Bachelor's degree or equivalent.

The equivalent of Swedish secondary school English 6.

The course can normally be part of a degree at undergraduate or graduate level.

The course is structured along three key themes:

1. An introduction to contemporary debates of humanitarian theory, policy, and practice.
2. An applied exercise that helps students to develop an understanding of ethical, empathetic, and impactful communication strategies in the humanitarian field.
3. A discussion of various contestations of traditional humanitarianism, including decolonial, Southern-led perspectives and/or or local approaches in the Global North.

On completion of the course the student will be able to demonstrate:

1. An understanding of contemporary debates in the field of humanitarian studies as well as of debates in humanitarian policy and practice;
2. Discussing key complexities of humanitarianism in the past, present and future;
3. Presenting academic findings to different audiences;
4. Skills to plan, produce and disseminate communication products for humanitarian policy and practice.

The course consists of lectures and seminars by academics and practitioners, student group and individual work, classroom presentations and local or virtual field visits.

Introduction to humanitarian studies (5hp)

• Individual written essay (LO 1,2)

Humanitarian policy, organizations and practices (5hp)

• Student group work, classroom presentation and submission of presentation material (LO 2,3,4)

Communicating humanitarianism (5hp)

• An individual communication product for example a policy paper, communication strategy, media campaign or audio-visual product(s) (LO 4,5)

The final course grade will be based on the average grade of all three assignments; at least two assignments need to be graded “A” to receive an overall “A” for the course. Students receive an individual grade for group work. Individual assessment is primarily based on individual contribution to the classroom presentations.

Three opportunities for examination are offered during the academic year. Students who have not finished the course, have the opportunity to take part in examinations the next time the course is offered. Under such circumstances, assignments are carried out according to the literature and assignments that are valid during the time the examination is carried out.

For re-examination of certain assignments, such as production assignments and group projects, certain circumstances apply since the examination of these assignments are dependent on student participation during certain periods of time and in specific projects. Re-examinations will be offered according to the student’s rights, but with adjustments to the specific assignment since it cannot be conducted in the same context as the ordinary examination.

Chouliaraki, Lilie & Vestergaard, Anne (Eds.) (2021): Routledge Handbook of Humanitarian Communication. London: Routledge.

Madianou, Mirca (2025): Technocolonialism-When Technology for Good is harmful. Cambridge: Polity.

Melber, Henning; Kothari, Uma; Camfield, Laura & Biekart, Kees (Eds.) (2023): Challenging Global Development-Towards Decoloniality and Justice. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.

Roth, Silke, Purkayastha, Bandana & Denskus, Tobias (Eds.) (2024): Handbook on Humanitarianism & Inequality. London: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Scott, Martin; Wright, Kate & Bunce, Mel (2022): Humanitarian Journalists-Covering Crises from a Boundary Zone. Oxon: Routledge.

Slim, Hugo (2022): Solferino 21-Warfare, Civilians and Humanitarians in the Twenty-First Century. London: Hurst.

A list of further recommended and additional readings for the course are listed on the course learning platform.

Malmö University provides students who participate in, or who have completed a course, with the opportunity to express their opinions and describe their experiences of the course by completing a course evaluation administered by the University. The University will compile and summarise the results of course evaluations. The University will also inform participants of the results and any decisions relating to measures taken in response to the course evaluations. The results will be made available to the students (HF 1:14).

If a course is no longer offered, or has undergone significant changes, the students must be offered two opportunities for re-examination based on the syllabus that applied at the time of registration, for a period of one year after the changes have been implemented.

If a student has a Learning support decision, the examiner has the right to provide the student with an adapted test, or to allow the student to take the exam in a different format. The syllabus is a translation of a Swedish source text.