| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
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development, and the examination of Michigan State University (MSU) and Texas A&M University (TAMU) provides an in-depth look at the potential role universities can play in the field of development. Qualitative research methods allow a high level of detail in this analysis.
Chapter 5 presents the first phase of the study: an institutional analysis of the World Bank. This phase reviews the organization's policies and practices by evaluating its policy and lending trends as well as data from interviews I conducted with officials at the institution's Washington, DC, headquarters. The World Bank plays an important role in international development because the organization lends billions of dollars to developing countries every year. A policy review of the past thirty years (circa 1975–2010) shows that there have been some important shifts in lending for education; indeed, the current policy trend is favorable for higher education—but the World Bank's failure to acknowledge the negative effects of some previous policies is cause for concern.
Following this examination of the World Bank's center for operations, chapter 6 explains the studies that were conducted in Thailand and Uganda, clarifying the role of World Bank lending for higher education in relation to knowledge development in specific university settings. These two countries were purposely selected because they have both received loans from the World Bank for the express purpose of investment in university science and technology. In addition, these developing countries, located in different regions of the world, have contrasting histories: Uganda has a history of colonialism—something to which Thailand was never subjected. Each country's experience with the World Bank reveals a different aspect of the organization's operations. A comparison reveals contrasting perceptions of the institution in the two countries as well as a mixed review concerning the overall impact the World Bank has made in each region.
The final phase of the study (chapter 7) examines the work of MSU and TAMU, two U.S. land-grant universities that collaborated on a project in Rwanda. The partnership focused on agricultural research and the importance of extension (a term for diffusing knowledge from the university into the community) to create an information exchange