Entry Requirements

• Any applicant who holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Guyana, with a minimum GPA of 2.7.
• Any applicant who holds an equivalent undergraduate degree from other approved Universities.

The Curriculum includes the following courses:

• Year 1

  • Semester I

    • GSC 519 - Research Methods & Analysis in the Social Sciences
      
      Credits : 3
      This graduate course is aimed at equipping students with a comprehensive and analytical understanding of the principles and practices of social science research. In seeking to expose students to the relevant theoretical perspectives that underlie the research process, the course supplies a platform on which skills and competencies to conduct empirical studies of social phenomena would be developed.
    • DSC 511 - Theories of Development
      
      Credits : 3
      The course is intended to introduce students to the various theories of development that characterized the post-war world.
      Beginning with U.S. President’s Truman policy of a “fair deal” and his intent to spread the benefits of industrial civilization to the underdeveloped world the course will seek to critically examine the concerns that informed development policies in the third world in the post-war period. Specifically, it will seek to examine the major paradigms that have dominated the field for the past half century-modernisation theory, dependency/underdevelopment, the neo-classical counter-revolution, the East Asian Miracle, green development, women and development etc., and assess their capacity to meet the basic material needs of third world societies.
    • GSC 502 - Foreign Language Requirements (one year)
      
      Credits : 3

    • Option
      
      Credits : 3

      DSC 512	Planning for Development	3 credits
      This course is intended to familiarize learners with the key concepts, approaches and issues concerned with Planning for Development. Guyana, being a developing country is used throughout the course as the major reference point. However, the experiences of other developing countries are introduced at times for variety and credence. Since planning has been identified as a major component of the development process. It is hoped that this course will provide a practical orientation, while building much needed capacity in the area of planning.
      DSC 513	Development Policy & Practice	3 credits
      The course is intended to introduce students to the formulation and implementation of development policies and a critical assessment of the rhetoric of promise with the reality of practice. Specifically, the course will seek to address the question of public policy - its formulation, articulation implementation and execution. It will attempt to critically evaluate the institutional mechanisms and procedural modalities that are put in place to realize the objectives of policy.
      DSC 514	Public Finance & Issues	3 credits
      The course is intended to provide students with a understanding of both macro and micro issues involved in the financing of economic development as well as to encourage a critical perspective towards development finance. Of key concern will be such issues as fiscal and monetary policies, taxation, interest rates, etc., and their influence on savings, investments and the labour supply. The course will attempt to examine the mix of policies that are pursued/required to achieve the optimum level of savings and investments in order to ensure a sustained rate of growth and development.

    • Option

  • Semester II

    • DSC 527 - Quantitative Methods
      
      Credits : 3
      To introduce students to the applied aspects of mathematical economics and statistics.
      Specifically the course will seek to examine such key concepts as linear algebra, linear programming differential calculus, regression analysis. At the end of the course students should be familiar with the key concepts of quantitative methods and be able to employ them for their own analytical/research purposes.
    • GSC 502 - Foreign Language Requirements
    • GSC 529
      
      Credits : 3
      The course presumes that students have a basic knowledge of social science methods. It is essentially concerned with equipping students with practical experiences in conducting social scientific research.
      Therefore, in pursuance of this objective, it was necessary to include topics in social statistics for the students, because statistics is indeed an integral part of research. With statistics is especially critical to data analysis, it permeates of research design and data collection.
    • Option
      
      Credits : 3

      DSC 521	Development Strategies in the Caribbean	3 credits
      To introduce students to the different strategies of development that have been pursued in the Caribbean since World War II and to assess and evaluate the different options and their resulting outcomes. The course will attempt to rehearse the different paths to development in the Caribbean – from Guyana’s socialist strategy to Barbados’ “conservative option” – and critically examine the strategic moves and analytical assumptions that informed them. It will also seek to investigate contemporary options and the way forward.
      DSC 522	Approaches to Development in	3 credits
      To introduce students to the various approaches and stages of development in Guyana since World War II and to assess the strategic options and practices that were pursued. Taking the immediate post-war years as the starting point the course will attempt to examine the various approaches to development as they emerged from the climate of opinion created by the visit and recommendations of the Moyne commission. It will seek to critically examine the process through the different phases from the planned projects of the 1940s, through the socialist phase, 1970s-1980s, to the new dispensation under structural adjustment.
      DSC 523	Local Government & Development	3 credits
      To introduce students to the role and function of local government as an agency of development and its ability to organize and direct development projects. Substantively, the course will seek to examine both the historical and contemporary role and function of Local Government in aiding the process of development. Special attention will be paid to such issues as autonomy, empowerment of the marginalized, governance, cultural/ethnic identity and political participation/security.
      DSC 524	International Finance & Development	3 credits
      The course is intended to introduce students to the major concepts and issues involved in international finance and development and the acquisition of the critical skills necessary to evaluate the mechanisms and processes involved. Substantively the course will seek to examine such issues as trade liberation, the functioning of banking and capital markets, the mobilization of capital through bilateral and multilateral arrangements, the implications of structural adjustment and the continuing debt burden on small fragmented economies like the Caribbean.
      DSC 525	Project Planning & Analysis	3 credits
      This course is designed to strengthen students’ technical capacity to prepare, execute and evaluate development projects. The course places emphasis on the development of the knowledge and skills needed by development planners to ensure the attainment of planned development objectives. Students will be exposed to the key techniques and methodologies involved in the preparation and management of projects. It is expected that at the end of the course, students will be able to use these skills in the execution of related duties.
      DSC 526	Major Issues in Development	3 credits
      The course will seek to introduce students to the issues and practices of managing the development process. Special emphasis will be placed on the practical aspects of development and a critical awareness of the relationship between/among public policy, the organisaitonal complex and procedures through which public is articulated and implemented and the response of consumers/citizens to both policy and their implementation.

    • Option