MSc NGOs and Development
The MSc NGOs and Development programme focuses on the work of NGOs within development and transition contexts in the areas of advocacy, humanitarian relief, and service delivery. The programme examines the special roles of NGOs and the challenges they encounter, their relationships with other stakeholders (states, inter-governmental organisations, beneficiaries), the internal organisational challenges as well as the changing policy contexts in which NGOs operate.
|
|
|
|
The Centre established this innovative programme - to our knowledge, the first of its kind anywhere in the world - in 1995. It is intended for people who are making, or who have the potential to make, a significant contribution to the non-governmental sector in the developing world as analysts, policy-makers, researchers or practitioners. |
|
|
|
Applicants will be expected to be well-qualified graduates with at least one years experience of work within NGOs and/or relevant government departments or donor agencies working with NGOs. During the past, we have had a wide range of students at different stages of their careers. These range from mid-career professionals seeking to supplement their field or office experience with a period of reflection and study, to younger people with limited practical experience who are just starting out, but who plan to build their future working in or with the non-governmental sector.
|
|
Our students tend to be drawn from all corners of the world - countries represented on the course so far include Afghanistan, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Barbados, Brazil, Britain, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Lebanon, Lesotho, Lithuania, Madagascar, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, USA, Vietnam, Yemen and Zambia. |
|
|
Some students have come from large well-known NGOs such as Action Aid, Care, Red Cross or Oxfam but many are people who are working in small local organisations. Not all of our students are necessarily actually working in NGOs - we have also sometimes had people who are part of government or inter-governmental organisations but who work with the NGO sector, or from people who are working as consultants with NGOs.
Applications to the MSc from prospective students from developing and transition countries are particularly welcomed. |
|
|
The MSc focuses broadly on the work of NGOs engaged in development, humanitarian, relief, and advocacy. It examines
(a) the work NGOs do, the challenges they encounter, and the special role they play in development, relief, and advocacy contexts,
(b) NGO relationships with other stakeholders including beneficiaries, communities, government, donors, social movements, transnational networks and other organisational actors and how these relationships affect the work of NGOs;
(c) the internal organisational challenges NGOs face, including evaluation, accountability, legitimacy, and planning
(d) the changing policy contexts in which NGOs are operating and how those policy contexts affect the work of NGOs and
(e) theories of civil society and non-governmental public action and how these can be used to analyse and understand the changing roles of NGOs. |
|
The MSc considers a wide range of conceptual, contextual and policy issues and ideas. These include the changing policy contexts in which NGOs operate, the complexities of accountability, organisational growth and change, the ethical dimensions of NGO work, the links between human rights (civil, political, and economic) and development, the new conceptual debates around civil society, globalisation, humanitarianism, development, social movements, social capital, and social entrepreneurship.
As an MSc programme at the LSE, this academic programme provides a unique opportunity for critical reflection, analysis, and debate on the topic of NGOs working in development, relief, and advocacy contexts. The MSc is not a professional training course; it draws together theory and practice through the seminars and lectures, equipping participants with essential analytic skills to operate strategically in the work environment. The MSc draws on documentation from many countries and the accumulated research experience of staff at the LSE's Centre for Civil Society
The programme consists of four components:
|
- The first core course is NGOs and Development (SA435). This course presents theories, concepts and issues of specific relevance to NGOs - including NGOs relationships with donors, government and business; tackling problems of accountability; evaluation, learning and effectiveness; analysing the concepts of community, participation, empowerment, social capital, social entrepreneurship and good governance ; discussing issues related to advocacy, the course also examines issues of human rights and the context of 'civil society' and 'globalisation'. Course content may occasionally vary from year to year to address topical issues or particular areas of expertise of the teaching staff.
|
|
- The second core course is the NGOs and Development Dissertation (SA470) -a 10,000 word project on a relevant subject.
- The third and fourth components will be options chosen from a list of related courses at LSE on Social Policy and Development, development theory, government in developing countries and organisational theory, or a sector related option such as health, education or rural development.
Further information on courses may be viewed in Graduate School Handbook course guides: http://www.lse.ac.uk/calendar.
The MSc course is full-time over a calendar year. The programme Director is Dr Armine Ishkanian
|
|
|
NGO Students 2008/9 |
For information about ordering a prospectus, applying on-line, and general information about postgraduate study at LSE, see the Graduate Admissions Website
Enquiries about the course in the first instance to: Maria Schlegel, Programme Administrator.
Email: m.s.schlegel@lse.ac.uk See also: Department of Social Policy
See also: Alumni
Last updated: January 2010 ^
|
