在致力于提升发展的数十年之后，世上为何仍存在如此众多的贫穷问题？世界各地不平等的根本原因究竟为何？何以贫穷、经济转变以及发展政策常对于男性与女性有不同之影响？此课程探讨这些议题之外，同时亦检视发展本身之历史、其基本假设、其支持者与批评者的范畴。课程衡量男性与女性所给予的发展定义，双方主要为某特定地区的居民，同时亦包含援助人员、决策者及政府官员。本课程将从发展计划与政策如何在非洲、拉丁美洲、亚洲及美拉尼西亚（译注：澳洲东北部群岛）等地的都市及农村日常生活里施行，来探讨哪些潜在的政治、经济、社会及性别动态会促使“发展”成为持续不断的世界性问题。

After decades of efforts to promote development, why is there so much poverty in the world? What are some of the root causes of inequality world-wide and why do poverty, economic transformations and development policies often have different consequences for women and men? This course explores these issues while also examining the history of development itself, its underlying assumptions, and its range of supporters and critics. It considers the various meanings given to development by women and men, primarily as residents of particular regions, but also as aid workers, policy makers and government officials. In considering how development projects and policies are experienced in daily life in urban and rural areas in Africa, Latin America, Asia and Melanesia, this course asks what are the underlying political, economic, social, and gender dynamics that make "development" an ongoing problem world-wide.