This seminar prepares students to work in this field by examining both the theory and practice of Gender and Development. It starts with an overview of gender and development theories. The second section turns to the rise of global gender equality norms since the early 1970s, the international legal instruments and practices of development assistance organizations to implement these norms in partnership with governments and women’s organizations. We are particularly interested in the implementation of the global gender equality norms (as stipulated by the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women) in specific countries. How do UN agencies ‘mainstream’ gender? How do developing country governments respond to global norms of gender equality? How do universal norms get filtered through particular historical, social and political contexts to make sense at the national and local levels? What kinds of initiatives are taken at the local levels to interpret and implement these norms? The third section focuses on specific issue areas such as women’s human rights, gender based violence, and democratic governance and women’s political participation. The purpose of this seminar is to provide the students with a fundamental understanding of the field of Gender and Development, including theories and practices at both the global and local levels. It will further assist students to investigate one particular area in this field (such as gender and political participation, gender and human rights, or gender and education) in greater depth.