School of Government Postgraduate Study (International Development Department)

Student Experience Officers

Kerrie Myers: gov-studentexperience@contacts.bham.ac.uk

Contact Kerrie about any aspect of your student experience.

Education Support Officers

Email: idd.pg@contacts.bham.ac.uk

Here are the contact details for your Education Support Team. You can contact your administrator when you need support for issues related to the organisation of your course such as timetabling, assessments, lectures and Canvas.

This is also the email address for you to write to if you are unsure where to direct your query.

Wellbeing Team

Email: Gov.wellbeing@contacts.bham.ac.uk

Contact the wellbeing team for pastoral support and any queries about disability support and reasonable adjustments.

Academic leads

IDD Postgraduate Director, Senior Tutor & Programme Director for MPA Finance

Dr Simon De Lay: s.e.de-lay@bham.ac.uk

Contact Simon with any queries relating to your modules and assessment or any concerns about your academic progress.

Programme Director for Masters in Public Administration (MPA) & MPA Human Resources

Dr Adrian Campbell: a.campbell@bham.ac.uk

Programme Director for MSC Conflict, State Building & Development

Dr Danielle Beswick: d.beswick@bham.ac.uk

Programme Director for MSC Development, Policy & Politics

Dr Niheer Dasandi: n.dasandi@bham.ac.uk

Programme Director for Environment & Development

Brock Bersaglio: b.d.bersaglio@bham.ac.uk

Programme Director for MSC International Development

Dr Philip Amis: p.amis@bham.ac.uk

Programme Director for Mo Ibrahim MSC in Governance & Statebuilding

Professor Nick Cheeseman: n.cheeseman@bham.ac.uk

Programme Director for MSC Poverty, Inequality & Development

Dr Robert Leurs: r.leurs@bham.ac.uk

IDD Programme Director for Distance Learning Programmes

Dr David Cobley: d.s.cobley@bham.ac.uk

There’s lots going on around the department in terms of research – including projects addressing key contemporary challenges such as authoritarianism, the power of ideas in driving African politics, environmental resource management, and transnational corruption. We try to engage students in our research as much as possible, not only by bringing our findings into the classroom, but also by offering opportunities for students to get involved more practically. 

Jonathan Fisher and Nic Cheeseman, IDD, (with Idayat Hassan), won funding from Facebook's Foundational Integrity programme, which supports research on misinformation and polarisation. They will be investigating strategies used by state and non-state actors to close down social media space, and civil society and activist responses. This follows previous work on the role of WhatsApp in Nigerian election campaigns, 2018-2020.

Merisa Thompson, IDD, won a British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grant for her project: ‘Intersections of Gender, Race and Class: The Impact of Colonial Legacies on Contemporary Food and Agricultural Policy in the Caribbean’.

In July 2020, IDD alumnus Besnick Tahiri (2004, MA Local Government and International Development) was appointed First Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, joining many alumni of IDD's postgraduate programmes who have gone on to senior roles in government, the civil service, and international organisations.

Speaking about his time in IDD, Besnick has emphasised that:

"Joining IDD family of students and alumni from across the world has been one of my greatest honours. Studying at IDD provided an amazing experience for both my personal and professional development. The advanced and comprehensive Masters programme at IDD provided a firm foundation for my future professional endeavours, both in the Republic of Kosovo and internationally.

"Besides my academic activities, being elected as student representative for my programme in IDD helped me to develop lasting relationships with professors and peers that are globally recognised as world-leading experts on public policy and international development."

Professor Nic Cheeseman recently won the Josiah Mason Award for Academic Advancement at the University of Birmingham. This award recognises academic activity that has significantly advanced the discourse or understanding within a specific academic area, with a national or international significance. Nic won this award for his research into how to strengthen democracies around the world. He works with major international players to turn his research into practical steps that can be taken to defend democracy.

There isn’t any specific reading you’re expected to do before you start your course. You’ll be given a short list of core and suggested readings for each weekly topic you study with us. But if you want to familiarise yourself with some of the key contemporary debates about development, or learn more about some of the global challenges facing the world right now, you can check out these sources:

• The best Hans Rosling talks you’ve ever seen
• Global Voices – Citizen media stories from around the World
• The Guardian Global Development Podcast