Accelerated B.A./M.A. in International Development and Social Change (IDSC)

The worlds of business and development are increasingly intertwined. Corporations are facing social, environmental, and sustainability challenges; and development and planning professionals are using management skills and thinking strategically every day. The separation of goals and activities that once characterized the private and public sectors is dissolving in the face of new partnerships, alliances, and collaborations aimed at addressing the greatest challenges of the 21st Century: economic well-being, social justice, and environmental sustainability. The master’s degree in International Development and Social Change (ID&SC) emphasizes the connection between critical thinking and effective action. It is designed for scholars of international development, as well as for present and future practitioners of grassroots, community-based development. Offering alternatives to centralized planning and implementation, the ID&SC M.A. program has been a pioneer in participatory development and a leading force in creating tools for social change. A major challenge for twenty-first-century development is to promote development and sustain environmental resources through local planning and action. The IDCE participatory approach creates ownership of development initiatives on local levels and fosters partnerships between local institutions and external agencies. The ID&SC M.A. program helps students to reach innovative solutions to development problems by building understanding of the complex causes, influences, and implications of poverty, social injustice, and conflict. Rooted in the belief that effective approaches draw on many disciplines, the ID&SC M.A. employs a cross-disciplinary focus, with faculty from anthropology, economics, environmental sciences, gender studies, geography, history, political science, and management. Links with collaborating institutions in countries such as Kenya, Nepal, Ghana, India, Senegal, Somaliland, and Mexico provide important real-world perspectives and fieldwork opportunities. Through action-oriented and critical studies linking theory and practice, the ID&SC M.A. offers opportunities to specialize in such topics as political economy, conflict and development, culture and development, resource management, community-based development, or gender and development. The IDSC M.A. Program has three key elements: Challenging conventional ideas about development and seeking innovative alternatives. Understanding how the interplay of power relationships gives rise to social injustice and economic inequity. Exploring the linkages between critical thinking and effective development at the community, regional, national, and global levels. Course work introduces both alternative and traditional theories and provides practical skills to advance professional goals in development. The unique blend of theory and practice enables students to link local planning and action to policy making at different levels. The program also focuses on cultural, gender, and social justice issues and addresses these issues in development as well as in relief and conflict/postconflict contexts. Courses and research identify ways of building alliances among institutions and making room for the voices of marginalized people.