Why did you decide to offer a course on MINT268 Comparative Humanitarianisms: Anthropological Perspectives? Why is it an important topic for MINT Students?

The course is of major relevance to students of international and development studies as it deals with the world of aid that is central to international relations. It offers an opportunity for students to critically examine humanitarianism from the perspective of mainstream organisations as well as "from below", i.e., through forms of care and solidarity that emerge at the margins of the global humanitarian system. This is the only course at the Geneva Graduate Institute that offers a comparative perspective on practices of aid in the Global North AND the Global South simultaneously.

Can you share 3 real-world examples or highlights of the course that would captivate student's interests and stress the course's practical relevance?

Right in this moment the United States government is dismantling its national aid agency USAID and is in the process of withdrawing from multilateral institutions. The world of humanitarianism and international development is in a dramatic state of disarray. Our course enables students to think creatively about how aid could be reinvented, drawing inspiration from existing practices of aid and solidarity in the Global South. By revisiting aid from this perspective the course develops a framework to think about humanitarianism in a truly global sense, beyond the institutions of an increasingly fragmentary international order. In this context, the course contributes to timely reflections on the necessary decolonization of the humanitarian sector. 

What skills do you believe students will acquire through this course, and how can these be applied in various academic and professional contexts

Students will gain a grounded understanding of key debates and concepts in different humanitarian traditions. They will acquire a critical understanding of the virtues and pitfalls of humanitarianism and learn how it could be done otherwise. After the course students will be able to critically address the major fault lines in the humanitarian sector today and develop directly applicable approaches to how to reinvent the field intellectually and practically