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The University of New South Wales

Highlight of the Month

Benefits of a Master Social Developmentrachel neary

This month Alex McClean and Rachel Neary, Social Development share their story from Timor.

"Rachel and I were enrolled in the NSW Masters of Social Development (MSD) course in 2006 and 2007 in the international development and community development streams respectively. Now as I sit here in Dili, Timor Leste reflecting on how the course helped us get where we are” .... read more

Welcome to the Master of Social Development Website

The School of Social Sciences and International Studies offers a program of study in Social Development leading to a Certificate, Graduate Diploma or a Master's Degree. The purpose of the program is to prepare local and overseas candidates for work in the broad area of international and domestic social development work, including refugee and immigrant resettlement.

The program is designed for people from a range of professional backgrounds: teachers, social workers, medical personnel, economists, engineers, agricultural scientists, journalists and managers. The program complements their professional expertise with a knowledge base and analytic framework to understand and negotiate the complexities of the geopolitical, economic, social and cultural contexts in which social development takes place and with practical skills in development.

Website Features

This website is aimed at future students, current students, and alumni of Social Development.

For current students the website provides details of course and subject descriptions; class timetables and notes; and an events calendar.

For both current students and alumni, the website offers news and events; details of job and volunteer opportunities; a student and alumni notice board for people to stay in touch; and a section of links we have found useful for information and research.

We view this as an interactive website, in that we warmly welcome all input and suggestions.

The program offers specialisations in three fields:

By the end of the course candidates can expect to have substantive knowledge and a range of skills related to the planning, delivery and evaluation of social development programs.

For a video introduction to the Master of Social Development Program, please click here.

For more information about the Graduate Diploma in Social Development, please click here.

For more informationabout the Graduate Certificate in Social Development, please click here:

For further information, contact the Program Coordinators Eileen Pittaway, at: e.pittaway@unsw.edu.au or Linda Bartolomei at: linda.bartolomei@unsw.edu.au           

Changes to Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Masters Courses

In 2009, all Masters courses in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences will be changing from 8 units of credit to 6 units of credit.  This means that students will complete 8 courses for a Master degree, 6 for a Graduate Diploma and 4 for a Graduate Certificate. This exciting change means that students will have greater subject choice and flexibility with opportunities to choose electives from Law, Public Health and a range of other Faculties or elect to undertake a local or overseas internship or complete a research project.

Any current students who will be continuing their studies in 2009 should refer to the document link below for details on how the changes will be managed so as not to negatively impact on their Program. » Letter from Associate Dean Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences

Announcements for Session 2 2008

Don’t forget Saturday September 13, 9.30am – 3.30pm, United Nations Day for students enrolled in the Politics of International Aid and Refugees and Forced Migration. 
Location – Biomed A