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M. IDEA Course Structure

The Master of International Development and Environmental Analysis (M.IDEA)

is a 72-point master by coursework program that can be completed over three semesters of full-time study, or three years of part-time study. It focuses on providing an interdisciplinary understanding of the processes of globalisation and environmental change, analytical problem-solving skills, as well as the conceptual and analytical frameworks required for field-based work in devising and implementing successful international development assistance projects. The M.IDEA course consists of 24 points of core units, plus 36 points of electives and a 12-point final project (or 48 points of electives and no final project).

Graduate Diploma in International Development and Environmental Analysis (Grad Dip IDEA)

is a 48-point course that can be completed in one year full-time or two years part-time study. The Graduate Diploma course provides an introduction to the relevant contemporary issues, processes, and approaches related to international development and sustainable environmental management. It can serve as an entry point to the M.IDEA course or students who do not possess the necessary qualifications for direct admission into the master course. The Grad Dip IDEA consists of 24 points of core units and 24 points of electives.

Core Units

Skills and tools

Political ecology

  • Political and economic causes of environmental change
  • Resource conflicts in the developing world
  • Social consequences of environmental change
  • Implications for natural resources management

Ideas and concepts

Urbanisation and regional development in the Indo-Pacific Rims

  • Economic development strategies from colonial times to the present
  • Urbanisation and inequality
  • Ecological impacts of development
  • Gender relations
  • Grassroots movements and collective opposition action

Doctrines of Development

  • Historical and theoretical contexts of notions of development
  • Phases and epochs of development discourse and practice
  • Top-down and technocratic versus grass-roots participatory development
  • Ecological impacts of development; and the development-environment nexus
  • Uneven development and 'victims of development'
Art and business of development
  • Development in practice
  • Actors, ideologies and policies
  • Analysis and planning techniques
  • Implementation and management tools
  • Monitoring and evaluation
 Environmental revolutions
  • Historical perspectives on nature and social theory
  • Ecological imperialism
  • Reflexive modernity and risk
  • Post-modern nature

 

Final project
IDA5310: Final Project in IDEA (Client-based internship) (12 points) OR GYM5480 Research Project (12 points)

To undertake one or both of the final project units, students must achieve a distinction average or above in the M.IDEA core and elective units. Students who have not attained a distinction average may substitute an additional 12 points of elective units for the final project.

Areas of Concentration The advanced electives making up each area of concentration include a wide range of offerings from Politics, Anthropology, Sociology, History, Women's Studies, Geography and Environmental Science, Indigenous Studies, Visual Culture, Asian Studies, Education and Business and Economics. The following list is not exhaustive; students may elect to take other units after consultation with the IDEA program coordinators.

Area of Concentration

Units

Semester
Sustainable Development and Natural Resource Management IDA4120 Community Development in a Globalising World 1
ENV3022 Environmental Technology 2

ENV4020Perspectives on Environment and Sustainability

 1

ENV4030Environmental Analysis

 1

ENV4040 Frontiers in Sustainability and Environment

 2
ENV4050 Environmental Governance and Citizenship 1
ENV4060 Prosperity, poverty and sustainability in a globalised world 1
ENV416F Introduction to [Environmental] Economics 1
ENV437E Corporate Sustainability Management 1
ENV441E Sustainability Measurement 2
ENV520E Environmental Economics and Policy 2
GES3250 Environmental Assessment and Decision Making 1
GES3360 Soils, Landscape and their Management 2
GES3370 Urban climate, water and sustainability 2
GES4890 Earth System Interactions: From Biogeochemical Cycles to Global Change n/a
GYM4330 Field Studies in Regional Sustainability (South Africa Field Trip) 1
GYM4350 Resource Evaluation and Management 2
ASM4430 The Third World 2
PLM4075 Foreign Aid and World Development B 2
PLM4340 Fringe Politics and Extremist Violence: An Introduction to Terrorism 1
PLM4700 Green Political Theory n/a
PLT3470 Politics of Development 2
PLT3990 Politics of Environmentalism n/a
CHM3960 Environmental chemistry 1
CIV5261 Flood management in urban and rural environments 2
CIV5264 Management of water resources and related infrastructure 1
Urban and Regional Sustainability   1
ENV520E Environmental Economics and Policy 2
GES3340 Cities and Sustainability 1
GES4520 Social Space and Urban Justice 2
GES4750 Sharing Prosperity: Geographies of work, Regional Development and Economy 1
GYM4330 Field Studies in Regional Sustainability (South Africa Field Trip) 1
GYM4350 Resource Evaluation and Management 2
ASM4430 The Third World 2
CIV5316 Fundamentals of urban public transport 2
CIV5261 Flood management in urban and rural environments 2

CIV5264 Management of water resources and related infrastructure

 1

ENE4607 Environmental risk assessment

 2
ENV3022 Environmental technology 2
HSY3850 The Australian City: Contemporary Problems in Historical Perspective n/a
CIV5314 Transport planning and policy 1
SCY3310 Population and Migration 2

