In the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences .
Course Offerings in Global Development
Overview
The Global Development (GDEV) undergraduate major responds to the need for innovative and critical thinking on the concept and practice of development. It prepares students to interpret problems, clarify solutions, develop leadership and foster positive social change. Students receive comprehensive training in the key ideas, issues, and debates central to global development. All GDEV students take a breadth of interdisciplinary coursework in development scholarship and practice and gain depth in a concentration of their choice, selecting from social and economic development, agriculture and food systems or environment and development.
As a Global Development major, students are required to spend at least eight weeks in a field-based internship. In their field experience, students work with and learn from innovative development practitioners and community leaders, crafting cutting-edge strategies to address some of the world’s most significant challenges and advance the well-being of people and the planet.
Website: https://cals.cornell.edu/global-development/education-training/undergraduate/global-development-major-requirements
Faculty
J. Aker, A. Bell, A. Benanav, R. Bezner Kerr, R. Cahoon, M.J. Dudley, R. Dudley, P. Eloundou-Enyegue, S. Giroux, J. Goldstein, M. Herrero Acosta, T. Hirschl, L. Leonard, C. Liao, E. Mabaya, F. Makki, R. Nelson, J. Perry, S. Peters, A. Raymer, R. Scott, J. Sipple, K. Waldman, L. Van De Valk, M. Warner, T. Tucker, W. Wolford, J. Zinda.
The Major (B.S.)
Declaring the Major:
Current Cornell students who are interested in transferring to the Global Development major must meet the following requirements:
- Minimum cumulative Cornell GPA of 3.0
- Completion of GDEV 1102: Intro to Global Development, PLSCI 1300: Just Food, and GDEV 1105: Global Development Cornerstone completed before transfer with an average grade of a B+ or better in 1102 and 1300, and a “S” in the Cornerstone (note: the three courses are only offered in the fall semester).
To apply to join the major and be assigned a major advisor, students should contact the Undergraduate Program Coordinator, Lynn Morris (lm747@cornell.edu).
Requirements for the Major:
In addition to the requirements for the Major, students must also complete the General Requirements for CALS (see Graduation Requirements for Bachelor of Science). All majors must complete the: 1) Global Development Core requirements; 2) Engaged Learning Requirements, and 3) the requirements of the thematic concentration of their choice. All Global Development core and concentration courses must be taken for a letter grade unless they are only offered S/U. To receive credit for GDEV core and concentration courses, a student must receive a grade of C or higher unless there are extenuating circumstances to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Global Development Core Requirements
8 courses; 20 credits
These core courses ensure that students can demonstrate a broad introductory knowledge in the major disciplines involved in global development. They enable students to interpret a comprehensive multi-disciplinary set of issues related to socio-economic development, agriculture & food systems, and environmental sustainability in developing countries.
- GDEV 1102 - Introduction to Global Development (3 credits; fall first year)
- GDEV 1105 - Global Development Cornerstone
- GDEV 2065 - Environment and Development (3 credits; spring first year. Note: incoming students in 2023 will take this Fall first year; Students who have already taken NTRES 2010 - Environmental Conservation can use that course for the requirement.)
- GDEV 2130 - Introduction to Social Science Research Methods (3 credits; spring second year)
- GDEV 2305 - Planning for Change (3 credits; fall second year)
- GDEV 4961 - Perspectives in Global Development (1 credit, fall or spring)
- PLSCI 1300 - Just Food: Exploring the Modern Food System (3 credits; fall first year)
- Additional Methods Course (3 credits). Choose from GDEV 2295 - Data Science with R , GDEV 3140 - Mapping Our Worlds: Cartography and Analysis in GIS , GDEV 3680 - Environmental Decision Making , GDEV 3740 - Qualitative Research Methods , GDEV 4045 - Data and Development , GDEV 4080 - Demographic Techniques
Engaged Learning Requirements
2 courses, 1 field-based “learning experience”: 1 credit
Experiential and engaged learning is a defining feature of the Global Development undergraduate major, reflecting the overall vision of the Department of Global Development as a unit that unites scholarship and practice in pursuit of a better world for all. Thus, all students must complete a minimum 8-week field-based learning experience that develops their skills as a development practitioner. In this field experience, students work with and learn from innovative development practitioners, community leaders, and researchers, crafting cutting-edge strategies to address some of the world’s most significant challenges and advance the well-being of people and the planet. Students take a set of pre-and post-engagement courses that help them prepare for and build upon their engaged learning experiences.
