Depending on your professional experience and previous qualifications, the Master of Humanitarianism and Development is typically 1 or 1.5 years duration.
1 year full-time (2 years part-time) - 8 credit points
1.5 years full-time (3 years part-time) - 12 credit points
Course Map - enrolment planning tool
These course maps are for new students commencing from Trimester 1 2025:
Study the Master of Humanitarianism and Development to develop a deeper understanding of the challenges facing the planet. Extend your theoretical knowledge and enhance your specialist and practical skills in international development, crisis and disaster response, humanitarian responses, and community development.
You’ll gain insights into the histories, causes, interconnections, and multiple impacts of the many crises facing the world. You’ll also learn about community-led approaches to these issues that are occurring locally and across the globe. By identifying the challenges and successes of these strategies you’ll understand how communities create new and far-reaching methods and processes for addressing social, political and environmental problems.
Deakin has an exceptional reputation with over 40 years of teaching and research in international and community development, and more than a decade in humanitarian assistance. We were the first graduate program in humanitarian assistance in Australia.
The Master of Humanitarianism and Development is designed with industry consultation and taught by pioneering academics.
An opportunity to specialise in one of the following streams is available: Disasters and Community Resilience, Community Development, International Development, Humanitarianism, Professional Practice.
Do you want to contribute to a better future for the many, not the few?
This course builds on the practical connections between immediate disaster and humanitarian relief and the longer-term issues associated with international and community development. You’ll examine critical issues from climate change to poverty, hunger, homelessness, racism, culture, and forced migration and learn how to build practical and just solutions.
You'll explore transformational change, examine the power relations between the global north and global south, and consider the overarching climate crisis, alongside geopolitical tensions. Above all, you’ll look at historic and contemporary community-led approaches to social justice, development, and humanitarianism, studying their successes, limitations, and new possibilities.
The Master of Humanitarianism and Development attracts students committed to social justice and equity, and those who wish to create enabling environments for addressing multiple modern-day crises.
You’ll choose from a variety of elective units. This allows you to focus on your career goals and development. Some of your elective unit options include:
Food and Water Security
Refugees and Forced Migration
Culture Arts and Community
Humanitarian Knowledge and Principles
Monitoring and Evaluation
Graduates of the Master of Humanitarianism and Development will acquire a diverse skill set, including:
project management
data analysis and research methodologies for evidence-based decision making
critical thinking and problem solving
advocacy and policy analysis for influencing positive change
cross-cultural communication skills.
You’ll have the opportunity to study and network online, on campus, or mixed mode, full-time or part-time. Take advantage of industry experiences and international experiences available. Our in-person intensives provide wonderful further opportunities to meet your peers, industry experts and academic staff.
Career opportunities
Some of the areas you might obtain work as a graduate of this course include:
Government
Not-for-profit
Policy and advocacy roles
Program and partnership roles
National and Local non-government organisations
Community development agencies
Emergency management
Private sector
Social enterprise
Consultant
UN and associated agencies, including UNICEF, UNDP, UNOCHA, World Food program, and many other agencies
Reasonable adjustments to participation and other course requirements will be made for students with a disability. More information available at Disability support services.
Mandatory student checks
Any unit which contains work integrated learning, a community placement or interaction with the community may require a police check, Working with Children Check or other check.
Research information
Students will complete a research pathway in 1 of the 3 following options:
Minor Thesis - PhD Pathway ; or
Research Paper – non PhD Pathway^ ; or
Professional Experience – non PhD Pathway^.
Course Learning Outcomes
Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes
Course Learning Outcomes
Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities
Engage in disciplinary research to critically analyse the major theoretical, conceptual and policy issues in development, humanitarian action, and disaster response / management, both locally and internationally, with a focus on engagement with communities and community-led responses to the world’s crises, including climate change, food insecurity, conflict and disasters, inequality and injustice, racism and exclusion.
Communication
Use oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills to disseminate the findings of research into complex multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral issues for improving social, environmental, and economic outcomes including global justice, peace, sovereignty, community resilience, and transformations of power to a wide range of specialist and non-specialist audiences.
Digital literacy
Research, analyse, report, and communicate complex data and information on contemporary issues in international and community development, global justice, disaster risk reduction and humanitarian action, utilising a range of digital sources for effective research and professional development, across interpersonal, organisational, and professional contexts.
Critical thinking
Conduct in-depth scholarly and practice-based research to investigate, synthesise, critically analyse, report, and propose actions on local and global issues such as global justice, disaster risk reduction and humanitarian action and opportunities, in the context of historical and contemporary development and humanitarian discourse.
Problem solving
Apply advanced skills in research, comprehension, interpretation and evaluation of theory, critique and proposed innovative responses to complex situations or “wicked” problems encountered in a range of community, development, humanitarian, and disaster contexts, with creativity, innovation, and respect.
Self-management
Plan, organise and manage competing demands on time, to work mindfully in a personal and professional capacity, whilst committing to ongoing learning, and performing as an independent and reflective practitioner capable of operating effectively in the context of developing community-led solutions to the world’s crises.
Teamwork
Work collaboratively as an active, engaged, and reflective team member seeking solutions to the world’s problems by contributing to mutual goals, research, tasks and leadership across practice, cultures, and disciplines, demonstrating active and constructive participation and contributions to resolving impasses and conflict.
Global citizenship
Question, engage, provoke, and innovate on a broad and interrelated range of social justice, environmental, development and humanitarian issues taking into consideration cross-cultural, indigenous, local and global knowledges, contexts, and perspectives that can inform the development of creative solutions for the world’s crises.
Approved at Faculty Board 2023
Course rules
To complete the Master of Humanitarianism and Development students must pass 8 or 12 credit points and meet the following course rules to be eligible to graduate. The exact number of credit points you study depends on how much credit you receive as recognition of prior learning (RPL):
DAI001 Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin (0-credit-point compulsory unit) in their first study period
1 credit point of core units
7 or 11 credit points (depending upon entry point) from:
one pathway option
Minor Thesis - PhD Pathway
Research Paper - non PhD Pathway
Professional Experience - non PhD Pathway
at least one stream
any remaining credit points can be chosen from a stream and/or course electives
Plus either 5 or 9 credit points of course electives used to form at least one stream
^ The Research Paper and Professional Experience options are not PhD Pathways.
Streams
Students may select units within or across the streams as detailed below. To complete a stream students must complete 3 out of 4 elective units within a stream. Students may complete more than one stream.
There are options for WIL and study tours across many of the SHSS courses.
Research and research-related study
Independent research components are embedded across a number of units.
Fees and charges
Fees and charges vary depending on the type of fee place you hold, your course, your commencement year, the units you choose to study, and their study discipline or your study load.
Tuition fees increase at the beginning of each calendar year and all fees quoted are in Australian dollars ($AUD). Tuition fees do not include textbooks, computer equipment or software, other equipment or costs such as mandatory checks, travel and stationery.
For further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods visit our Current students website.
