Dr. Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir
The Department of Development Studies has grown fast and established itself as a unique institution of excellence within a relatively short span of time. The Department was established in 2000 as the first independent department in South Asia to provide teaching and conduct research in the field of development studies, a discipline defined with the people, economy, ecology and society.
The teaching at the Department follows outcome-based education curriculum. It provides an application-oriented form of advanced education, linking theories to applied research. This is one of the few departments in the world that offers six specific academic programmes.
The 24 full-time faculty members, one of the largest in the world, who are well trained, experienced and committed with interdisciplinary academic and research backgrounds, pursue an active career in teaching and research in four streams: Development Economics, Public Policy Analysis, Social Development, and Natural Resource Management. The Department fosters high quality research on the problems of developing countries in general and Bangladesh in particular.
Development studies is a challenging and exciting discipline in contemporary social sciences that helps the learners to understand how poverty is created, wealth is distributed, and social injustices are sustained from a global to local contexts. Using innovative and cutting-edge theoretical and methodological tools and approaches, the Department provides its students with a high quality and multidisciplinary academic training to understand the processes, policies, and practices of development.
The courses are designed to provide students with a solid foundation to understand the economic, political and social dimensions of development. The graduate receives academic training to build both qualitative and quantitative methodological skills and learn cutting-edge theories and their practical applications.
As part of their academic training, students of every batch are required to participate in field trips outside of the capital to explore development in practice during their courses of study. The Department has internship arrangements with renowned organizations, where our students get exposure to real life problems faced by the development practitioners and learn how to solve them. Moreover, the Department encourages the students to get involved in several co-curricular activities under different platforms and initiatives. The Development studies Students Forum (DSSF) the umbrella organization for the students of the Development organizes academic seminars workshops and cultural programs around the year.
The extensive and rigorous academic trainings prepare the students for their future and help them to succeed in professional life. Needless to say, the alumni are the reflection of vision and mission of the Department. The committed alumni form a wide range of stakeholders. They are playing creative roles in shaping the scope, meaning, and promise of development at national and international levels. The skilled professionals are managing development interventions, run by public, private and third sectors. They are also undertaking cutting edge research in addressing the contemporary social, political, economic, and environmental challenges.
Our collective self is shaped by our relationship. We are together to exhibit a role model for our university, for our country, and for our world.
Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, PhD
Professor and Chairman