- GDEV 2105 - Pre-Internship: Community-Engaged Learning Prep (.5 credits; spring second year)
- Pre-Departure Portfolio, designed to help students thoughtfully prepare for their specific internship (Completed in the semester before the start of one’s internship).
- 8-week field-based engaged learning experience: Students may choose from a range of options for their eight-week experience,CALS Global Fellowships, SIT study abroad programs, and more. Domestic or International.
- GDEV 3105 - Post-Internship: Reflection on Engaged Experiences (0.5 credits; fall following the required internship experience).
Read the full Engaged Learning Requirements and guidelines on how to identify and select your learning experience.
Concentration Requirements
To gain more depth in a particular aspect of development, all Global Development majors choose to affiliate with one of three thematic concentration areas. The three concentration options are:
1. Social & Economic Development
The Social and Economic Development Concentration provides students an opportunity to explore global development issues, theories, policies, and practices in greater depth using the theories, approaches, and analytical frameworks of multiple social science disciplines. Students can develop individualized pathways through the concentration in consultation with their academic advisors. In addition, this concentration provides students planning to pursue graduate study in economics or sociology an opportunity to take advanced undergraduate coursework in those disciplines.
Required Courses for the Social & Economic Development Concentration:
All students must complete the following 2 courses
Select 5 additional courses (minimum of 15 credits) from the lists below. At least 3 out of the 5 courses must be GDEV (9 credits) and at least 3 electives should be at the 3000 level or higher.
Development Theory
Development Policy
Development Practice & Methods
2. Agriculture & Food Systems
This concentration is built on an integrative systems perspective that melds the biophysical, socio-economic, and nutritional sciences towards the sustainable development of inclusive agriculture and food systems. Students will learn about how food is produced, significant trends and drivers of change, and how to assess systems from an interdisciplinary perspective across cultural contexts. Critical contemporary debates about the future of food systems, such as sustainability, social justice, and resilience, will be examined from various perspectives. Students will also gain foundational skills in agriculture and food systems, including analytics for decision-making, monitoring and evaluation, and project management. This major is designed to support a range of career paths, including development practice, food policy, agricultural extension, and academia.
Required Courses for the Agriculture & Food Systems Concentration
All students must complete the following 2 courses
Select an additional 5 courses minimum 15 credits) from the lists below. Two courses must be from the Foundational Plant & Ag Sciences list and 2 courses must be from the Social, Economic & Health list and 1 course can be from any of the three lists. At least 2 out of the 5 electives must be GDEV (6 credits) and at least 3 should be at the 3000 level or higher.
Foundational Plant and Agricultural Sciences
Specialized Knowledge in Plant & Ag Sciences
Social, Economic and Health
3. Environment & Development
Students in this concentration will build their capacity to analyze how development affects the environment and how the environment shapes development. Through a range of courses, students will explore how society makes difficult choices concerning the control, use, and long-term management of land, freshwater, and marine resources. In engaging with these ethically complex and politically laden issues, students also examine how these topics are inextricably intertwined with issues of global food security and health, culture and identity, livelihood security, and intergenerational environmental justice.
Required Courses for the Environment & Development Concentration
Select 1 from the Social Science list; 1 from the Biophysical Science list
Social Science
Biophysical Science
Select 5 additional biophysical science or social science courses (minimum 15 credits) from the lists above or from the lists below. At least 2 out of the 5 electives must be GDEV (6 credits) and at least 3 should be at the 3000 level or higher.
Learning Outcomes for Global Development majors:
Upon completion of the Global Development major, students will be able to:
- Describe, critique and debate competing global development paradigms, and craft and defend a personal philosophy of development.
- Apply systems perspectives to analyses of current and future development problems, and to draw upon multiple disciplines for supporting evidence.
- Demonstrate proficiency in research design and data collection or analyzing and synthesizing quantitative, qualitative or geospatial data using at least one type of analytical method to reach defensible conclusions to inform science, policy, program design or practice.
- Develop and apply professional and technical skills in the context of development research, practice and policy.
- Communicate to diverse audiences how their engaged experiences inform and enrich their understanding of research, practice or policy.