Gender, Culture Society in the Asia-Pacific

AIS4040 Interrogating Race and Power in Australian Indigenous Studies

2

ANY3350 Questions of Identity: Ethnicity, Nationalism and Globalisation

n/a

ANY3530 Modernities in the Making: Indigenous Peoples and Colonial Cultures

n/a

ASM4230 Culture and Conflict in Indonesia

n/a

ASM4430 The Third World

2

ASM4440 Asia and the West

2

ASN3170 Women in Asia: Gender, Tradition and Modernity

2

CLS3820 Earthworks: Literature and environment

1

HYM4960 The body, gender and history

2

PLM4075 Foreign Aid and World Development B

2

PLM4430 Political Islam

2

PLM4480 Culture, Norms and Ideas in International Politics

n/a

PLM4930 Southeast Asian Politics

1

PLM4340 Fringe Politics and Extremist Violence: An Introduction to Terrorism

1

PLM5290 /PLT4299 China: the Quest for Modernisation

1

PLT3650 Terrorism and Violence in Global Politics

2

PLT3970 Australia and the World

n/a

SCY3470 Women, Gender and Society

n/a

WSM4700 Gender, globalisation and development: Research issues

n/a

WSM4010 Gender, sexuality, power

1

Democracy, Governance and Civil Society

IDA4120 Community Development in a Globalising World

1

ENV4050 Environmental Governance and Citizenship

1

ENV416F Introduction to economics

 1
ENV520E Environmental Economics and Policy 2
ANY3350 Questions of Identity: Ethnicity, Nationalism and Globalisation n/a
ASM4430 The Third World 2
PLM4075 Foreign Aid and World Development B 2
PLM4310 Wars of Recognition: Terrorism and Political Violence 2
PLM4340 Fringe Politics and Extremist Violence: An Introduction to Terrorism 1
PLM4480 Culture, Norms and Ideas in International Politics n/a
PLM4520/PLM5520 Perspectives on World Politics 1
PLM4700 Green Political Theory n/a
PLM4930 Southeast Asian Politics 1
PLM5520 Perspectives on World Politics 1
PLT3120 Politics and Violence: Conquest, Exclusion and Reconciliation 1
PLT3470 Politics of Development 2
PLT3950 International Ethics in A Divided World n/a
PLT3960 Seeking A New World Order? Washington and World Politics 1
PLT3970 Australia and the World n/a
Development and Environmental Economics

LAW5136 International environmental law

 1
ENV416F Introduction to [Environmental] Economics 1
ENV520E Environmental Economics and Policy 2
ECC3570 The international economy since 1945 n/a
ECC3670 Economics of developing countries 1
ECC3690 International economics 2
ECC4670 Economic development theory and policy 1
ECC5690 Theories in international and development economics 2
ECF9210 Introduction to international economics 1/2

Public Policy and Management

MGX5360 Strategic management in the public sector

2

MGX5440 Public sector financial management

2

MGX5670 Leadership

1/2

MGX5780 Principles and practices of the World Trade Organisation

n/a

MGX5461 Contemporary issues in globalisation

1

MGX9230 Public policy

1

MGX9270 Public management

1

MGX9600 Managing people and organisations

1/2

MGX9660 International business theory and practice

1/2

LAW5136 International environmental law 506

1

ENV4050 Environmental governance and citizenship

2

BTX5100 Corporate environmental responsibility 

2
BTX5130 International law and policy 1
ECF9210 Introduction to international economics 1/2

Research Methodology (required for students undertaking supervised research project)

AIS4010 Theories and Research Methodologies in Australian Indigenous Studies

1

ASM4290 Into the Field: the Theory and Practice of Ethnography

1

GES4420 Researching Human Environments

1

GYM4070 Remote sensing of the environment

2

GYM4610 Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for Social Science Applications

2
GYM4920 Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for Environmental Science

1/2
SCY4540 Theory and Practice of Sociology 1
SYM4055 Data Analysis Software for Social Research 1

WSM4700 Gender, Globalisation and Development: Research Issues

 n/a

Who can apply?

Applicants to the M.IDEA course must have:

  1. a Bachelors degree in a relevant discipline (eg. Anthropology, geography, environmental science, sociology, politics, development studies, urban and regional planning) with at least a credit average in the final year;
  2. a Bachelors pass degree in a relevant discipline with the demonstrable professional experience at senior level in a relevant area. Such applicants will need to supply a CV, a 1000 word statement and names of two professional referees; or
  3. completed a Graduate Diploma of International Development and Environmental Analysis with a credit average or higher.

Applicants to the Grad Dip IDEA course must have:

  1. a Bachelors degree in a relevant discipline (eg. Anthropology, geography, environmental science, sociology, politics, development studies, urban and regional planning) with at least a credit average in the final year; or
  2. a Bachelors pass degree in a relevant discipline with demonstrable professional experience in a relevant area.

All applicants to either course are requested to provide a statement of purpose outlining their interests in the program, and the potential career paths they wish to pursue after completing the program.

Course Fees:

For information on course fees, visit http://www.monash.edu.au/study/coursefinder/course/3086/#details

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