This course interrogates the key tensions and challenges in the field of development through an in-depth exploration of one sub-field: tax and development. Key debates and issues in development are frequently presented in relatively broad terms. Doing so captures key challenges and trade-offs, but often offers few answers or ways forward. This course seeks to provide a more focused investigation of these key development debates and issues, through an applied deep dive into the field of tax and development. Students will gain an in-depth understanding of the rapidly emerging sub-field of tax and development — part of the broader 'financing for development' agenda — while using this sub-field to understand broader development debates as they occur in practice. Key overarching topics will include, among others: a) the roles of capacity, policy, institutions and politics in shaping outcomes, b) linking the local, national and international in understanding and addressing development challenges, c) the financing for development agenda, local ownership, and donor coordination, d) linking research, evidence, and practice in development, e) effective design and implementation of reform programs, f) pathologies of aid programs and delivery, and g) 'doing development' in a changing global context. The course will draw on the instructor's active involvement in research, policy formulation, and implementation for tax and development programs, and will aim to design key assignments that feed directly into ongoing policy, research, and reform processes.