- Exhibit attitudes of openness humility and respect in interactions with others, including those who hold different perspectives and world views, or who differ along lines of race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual identity, socioeconomic class or political or religious affiliation.
The Minors (Undergraduate)
The Global Development Department does NOT offer a minor in Global Development. However, our Faculty and Staff are engaged in a variety of university minors, and encourage students to consider a range of university minors. The department is closely affiliated with, and helps administer, the three minors listed below:
Community Food Systems Minor (CFS) - enables undergraduate students across the university to engage with critical contemporary issues relating to food security, food sovereignty, and food justice. In a context of diverse goals and approaches, the CFS Minor focuses on working with community partners to collaboratively understand and develop sustainable community food systems.
CFS Minor Requirements
Students must take all courses for a letter grade and achieve a final grade of “C” or better. All courses are expected to be 3 credits with the exception of the orientation to the practicum, which is a one-credit course.
Required Courses
Elective Courses (choose 3 elective courses, at least one from each category)
Ethical and epistemic perspectives
Ecological perspectives
Agricultural perspectives
Education Minor- Cornell offers a minor in education that prepares students for a variety of post-graduate opportunities, including graduate programs in teaching and education policy as well as positions in professional development, training, outreach, extension, workplace learning and educational research. Teaching in public schools requires certification, which students can pursue at a variety of graduate and teacher-residency programs around the country. (Cornell faculty listed at education.cals.cornell.edu can advise students on program options.) An especially convenient and strong option is the program at Ithaca College that leads to a master’s degree and New York State certification. A special agreement between Cornell and Ithaca College streamlines the application process. For information about Cornell’s education minor, as well as certification areas available under the agreement with Ithaca College, visit education.cals.cornell.edu or the Ithaca College Graduate Programs Webpage
Education Minor Requirements
Students must take all courses for a letter grade (with the exception of the capstone course that is only offered S/U) and achieve a final grade of “C” or better.
Required Courses
One course from each category below (two courses total):
Category 1: Education history, policy, philosophy
Category 2: Direct experience with learners
*Note: The teaching assistantship in conjunction with EDUC 4050 must be a 4980 special studies course (does not have to be EDUC). The teaching assistantship must be taken at the same time as EDUC 4050 or shortly after but cannot also be counted towards elective credit.
Elective Courses
Take (at least) six credits of electives using two or more courses.
- Any courses from the Education course offerings page will count. The below courses are approved elective choices as well-
No more than four of these credits may be unstructured. Unstructured credits are internships (EDUC 4960), independent studies (EDUC 4970) or teaching assistantships (EDUC 4980).
Capstone
In the final semester before graduation, Education minors must participate in one of two possible culminating experiences:
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Option 1 (Conversations): Education minors participate in a structured 30-minute discussion with professional educators. Minors spend ten-to-fifteen minutes summarizing their new insights on education, how they developed and how they might be applied in the future. Q&A follows.
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Option 2 (Publications): Education minors submit a publication that summarizes their new insights on education, how they developed and how they might be applied in the future. “Publication” is broad, including but not limited to essays, editorials, short stories and poems.
Leadership Minor- Prepares students to become actively engaged, reflective and effective citizens with a deeper understanding of the complexities, dynamics and interdependencies of life. Students work to develop the specific professional skills many employers say college graduates lack. The Leadership Minor features integrates courses with community activities and co-curricular experiences in a guided pathway that will help you develop the skills necessary to become a true leader and engage with diverse communities.
Leadership Minor requirements
Tier 1: Leadership Essentials (1 to 3 credits, choose one)
Tier 2: Foundations in Leadership
In this course you’ll do an in-depth investigation into your personal mastery and the development of your reflective self along with a broad introduction to leadership theories, skills, and practices as they apply to interpersonal influence, conflict resolution, working in teams, leading systems change, and community engagement.
Tier 3: Leadership Electives
Minimum of 6 credits. From the list that follows, complete at least six credits of leadership-related courses that interest you. These courses will help you to deepen your knowledge on specific topics such as organizational behavior, ethics, diversity and inclusion, negotiation, conflict resolution, decision making, sustainability, and communications, and to understand the broad contexts in which leaders operate.
If you use a Tier 3 course for your Tier 1 requirement, keep in mind you will still need to take an additional 6 credits of coursework from the list below to satisfy Tier 3.
