This month - June 2008

News from the Disasters and Development Group

New Study Group on Alternative Economic Development Policies

Papers from the Welsh Colloquium now available

Call for new Study Group Convenors

DSA has a huge variety of Study Groups and they are one of DSA's big strengths. You can look them up on the website (although some of the entries are rather out of date). The Study Groups are intended to encourage the development of new ideas and to aid interaction and exchange of ideas within the development studies community.

Most Study Groups hold at least one meeting a year outside the annual conference as well as organising parallel sessions during the three-day DSA annual conferences and - where possible - during one-day conferences. Some Study Groups run electronic discussion groups or publish discussion papers and they can also offer a vehicle towards publication in peer-reviewed journals either of individual papers or of groups of papers published as Policy Arenas or Special Issues.

DSA provides limited support to Study Groups in response to brief annual plans and outline budgets. We expect to award up to £400 for any reasonable activities and up to £1000 on the basis of a justified budget estimate. Guidelines including what kind of expenses will be reimbursed are available on the DSA website. Study Group meetings are open to all DSA members and should be publicised on the DSA website and in the DSA Bulletin. Each Study Group has a section of the DSA website and presentations and papers should be posted there. Once the new version is fully available, Study Group convenors will have access to do their own postings.

We are looking for new people to run or help run a number of Study Groups which have ceased to operate or where the convenors are currently unable to organise activities without new blood to assist or take over. They are:

Agriculture and Rural Development - current convenors Deryke Belshaw and Chris Garforth (dgrb@uea.ac.uk; c.j.garforth@reading.ac.uk)
Conflict and Human Security - Study Group closed
Development Ethics - latest convenor Nigel Dower (n.dower@aberdeen.ac.uk)
Development Management - current convenor myself (A.R.Thomas@swansea.ac.uk)
History and Economic Development - current convenor Barbara Ingham (b.m.ingham@salford.ac.uk)
HIV/AIDS - Study Group closed
Tourism and Development - latest convenor David Harrison (d.harrison@londonmet.ac.uk)

You might organise a single meeting to test interest in a topic, and/or consider putting forward a proposal for a Conference Panel at this year's DSA 30th anniversary conference, planned for November 8 on "Development's Invisible Hands" - see Call for Panels elsewhere in this Bulletin.

Please let me know if you are interested in convening or co-convening on any of these or related topics. If you want to sound out your ideas or have any questions, I'll be happy to discuss further by email or phone.

Alan Thomas
DSA Study Group Coordinator
Visiting Professor
Centre for Development Studies
Swansea University

Home tel: 01792 361794
Email: A.R.Thomas@swan.ac.uk

Study groups

Study groups are a way of linking members with interests in a particular area. Activities vary, but may include:

Workshops or one-day conferences
Email updates
Sessions at DSA annual conference
Networking opportunities

We have recently been in discussion with BOND to explore ways in which DSA Study Groups can link in with BOND Working Groups and vice versa. For a full list of BOND Working Groups, please go to http://www.bond.org.uk/wgroups/index.html.

How do I join a study group? How many can I join?

To join a group, just send your contact details to the group convenor - see individual study group pages.

Members can join as many study groups as they like.

Can I reclaim any expenses for going to study group events?

Study groups have a small budget to fund activities and encourage participation. For example, they might use part of the money to pay for administrative support to help organise a workshop.

Claims for reasonable travel expenses are sometimes allowed, but priority will be given to students or unwaged attendees. All claims must be approved by the group convenor first. If you claim is approved, you will need to complete a study group expense form, get it signed by the group convenor and then return it to the DSA Secretariat .

Download study group expense form.

What if there isn't a study group for my specialism?

If your particular area of research isn't covered by our existing groups, we encourage you to set your own study group! For more information about this, please contact Andrew Sumner, our study group co-ordinator (sumnerap@lsbu.ac.uk).

Please also visit our Study Group Convenor pages for more information on what is required.

Top Page last updated: 26 May, 2008