The department is a lively community that is recognised internationally as one of the top centres for research and teaching in development studies.

Our courses offer excellent training for a career in international development or for advanced study, and attract students of the highest calibre from across the world.
“I had waited for 10 years before my dream to study in Oxford became a reality and the experience was truly beyond expectation”
Our students are taught to develop as critical and independent thinkers and when they leave us they are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to bring about real change.
“My time at Oxford strengthened my critical analysis and provided me with a unique interdisciplinary grounding in history, politics and economics that has equipped me well in dealing with public policy issues and program development strategy.”
Our courses offer excellent training for a career in international development or for advanced study, and attract students of the highest calibre from across the world.
“I had waited for 10 years before my dream to study in Oxford became a reality and the experience was truly beyond expectation”
Our courses offer excellent training for a career in international development or for advanced study, and attract students of the highest calibre from across the world.
“I had waited for 10 years before my dream to study in Oxford became a reality and the experience was truly beyond expectation”
Our students are taught to develop as critical and independent thinkers and when they leave us they are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to bring about real change.
“My time at Oxford strengthened my critical analysis and provided me with a unique interdisciplinary grounding in history, politics and economics that has equipped me well in dealing with public policy issues and program development strategy.”
Our students are taught to develop as critical and independent thinkers and when they leave us they are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to bring about real change.
“My time at Oxford strengthened my critical analysis and provided me with a unique interdisciplinary grounding in history, politics and economics that has equipped me well in dealing with public policy issues and program development strategy.”
We are delighted to welcome development economist Saja al Zoubi to the department, where she will work with Senior Departmental Lecturer Cheryl Doss for the next two years on issues of gender and livelihoods for refugees.
Dr al Zoubi’s research has focussed on rural livelihoods and gender. Since the war in Syria, she has been concerned with researching ways of empowering women and improving the livelihoods of Syrian families, especially women-headed families, and supporting young people to enter education, enhance capacity building and find work opportunities.
She most recently worked as senior research fellow in socio-economic studies at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) in Lebanon and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) on ‘Enhancing the coping mechanisms of Syrian refugees for improving their food security and livelihoods in Lebanon’.
She was also head of the Social Studies Department at the Syrian Scientific Agricultural Research center.
She has also worked at the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) as a livelihood and food security coordinator, as a socio-economic expert at Action Against Hunger (ACF) and The Arab Center for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD) and for UNHCR as an expert on women’s empowerment.
She is the recipient of numerous awards, from the Syrian Scientific Agricultural Research center and the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, UNESCO, the Arab League, the Arab Women Organization, and the Open Society Foundation.