International Development: Which is Better, RA or overseas?

I have long been interested in studying international development, mostly for my own interest but also because I have the possibility of doing an enormous amount of church work in the third world. Is this a case where an African or other DL university is actually better than RA, simply because they are living what they teach whereas an American or European school really is not?

 

It's an interesting question. I think that there are only two ways that a degree from an African or other Third World nation would actually be superior. The first is if you were doing a research degree and the research topic was related directly to issues existing within that nation and that you were then planning on working in that nation or becoming employed by a company/agency that is based in that nation. Another factor is cost. The South African degrees are typically the least expensive you'll find. If your situation is at all like my own, then it becomes a matter of choosing between a South African degree or no degree at all. That's another way in which a South African degree might be considered superior.
Best of luck.
Jack

 

Have you considered Hope International University www.hiu.edu for your MBA or MS in International Development?

 

Agreed... including and perhaps especially with the "best of luck" part. I'm not sure, however -- as fortiterinre's posit suggests -- that a U.S. RA school's not being local to the problems would make the education it provides any less appropriate. And I could be wrong, but I'm guessing a U.S. RA degree is highly respected -- moreover, is simply not questioned as to its validity and appropriateness -- in most other countries.

That said, if the whole "living it" thing does have objective merit; and if fortiterinre's goal is to do church work in Africa; and assuming s/he's already got his/her bachelors degree, then why wouldn't it make a whole lotta' sense for him/her to first get this certificate or diploma or whatever SATS considers it, and then follow-up with the SATS Master of Theology (MTh) with a concentration in missiology?

For the money, that would, it seems to me, be about the best education for doing church work in Africa that I can even imagine; would satisfy the whole "living it" criteria; is fully accredited in a way that would be accepted as such even in the U.S.; and would be cheap, too!

Just sayin'.

 

I think a US RA degree would serve a person well regardless of their interests or their location. My point was simply to delineate the conditions under which a GAAP degree might be superior to an RA degree. This does not suggest that the RA degree has no value.
Jack

 

Hi fortiterinre:

Tulane university offers a MS and PhD in International Development.

Their faculty has extensive experience in projects/research/teaching in Africa and Asia, so the course should be quite relevant to real thirld world issues.

The Tulane site is down, but a fellow poster sent me the course curriculum and faculty listing as email attachments.

If you are interested, please PM me and give me an email address so that I can send you the info.

Good luck,


joi

 

Tulane's program also has short field study courses that involve spending several weeks in Africa. This allows you to see what the situation is actually like to a certain degree.

IMO, one can not argue that an African country will provide a better International Development program because the country lives it. You are studying ID theories which shouldn't change regardless of the school. Also, America and Europe house numerous agencies operating as NGOs or official governmental organizations such as USAID that are highly experienced in this area - lots of fodder for research.