ADS720 - Arts and Sports-based Approaches to Community Development

Content

A growing number of development, arts and sports practitioners are utilising arts and sports as a platform or tool for engaging communities in development conversations and activities, to improve psycho-social wellbeing in disadvantaged, conflict-affected, or traumatised post-disaster communities. Arts are also sometimes used as a development communication tool. But do they lead to effective change? In what contexts are they more effective? And are they ever ineffective or even harmful? This unit explores these alternative approaches to development, introducing the current evidence base to investigate where these approaches can enhance or detract from development. The unit will also provide students with a critical yet practical focus on current methods for applying these tools to their own professional context. Case studies of current organisations utilising these approaches will be analysed.

Topics will include: an introduction to the theory of arts-based and sports-based development; similarities and differences between arts-based and sports-based interventions; the nature of the current evidence base and issues in measuring impact; some major approaches to implementing these approaches, and key practitioners working in the area; the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches, including key areas where they are currently implemented (e.g. education for disengaged youth, peacebuilding, negotiation, political dialogue, identity formation); and future directions in research.

Unit Fee Information

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