Outline

Overview

GEOS3924 has the same thematic content as GEOS3524 however with elements taught at an Advanced level.

Unit details and rules

Academic unit	Geosciences Academic Operations
Credit points	6
Prerequisites ?	A mark or 75 or above in (GEOS2X21 or AREC2005 or GOVET2228 or GEOS2X11 or GEOS2X23 or GEOS2X16)
Corequisites ?	None
Prohibitions ?	GEOS3524 or GEOS2112 or GEOS2912
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	Yes

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Jeffrey Neilson, jeffrey.neilson@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Participation	Seminar participation and leadership Participation in seminar discussions and debates	10%	Ongoing	During seminars
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Discussion blog posts Post through Canvas discussion board	15%	Ongoing	n/a
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Take-home mid-semester exam 24-hour Take-home mid-semester exam	20%	Week 06 Due date: 13 Apr 2021 at 15:00	24 hours
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Research Report Written task	35%	Week 09 Due date: 07 May 2021 at 17:00	2000 words
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Take-home end of semester exam Take-home end of semester exam	20%	Week 13 Due date: 01 Jun 2021 at 15:00	24 hours
Outcomes assessed:

Assessment summary

Take-home exams: Two take-home exams will be held in weeks 6 and 13. Each is worth 20% of the final UoS mark. More information on each exam will be provided during lectures prior to the exam. There is no exam during the scheduled examination period. Failure to complete either of these exams will result in a mark of zero, unless Special Consideration is formally granted by the Faculty office.
Research Report: You will participate in an existing research project being undertaken in the School of Geosciences related to global development and livelihoods. There are two (2) possible research topics. Each student is required to do a different project, and to arrange a meeting with the academic supervisor for that project.
Canvas discussion posts: Throughout the semester, you are required to make posts on the Canvas Discussion Board. These should be posted during the week of the seminar topic and will be closed by the following Monday. These posts are in lieu of tutorial papers, and you are expected to: i) respond to the discussion question/topic/reading; ii) critically reflect on the required readings; iii) demonstrate a clear understanding of the topic; and iv) respond appropriately to (and not repeat arguments made in) previous posts. You are expected to make at least 3 posts throughout the semester and contribute approximately 800 words (this is a guide only).
Seminar participation and leadership: Seminars will be student-led, which means that each student is required to sign-up via Canvas to lead one seminar throughout the semester, upon which you will be assessed. All students are expected to participate actively in seminar discussions. You should come along fully prepared to participate in critical debates on the discussion topics. The expression of informed opinions is welcome! You will be assessed based on your ability to actively and thoughtfully participate in discussions throughout the semester.

Detailed information for each assessment can be found on Canvas.

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a High distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a Distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name	Mark range	Description
High distinction	85 - 100	Student’s work is i) innovative, ii) original and iii) highly analytical. Written work is at a standard that could potentially be published for a broader readership, and it contains no factual, referencing or grammatical errors. Demonstrates an intimate conceptual understanding of a broad literature and uses this to make sophisticated arguments and promote thought-provoking discussion during lectures and tutorials. Draws on a wide variety of reference material to develop advanced understanding of pertinent development issues.
Distinction	75 - 84	Performs at a high level of competence meeting at least two of the three HD criteria. Written work is at a high standard with few factual, referencing or grammatical errors. Demonstrates a strong conceptual understanding of the literature and uses this effectively to make logical arguments and actively engage in class discussions. Able to clearly articulate an understanding of all concepts in an exam format.
Credit	65 - 74	The defining difference between a ‘credit’ and ‘distinction’ grade is a powerful and original argument binding essays together in a Distinction and the possible appearance of some factual, referencing or grammatical errors in a Credit grade. Credit essays will, however, still have a logically constructed argument and be well-written, but may lack originality or flair. While raw data will be used, it may be less effectively presented. Credit-level exam responses will address the question and comply with basic requirements of the task, but may do so indirectly or suggesting a partial understanding of the question. Provides original and thoughtful contributions to debate most of the time, capturing the main points of the seminar in an informed way with solid attendance.
Pass	50 - 64	Addresses the question and complies with the basic requirements of the task, but indicates a rudimentary understanding of key concepts, with limited exploration of reputable literature, and whose written work usually contains some factual, referencing or grammatical errors. Contributes sometimes to class debate, but doesn’t show a deep conceptual understanding of the issues, and may have some unexplained absences.
Fail	0 - 49	When you don’t meet the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and automated writing tools

You may only use generative AI and automated writing tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator. If you do use these tools, you must acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section. The assessment instructions or unit outline will give guidance of the types of tools that are permitted and how the tools should be used.

