiple-choice questionnaire, open-ended questions )
Written work / report
Continuous assessment
Further information:
Assessment combines an individual exam in January, continuous assessment in the second term and a final individual report.
Written exam (January), 45% of the final grade. Multiple-choice and open questions on the theoretical and methodological knowledge acquired in the first term.
Continuous assessment (second term), 10%. Three moments are assessed: the presentation of the interview guide, the analysis of the transcripts, and participation in the final pooling debate.
Individual report (May), 45%. The report has two parts. The quantitative part provides an analysis of the poverty situation using the indicators and measurement tools covered in the first term (monetary and multidimensional poverty, inequality, deprivation, etc.), drawing on available statistical sources. The qualitative part analyses the interview material produced by the pair on the chosen topic, then gives a reflexive account of the conduct of fieldwork and of what was gained from pooling with the other pairs.
Passing the January exam and submitting the individual report are both required to pass the course. In the event of failure or non-submission, students retake the part concerned in the resit session. Continuous assessment cannot be retaken in the resit session; its weighting is then transferred to the individual report.
Meeting deadlines and the expected standard of quality is compulsory. All assignment guidelines are communicated to students and available on eCampus.
Work placement(s)
Organisational remarks and main changes to the course
The second term is part of a teaching partnership with the Institute of Public Policy of UCAD (Dakar). Students are required to respect the ethical framework presented in the methodology sessions: free and informed consent of interviewees, anonymisation of transcripts, and use of data limited to the course.
Contacts
Frieda Vandeninden - f.vandeninden@uliege.be