Cambridge University International Development
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Cambridge University International Development or CUiD is a student run society aiming to promote awareness and discussion of international development issues across Cambridge. This is primarily achieved through events, a thrice yearly publication, Vision and the global network U8. CUiD also has links with the twice yearly Cambridge International Development Course (IDC) and is a member of The Humanitarian Centre.
History
CUiD was founded in 2005 by Sheena Sumaria, a student of St John's College, Cambridge with the goal of 'Raising awareness and increasing understanding of the issues surrounding International Development'[1] and since then has been rapidly expanding every year. Now its membership base is nearly 600 with a central committee of at least 25. CUiD is headed by two co-presidents who are elected by its members every academic year.
Events
CUiD runs a series of events predominantly scheduled in the Michaelmas and Lent terms of the University of Cambridge. They include the following:
- Speaker events. Academics, professionals, media figures and others give their views on topics relating to international development. Previous speakers include Gerison Lansdown for UNICEF, Ko Aung on campaigning for human rights and democracy in Burma, Andrew Swinells on the Rwandan genocide and the search for justice, Richard Baker for Oxfam and many more. Many of these are available as audio recordings on iTunes.[2]
- Panel debates. Designed to provoke discussion, and highlight differing opinion. Previous debates include "Corporate (Ir)responsibility?" and "Gap Year, Crap Year?"
- Film showings, sometimes followed by a speaker. Previous films include MSF's "Invisibles" and WORLDwrite's "Corruptababble"
- Discussion forums. To encourage everyone to air their opinion and discuss informally the issues surrounding international development.
- Socials. To create a network within Cambridge and to encourage a wider social group to get involved.
Vision
Vision is CUiD's termly magazine which deals with concerns relating to international development. It is usually themed around a particular topic, for example "drugs and development" and is predominantly written by Cambridge University students. To view past editions go to CUiD's webpage
U8
CUiD is a founding member of the U8. The U8 is a global network to link universities across the world to promote dialogue and share ideas.
2009
2009 was Cambridge's 800th Anniversary, which CUiD celebrated with a special event and publication: Vision - Assessing our Legacy. This encompassed an art exhibition and an inaugural speech by Professor Keith Hart entitled "International Development: a Historical Perspective from Cambridge".
Furthermore CUiD hosted the Cambridge International Development Summit (CIDs),[3] whose speakers included Nick Dyer, Director of Policy, Department for International Development.