Your final submitted work must be your own, original work. You must acknowledge any use of generative AI tools that have been used in the assessment, and any material that forms part of your submission must be appropriately referenced. For guidance on how to acknowledge the use of AI, please refer to the AI in Education Canvas site.

The unapproved use of these tools or unacknowledged use will be considered a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy and penalties may apply.

Studiosity is permitted unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission as detailed on the Learning Hub’s Canvas page.

Outside assessment tasks, generative AI tools may be used to support your learning. The AI in Education Canvas site contains a number of productive ways that students are using AI to improve their learning.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Week 01	Development strategies and global economic structures (NEILSON)	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 02	The Asian economic miracle (and crisis) and the role of the state (NEILSON)	Lecture and tutorial (3 hr)
Week 03	Regional development and global value chains (NEILSON)	Lecture and tutorial (3 hr)
Week 04	Globalisation, development and social justice (EL KHOURY)	Lecture and tutorial (3 hr)
Week 05	The politics of development and aid (NEILSON)	Lecture and tutorial (3 hr)
Week 06	MID-SEMESTER EXAM	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 07	Sustainable livelihoods and fortress farming in Indonesia (NEILSON)	Lecture and tutorial (3 hr)
Week 08	Livelihood diversification and migration in India (PRITCHARD)	Lecture and tutorial (3 hr)
Week 09	Gender and development – “pluralising development” (EL KHOURY)	Lecture and tutorial (3 hr)
Week 10	Food security, human rights and development (PRITCHARD)	Lecture and tutorial (3 hr)
Week 11	Livelihoods, climate change and environmental adaptation (PRITCHARD)	Lecture and tutorial (3 hr)
Week 12	Thinking about 'development' in the 21st century (PRITCHARD)	Lecture and tutorial (3 hr)
Week 13	END-OF-SEMESTER EXAM	Lecture (2 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

Due to the exceptional circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, attendance requirements for this unit of study have been amended. Where online tutorials/workshops/virtual laboratories have been scheduled, students should make every effort to attend and participate at the scheduled time. Penalties will not be applied if technical issues, etc. prevent attendance at a specific online class. In that case, students should discuss the problem with the coordinator, and attend another session, if available.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

In this course, you are expected to read! The content of the following readings is assessable in the exams.

Week 1 Development strategies and global economic structures

Hartwick, E. (2009). Dependency, International Encyclopedia of Human Geography (Eds. R. Kitchen and N. Thrift). Elsevier. (5 pages) http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/referenceworks/9780080449104

Rodrik, D. (2006). Goodbye Washington Consensus, Hello Washington Confusion? A Review of the World Bank’s Economic Growth in the 1990s: Learning from a Decade of Reform, Journal of Economic Literature, 44(4): 973–87.

Week 2 The Asian miracle (and crisis) and the role of the state

Rigg, J. (2002). Of miracles and crises: (re–) interpretations of growth and decline in East and Southeast Asia, Asia Pacific Viewpoint. 43 (2), 137-156.

Week 3 Value chains, strategic coupling and regional development

Yeung, H, W-C. (2015). Regional development in the global economy: A dynamic perspective of strategic coupling in global production networks, Regional Science Policy & Practice, 7(1), 1-23.

Week 4 Gender and development

Chant, S. and Sweetman, C. (2012). Fixing women or fixing the world? ‘Smart economics’, efficiency approaches, and gender equality in development. Gender & Development, 20(3):517-529

Zulfiqar, G. (2017). Does microfinance enhance gender equity in access to finance? Evidence from Pakistan. Feminist Economics, 23(1):160-185

Week 5 The Politics of Development and Aid

Ferguson, J. and Lohmann, L. (1994). “The anti-politics machine: 'development' and bureaucratic power in Lesotho.” The Ecologist 24 (5). 176-181. (6 pages)

Sachs, J. (2005). Can Extreme Poverty Be Eliminated? Scientific American (September 2005), 293(3), 56-65, https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy1.library.usyd.edu.au/stable/26061144 (10 pages)

Additional materials on the Millenium Villages project

EconTalk (2014). Russ Roberts with Nina Munk on Poverty, Development, and the Idealist, January 27, 2014. http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2014/01/nina_munk_on_po.html

EconTalk (2014). Russ Roberts with Jeffrey Sachs on the Millennium Villages Project, March 17, 2014 http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2014/03/jeffrey_sachs_o.html

Mitchell, S et al. (2018). The Millennium Villages Project: a retrospective, observational, endline evaluation, The Lancet Global Health, 6 (5). e500-e513

Bendavid, E. (2018). The fog of development: evaluating the Millennium Villages Project. The Lancet Global Health, 6(5), e470-e471.

