M.PHIL IN DEVELOPMENT PRACTICE

AMBEDKAR UNIVERSITY, DELHI(A CENTRAL UNIVERSITY) COLLABORATES WITH PRADAN TO LAUNCH AN M. PHIL IN  DEVELOPMENT PRACTICE

Facilitating rural transformation requires intellectual resources alongside personal maturity. The programme envisages coalescing theory, research and practice, self-reflection and community engagement as well as epistemological openness to different knowledge  systems/streams. It is fundamentally interdisciplinary in its approach, combining a mix of  methods for transacting the curriculum, and strengthening the balance between knowledge, conceptual clarity and reflection. The programme shall also be informed by the long history of work in ‘depth psychology’, so as to attend to the psychic  processes of students and the rural community. This will help students cope with the stress and the hope/despair dyad of transformative work in the rural. The programme is based on a learner-centred and immersion-based pedagogy. The structure of the field and course work allows for reflection-based learning, so that the learner can draw on real  life experiences to understand and engage with key conceptual ideas as well as develop grounded theory. The immersion component has multiple benefits: it can help make an informed decision about career choice, provide hands- on learning through exposure to the field under the supervision and with the support of mentors and guides, help   concretise the theoretical learning of the classroom, and finally enable safe experimentation  in the field under supervision. The programme will also strengthen research skills, particularly in relation to developing appropriate methodologies, both participatory and action-oriented,  for answering critical questions arising from the field. It is envisaged that dissertations would involve reflective exercises applying analytical tools to understand the implications of  specific development interventions in which the learner may have been involved themselves. The programme provides the conceptual, methodological and emotional skills for a  unique progression from understanding the rural context and problematising the  developmental issues therein to engaging with processes of change and transformation.  The focus on discovery and open-mindedness is coupled with intellectual rigour  and the development of professional skills. This is supported by the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT). Programme details: Duration: 2 years Total Credits: 64 Medium of Instruction: English Nature of Programme: Interdisciplinary (drawing from development studies, human ecology, human studies, cultural studies, gender studies, psychology, sociology, political philosophy,  economics, biology, environmental studies, education) Number of Seats: 25 Eligibility: Masters with 55% in the Social Sciences, Humanities and Natural Sciences or professional  degrees like law, engineering, agriculture and medicine Reservation of Seats: In accordance with Government of NCT of Delhi rules line Stipend: Rs.15,000/month Application details for the programme is available at http://www.aud.ac.in/research.asp You could mail us your queries at smitamohanty@pradan.net