Welcome to Development Studies Discipline
Last two decades have witnessed a massive transformation in the development discourse. Now development is understood as the improvement in the total quality of life. This paradigm shift has opened up new avenues for the involvement of various non-state actors such as NGOs, civil societies, donors and media alongside the community in the development process. This has created a huge demand for trained development practitioners in the job market. To cater to this demand, after Dhaka University, Khulna University, in Bangladesh has launched its Bachelor program in Development studies in 2011. The Discipline started its first academic program under the title of “Bachelor of Development Studies (BDS)”. The first batch of the BDS program was inducted during the session 2011-2012. Later in 2019 the Bachelor of Development Studies (BDS) program was renamed as BSS (Hons) in Development Studies. BSS (Hons) in Development Studies is an undergraduate degree program designed for students to train them in the various aspects and challenges of development and public policy today. The program is dedicated to create and disseminate knowledge on different aspects of development through world-class teaching. It prepares the future leaders, researchers and policymakers to identify and solve complex socioeconomic problems that hinder the process of progress towards development in developing countries like Bangladesh. The key aim of the discipline is to embellish students with greater command over conducting research, designing programs and policies for development interventions aligned to national development aspirations of Bangladesh to attain the SDGs. This is a multidisciplinary program designed with courses from Social, Natural, Engineering, Management and General Sciences. The program offers students the opportunity to investigate the causes and implications of poverty, inequality and unequal development interventions, as well as evaluate policy solutions for a more equitable and sustainable future. At undergraduate level, students are equipped with foundation of key concepts and skills that are necessary to grasp the essence of cross-cutting notion of development. This 4-year long program is divided into eight terms where each term lasts for about six months. Successful graduates of the program are expected to be highly qualified human resources who would be highly eligible to be hired in lucrative fields such as academia and research, policy making, administration, social work, national and international development Organizations, creative entrepreneurship etc.