Week 6 Evaluating the effectiveness of development interventions

White, H. (2013). An introduction to the use of randomised control trials to evaluate development interventions, Journal of Development Effectiveness, 5(1), 30-49

Anonymous (2019). Free exchange: Works in progress, The Economist, 433(9170), Nov 23 edition, page 78.

Week 8 Sustainable livelihoods framework

Serrat, O. (2017). The Sustainable Livelihoods Approach, Knowledge Solutions: Tools, Methods, and Approaches to Drive Organizational Performance, Springer. 21-26. DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-0983-9_5

Scoones, I. (2009) Livelihoods perspectives and rural development, The Journal of Peasant Studies, 36 (1): 171-196

Week 9 Livelihoods and Indigenous peoples in the Amazon

Cunha, M.C., Almeida, M.W.B. (2000) Indigenous People, Traditional People, and Conservation in the Amazon. Daedalus, vol. 129, no. 2, 2000, pp. 315–338.

Mauro, F. and Hardison, P. D. (2000) Traditional knowledge of indigenous and local communities: International debate and policy initiatives, Ecological Applications, 10(5), pp. 1263–1269.9.

Additional materials

UN (2007), The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, available: https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/11/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf

Kumar, A., Singh, T. P. and Gautam, S. (2017) International and National Framework on Access and Benefit Sharing, in Al., K. P. L. et (ed.) Biodiversity for Sustainable Development. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, pp. 3–15.

Week 10 Conservation and development in Sarawak

Readings to be confirmed

Week 11 Rural livelihood diversification in Cambodia

Marschke, M. J., and Berkes, F. (2006). Exploring strategies that build livelihood resilience: a case from Cambodia. Ecology and Society, 11: 42

Teh, L.S., Bond, N., Krishna, K.C., Fraser, E., Seng, R. and Sumaila, U.R. (2019). The economic impact of global change on fishing and non-fishing households in the Tonle Sap ecosystem, Pursat, Cambodia. Fisheries research, 210:71-80

Week 12 Food security and climate change in India

Rasul, G. & Sharma, B. (2016) The nexus approach to water–energy–food security: an option for adaptation to climate change, Climate Policy, 16:6,682-702, DOI: 10.1080/14693062.2015.1029865

Pritchard, B. (2016) The impacts of climate change for food and nutrition security: Issues for India. In Nautiyal, S., Schaldach, R., Raju, K.V., Kaechele, H., Pritchard, B. & Rao, K.S. (eds) (2016) Climate Change Challenge (3C) and Socio-Economic-Ecological Interface-Building, Springer, Geneva, pp.11-25.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. Exhibit a broad and coherent body of knowledge of economic geography, global development and livelihoods and acknowledge the contested and situated nature of this knowledge.
LO2. Integrate a deep understanding of geographical concepts and principles to describe processes that shape development processes globally.
LO3. Apply geographical principles creatively, critically and appropriately to specific spaces, places and environments, with a focus on the Global South.
LO4. Contribute effectively as a member or leader of diverse teams, working with consideration of cross-cultural perspectives within collaborative, interdisciplinary contexts.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

Students have appreciated the interactive approach to lectures and we have increases the number of flipped learning opportunities during lectures. Reading time is being specifically offered at the start of both exams.

Additional information

Work, health and safety

We are governed by the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 and Codes of Practice. Penalties for non-compliance have increased. Everyone has a responsibility for health and safety at work. The University’s Work Health and Safety policy explains the responsibilities and expectations of workers and others, and the procedures for managing WHS risks associated with University activities.

General Laboratory Safety Rules

No eating or drinking is allowed in any laboratory under any circumstances
A laboratory coat and closed-toe shoes are mandatory
Follow safety instructions in your manual and posted in laboratories
In case of fire, follow instructions posted outside the laboratory door
First aid kits, eye wash and fire extinguishers are located in or immediately outside each laboratory
As a precautionary measure, it is recommended that you have a current tetanus immunisation. This can be obtained from University Health Service: unihealth.usyd.edu.au/

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Work, health and safety

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

GEOS3924: Global Development and Livelihoods (Adv)

Semester 1, 2021 [Normal day] - Remote

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Work, health and safety

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links