Tier 4: Experiential Capstone (1 to 3 credits)
In Tier 4, you’ll apply the leadership and academic skills and knowledge you’ve acquired so far through a community engagement experience under the direction of a mentor. This should generally occur after you have completed the requirements for Tiers 1 through 3 but can be completed simultaneously with other Tier 3 requirements. Your experience will include establishing personal development goals, reflecting on challenges you face and feedback you receive, identifying ongoing personal development needs, and reflecting on attitudes and lessons you learned by engaging in the community. You will summarize and reflect on this experience through your ePortfolio (and enrollment in LEAD 4925 - Leadership Minor ePortfolio following completion of your capstone).
Capstone Experience
A capstone experience is one in which you are in a position to lead a group of people to accomplish a certain goal over an extended period of time, such as a semester or over the summer. For the Leadership Minor, we ask that you participate in a capstone experience, either as part of a class or of your own design, after most of your leadership coursework is complete. Students completing the Certificate of Engaged Leadership Links to an external site program will complete a capstone experience with an ePortfolio as part of their respective programs.
Examples of appropriate roles in which you can serve in an extended leadership capacity include captain of a sports team, community volunteer, residential life leader, officer in a club, fraternity or sorority, etc. If you are not sure whether an experience you have participated in is sufficient for your capstone requirement, contact Dr. Lawrence Van De Valk, leadership minor advisor.
Tier 4 requirements include:
- A personal statement of your learning outcomes, leadership philosophy, and principles of community engagement intended for the experience.
- Feedback from peers and others on your performance in the experience based on that statement.
- Your personal reflections on the lessons you’ve learned.
- Mentorship/coaching to approve, support, and monitor the experience.
- LEAD 4925 - Leadership Minor ePortfolio or the equivalent, such as completing an ePortfolio in another course.
In your final semester at Cornell or when you are ready to complete the minor, you will enroll in LEAD 4925 - Leadership Minor ePortfolio (1 credit, fall, spring). This requirement involves creating a digital portfolio–also called an ePortfolio–on the Digication platform.
Master of Professional Studies in Global Development
A candidate for the Master of Professional Studies in Global Development degree must complete the following items to be eligible to graduate:
- A minimum of 2 semesters of coursework, in residence, with a minimum of 12 credit hours per semester, and a total of 30 credit hours.
- Out of the 30 credits, 20 must be in CALS; 18 must be for a letter grade; and all 30 must be in graduate-level courses 5000 and higher.
- A maximum of 6 of the required 30 credit hours may be earned through the student’s capstone project.
- Language courses and writing courses do not count toward the credits required for the degree.
- A maximum of 6 credit hours earned outside the program at Cornell University or elsewhere may be counted toward the 30 credit hours requirement at the discretion of the faculty advisor. These credits must be appropriate to the subject of the chosen field of study and completed not more than 5 years prior to admission.
- Satisfactory completion of a capstone project paper under the supervision of the faculty advisor. This paper may be the execution of an action program, the development of materials or methodology suited to the student’s situation, or development and execution of research appropriate to the profession.
- Hold a minimum grade point average of 2.5.
- Complete the degree within 4 years of admission.
Ph.D. in Development Studies Degree Requirements
The Ph.D. in Development Studies (previously known as Development Sociology) is administered by the Development Studies Field, but connected to the Global Development Department. This training integrates diverse frameworks and methodologies with classical sociological theory to fuel investigation, analysis, and evaluation of social phenomenon. Our graduate students are at the frontlines of developing solutions to pressing issues — from agriculture and food systems to gender, economics and demographics — on the local and global scale.
Whether through ethnographies, statistical analyses, or participatory action research, our students are trained to produce the highest quality social science research in areas including:
- Inequality across health, class, and gender
- Impacts of social policy including health and education
- Governance, community development, and civic organization
- Food systems, food sovereignty, and sustainable agriculture
- Migration and demographic change
- Political ecology and land use change
Graduate (PhD) fields at Cornell, including Development Studies, have no mandatory course work requirements nor credit hours to be earned, and courses can be taken within any school or department at Cornell. However, the Field of Development Studies has a set of four core courses which are highly recommended to all students. They should be completed within the first year for all Ph.D. students and include:
The following course should be completed every semester while in the Ph.D. program:
More details about the Ph.D. in Development Studies can be found on the Development Studies Ph.D. website.