HONORS SPECIALIZATION IN GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT
MAJOR IN GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
SPECIALIZATION IN GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT
MINOR IN GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
Degree modules in Global Development Studies focus on the study of and engagement with inequalities between societies, within global contexts. Most importantly, students in Global Development Studies examine problems of poverty, exploring how the economic disadvantages suffered by some communities develop in relation to the advantages enjoyed by others. Given the interdisciplinary character of Global Development Studies, though, students are strongly encouraged to situate and analyse global poverty in relation to inequalities and differences arising across the broad range of economic, social, political, environmental, and cultural factors with which communities must deal in the world today. In this regard, students are shown how the relative successes peoples enjoy in building communities around them are deeply impacted by not only changes occurring within them but also the broader global changes at work around them.
Global Development Studies students investigate theories of development; they consider the roles played by international institutions and organizations in managing development; and they train in research methods and perspectives appropriate to the practical analysis and address of development issues. Particular emphasis is placed on aiding students to understand how they themselves may participate in the work to overcome global inequalities, at home and abroad. To this end, special efforts are made to give students opportunities to learn through community-based placements, where they may work with local and internationally-based organisations acting on development problems.
The objective of Global Development Studies is to provide students with sufficient critical awareness of the conditions underlying contemporary global inequalities so that they themselves may understand best how to become positive agents of global change. Students with degrees in Global Development Studies are particularly well prepared for work with organizations engaging local and global problems of poverty, social justice, sustainable development, gender equality, and the enhancement of civil society projects. They are also fully prepared for further study in graduate degree programs in development studies, along with graduate study across the social sciences.
