Outline

Overview

International development and humanitarian assistance are often delivered in a context affected by violent conflict. Aid and development operating in such complex situations risks feeding the conflict rather than alleviating it. A conflict-sensitive approach minimises the negative impact of aid and development ('do no harm') and maximises the positive impact on local capacities for peace. In this unit we take a skills-based approach to understanding and applying theories and methods of conflict analysis to designing conflictsensitive interventions that support more effective and accountable development practice in the field.

Unit details and rules

Academic unit	Sociology and Criminology
Credit points	6
Prerequisites ?	PACS6911 or DVST6901
Corequisites ?	None
Prohibitions ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	Yes

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Jake Lynch, jake.lynch@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Presentation	Development case study Integrated case study oral presentation	20%	Week 04 Due date: 14 May 2021 at 19:00	8 hours prep, 15 min pres.
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Reflective Exercise Reflection	20%	Week 05 Due date: 21 May 2021 at 23:00	1500 words
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Essay Essay	60%	Week 07 Due date: 04 Jun 2021 at 23:00	3500 words
Outcomes assessed:

Assessment summary

Further information about assessment tasks in this Unit of Study:
1. Collaborative Group Work: 20%

In each session, groups will critically consider the theoretical issues and perspectives raised in that session’s presentation(s), in the context of their chosen milieu of a developing country in context. In the final session, each group will make a group presentation of a final integrated project report, showing they have considered all relevant issues and perspectives.

Each group will be marked on both the quality and process of their group collaboration over the duration of the classes, as well as the quality of their final report.

2. Reflective Exercise (Short Assignment): 20%

This reflective task is designed for students to think about the issues, challenges, dilemmas and options faced when engaging in development or peacebuilding work. As such, it is intended to prompt and enable your own reflections, and does not require formal referencing. Instead, the emphasis is on showing how your own learning and understanding has developed through the class discussions.

Word limit: 1,500 words.

3. Essay: 60%

Describe a development intervention in a society affected by violent conflict, indicating how you would build into it the principles of conflict sensitivity considered during the class presentations and discussions.

Word limit: 3,500 words.

Marks will be awarded for:

Evidence of research and understanding of the development/conflict topic chosen for analysis;
Evidence of independent critical engagement with the ideas and concepts studied in this unit.
Ability to identify relevant concepts, models, ideas or ‘best practice’ relating to the topic chosen;
Ability to express ideas clearly;
Inclusion of original thoughts and ideas relating to the topic chosen;
Ability to develop and present a coherent argument within the required word limit; and
Evidence of reflective and critical wider reading and research, with full reference list of sources.

Assessment criteria

Essay Marks will be awarded for:

Evidence of research and understanding of the development/conflict topic chosen for analysis;
Ability to identify relevant concepts, models, ideas or ‘best practice’ relating to the topic chosen;
Ability to express ideas clearly;
Inclusion of original thoughts and ideas relating to the topic chosen;
Ability to develop and present a coherent argument within the required word limit; and
Evidence of reflective and critical wider reading and research, with full reference list of sources.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

This unit has an exception to the standard University policy or supplementary information has been provided by the unit coordinator. This information is displayed below:

Normal as per University policies

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and automated writing tools

You may only use generative AI and automated writing tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator. If you do use these tools, you must acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section. The assessment instructions or unit outline will give guidance of the types of tools that are permitted and how the tools should be used.

Your final submitted work must be your own, original work. You must acknowledge any use of generative AI tools that have been used in the assessment, and any material that forms part of your submission must be appropriately referenced. For guidance on how to acknowledge the use of AI, please refer to the AI in Education Canvas site.

The unapproved use of these tools or unacknowledged use will be considered a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy and penalties may apply.

Studiosity is permitted unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission as detailed on the Learning Hub’s Canvas page.

Outside assessment tasks, generative AI tools may be used to support your learning. The AI in Education Canvas site contains a number of productive ways that students are using AI to improve their learning.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Week 08	Session 1, Tuesday April 20: Concepts in conflict, peace and development: Do No Harm, and building constituencies for peace – Jake Lynch Session 2, Friday April 23: Conflict analysis and mapping – Jake Lynch Each session 3 hours, 6-9pm AEST	Seminar (6 hr)
Week 09	Session 3, Tuesday April 27: The ‘what’ and ‘why’ of conflict sensitivity – Polly Brennan Session 4, Friday April 30: Participatory Rural Appraisal and the Capabilities model – Jake Lynch Each session 3 hours, 6-9pm AEST	Seminar (6 hr)
Week 10	Session 5, Tuesday May 4: Being ‘conflict-sensitive’: how to do it – Polly Brennan Session 6, Friday May 7: Media Development Aid, modernisation or participation? Jake Lynch Each session 3 hours, 6-9pm AEST	Seminar (6 hr)
Week 11	Session 7, Tuesday May 11: Building in conflict sensitivity and gender – Polly Brennan Session 8, Friday May 14: The global political economic context – Jake Lynch Each session 3 hours, 6-9pm AEST	Seminar (6 hr)
Week 12	Discussion board on assignments with tutor inputs.	Individual study (2 hr)

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

Find all readings on Canvas, attached as pdf to relevant module pages.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. Consider theoretical issues and perspectives in both peace and development, and how they bear upon one another.
LO2. Through workshop simulations, look in detail at methodologies for development work attentive to the Do No Harm principles.
LO3. When considering development interventions in situations of conflict, develop an ability to understand the context, and principles for designing interventions to minimise the risk of doing harm, and maximise their potential to do good.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

Since this unit was last offered, the range of topics has been narrowed in favour of greater depth of exploration of the remaining topics.

Additional information

Detailed description of sessions and readings will be found on the Canvas site.

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect

Current students

PACS6934: Conflict-Sensitive Development Practice

Semester 2a, 2022 [Block mode] - Remote

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect