Sustainable International Development

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit. May not be repeated by students who have taken HS 259f with this topic in previous years.

The course will center on (a) discussing the intuition behind concepts in household economics and (b) the applied aspects of the concepts for practitioners of development. The course is purposefully not technical and is designed for students who have taken the introductory course to economics. The course will provide a theoretical and empirical introduction to the field of household economics as well as provide practical tools to do basic analysis of intra-household gender inequalities.

Instructor: Ricardo Godoy

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

The rapid growth of ecotourism is a welcome change in the global tourism industry. At its best, ecotourism aims to increase the sustainability of the travel and tour industry, and makes direct support of wildlife and habitat conservation an element of doing business. This course explores the sustainability of tourism and of ecotourism in particular. What distinguishes an ecotour from its better-known mass-tourism rivals? Are there clear examples of ecotourism benefiting conservation? Who are the ecotourists, and what are their motivations and aspirations? Are the impacts of an ecotour truly less harmful than those of mass tourism? How do certifiers evaluate tourism operations in terms of established “green” criteria, and which companies are winning awards for sustainability?

Instructor: Eric Olson

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit. May not be repeated by students who have taken HS 259f with this topic in previous years.

This course will review the connections between gender and macroeconomics before exploring main changes brought by globalization and neoliberal policies as they affect social policies, livelihoods, families and gender. Relying on recent critical scholarship, this course aims to provide a framework to understand the role of gender within development in times of neoliberal globalization, when deep transformation have altered the relations between the state, markets and civil society and the material and subjective contexts for gender identities and practices.

Instructor: Cristina Espinosa

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit. May not be repeated by students who have taken HS 259f with this topic in previous years.

This module introduces students to the field of gender and the environment, examining the relevance of gender for environmental conservation that includes social sustainability, and the different ways gender has been conceptualized and integrated within environmental conservation and within sustainable development interventions.

Instructor: Cristina Espinosa

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit. May not be repeated by students who have taken HS 259f with this topic in previous years.

This course will expose students to current debates about the causes and consequences of three dominant topics in development: income inequality, social capital, and empowerment. Through a combination of country case studies, this course will enhance appreciation of empirical analysis of the topics. In addition, students will be familiarized with technical aspects of how one measures income inequality, social capital, and empowerment in applied work.

Instructor: Ricardo Godoy

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit. May not be repeated by students who have taken HS 259f with this topic in previous years.

This seminar will introduce Freire’s core beliefs as presented in selections from his oeuvre including a full reading of Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Each seminar session will proceed in two segments: as an exegesis of chapters of Pedagogy relating Freire’s written ideas to the social and historical context from which they emerged; and as a wide-ranging discussion of comparative poverty and social process. Students will consider the relevance of Freire’s ideas and methods to today's poor as well as to their own experiences of societal change.

Instructor: Laurence Simon

Yields half-course credit.

Provides students with training and experience in critical reading for development purposes and in professional writing. Combining lectures, discussions, and classroom exercises in weekly class sessions, the course is based around regular written submissions on which students receive extensive feedback.

Instructor: Maria Green

Prerequisite: Open only to MA SID students. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

This course is organized around three linked, logical, sequential topics that together make up the second-year project proposal: the development problem and its importance; what the evidence says about the topic; and the strategy or approach to answer the development question.

Instructor: Cristina Espinosa

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

This course aims to provide the basic conceptual tool kit and develops basic macroeconomic concepts necessary to understand trends and their impact. It examines and critiques what is commonly called the "Washington consensus," the view advocating liberalization and the opening up of the economies of the developing world as the path to development. To do this, we look at the empirical record of the actual experience of some developing countries in the recent past.

Instructor: Kade Finnoff

Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following: household economics; culture, power, and development; masculinity and gender; HIV/AIDS as a public policy issue; gender and globalization; and theories of social change.

Instructor: Staff

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following: household economics; culture, power, and development; masculinity and gender; HIV/AIDS as a public policy issue; gender and globalization; and theories of social change. Usually offered every year.

Instructor: Staff

There is now a firm consensus that climate change could undermine even the best of efforts to a solve a variety of development challenges including hunger and malnutrition, disease, poverty, degradation of soils and water supplies, and others. This course aims to provide development specialists with a solid grounding in this long-term but overarching threat.

Instructor: Jayson Funke and Eric Olson

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Students engage with constructs of cultural superiority, debate about modernization, and learn about what motivates individual and cultural change. Students are introduced to alternative theoretical approaches to culture and development and learn how to apply those theories to different historic contexts as well as contemporary situations.

Instructor: Kelley Ready

Prerequisite: HS297f or permission of the instructor. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Builds on the introductory GIS course, further enabling students to develop technical skills in the use of ARCView GIS software; qualitative skills in data gathering, analysis, and presentation; and understanding of potential of GIS as a tool for planning and evaluating development projects. Includes a computer lab.

Instructor: Ravi Lakshmikanthan

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Introduces ecological principles that influence the sustainability of national and local development programs throughout the world.

Instructor: Eric Olson

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Covers basic principles of microeconomics, focusing on the supply and demand framework with applications and examples to developing countries.

Instructor: Staff

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Through a primer on law and legal institutions, examines the use of the legal order to solve problems of poverty, vulnerability, and environmental degradation in developing nations.

Instructor: Malcolm Russell-Einhorn

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Explores how international and national agencies define and measure food security and nutritional status and set goals for strategic interventions.

Instructor: Richard Lockwood

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

A seminar, with a focus on reading, discussion, and student research rather than on lectures. What are the implications of a "rights-based approach" to health for policy makers, medical professionals, health-related industries, and patients? What roles do civil and political rights like participation, freedom of speech, and non-discrimination as well as the notion of a right to health itself, play in health policy-making and policy implementation? Each student is expected to draft and present a substantial seminar paper. Usually offered every semester.

Instructor: Maria Green

Provides a conceptual umbrella to all the coursework in the SID program. Introduces students to the major currents of thinking about development and sustainability. Topics include poverty, inequality, globalization, human rights, the environment, and the role of institutions. Students examine what is known about the drivers of development as well as the links among global and national policies, and actions for sustainable development. The course includes a practical group exercise where students identify and propose solutions to a critical development problem.

Instructor: Susan Holcombe

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Covers building and staffing large-scale, cost-effective microfinance institutions and explores strategies for partnerships with local NGOs and village-level organizations to expand outreach.

Instructor: Jeffrey Ashe

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

A primer on major diseases and problems of health care in developing nations. Topics include descriptions of disease incidence and prevalence, including infectious, chronic, and mental disease; determinants of health, including culture and behavior; the role of nutrition, education, and reproductive trends and poverty; demographic transitions, including aging and urbanization; the structure and financing of health systems; and the globalization of health.

Instructor: Sarita Bhalotra

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Explores issues and methods of development project monitoring and evaluation, including economic, social, and environmental issues, and how these functions are critical to project management.

Instructor: Laura Roper or Bridget Snell

For students who wish to study in more depth analytical methods utilized in development planning. Issues and methods of project implementation are discussed, and, drawing on case studies, the course examines the complex interactions between beneficiary communities, social mobilization and leadership, participation and training, and other factors that affect accountability and achievement.

Instructor: Marion Howard or Laurence Simon

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Covers a broad range of operational issues related to the design, implementation, and evaluation of microfinance initiatives reflecting a range of methodologies and approaches.

Instructor: Jeffrey Ashe

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Introduces concepts and methods for using organizational program experience to strengthen internal management, program planning, and public policy. Examines the experience of noted NGOs.

Instructor: James Arena-DeRosa

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

A primer on the basic concepts and methods of formal environmental impact assessments and adaptations for community-led small projects.

Instructor: David Boyer or Eric Olson

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Gender, as a social construct, is explored in diverse cultures and societies. Examines gender's major influence on the development process.

Instructor: Cristina Espinosa or Brenda McSweeney

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Examines recent concepts and methods for gender analysis as an integral factor in program planning across cultures.

Instructor: Staff

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Provides a broad introduction to international human rights laws, mechanisms, and practices, including special protections for vulnerable groups and the key debates underpinning the rights-based approach to development and poverty. Also covers the international and regional institutions that exist to protect human rights.

Instructor: Maria Green

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

The phenomenal growth in non-governmental organizations throughout the world in the past two decades has transformed the delivery of development assistance and relationships between the north and south. Examines the nature of civil society, types of and relationships among NGOs, and NGO relationships with the state, multilateral and bilateral organizations, and community organizations.

Instructor: Laurence Simon

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Examines the evolution of land reform theory and practice around the world, including the current model encouraged by the World Bank.

Instructor: Laurence Simon

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

A primer on demographic variables, including fertility, mortality, and migration, and their influence on economic growth, poverty, and the environment.

Instructor: Susan Holcombe

Prerequisite: HS285f or permission of the instructor. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

This course builds on HS 285f with a deeper exploration of human rights in practice. Topics covered include human rights and transnational corporations; the International Criminal Court and other forms of individual accountability for human rights violations; the rights to participation, transparency, and access to information in the context of development; the nature and role of political human rights in a development context; human rights advocacy and the integration of human rights indicators with development indicators; human rights in conflict situations; the role of human rights in UN development agencies; and finally critical responses to rights-based approaches.

Instructor: Maria Green

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Instructor: Pierrette Quintiliani

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Explores the connections between religion and development from theoretical, activist (engaged religious), and practitioner (faith-based NGO) perspectives. Considers (1) basic social science perspectives on the connections of religious cosmology, beliefs, and practices to social and cultural identity, solidarity, and ideas about human dignity, social inequalities, and the desirability or inevitability of social change and (2) notions of religious obligations and the role of religion as a motivating force or barrier to social transformation and sustainable development. This module seeks to build a positive understanding of the potential contributions of religious forces, with attention to peace-building and economic-development activities.

Instructor: Ellen Messer

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Investigates major issues of natural resource management affecting the sustainability of development.

Instructor: Ricardo Godoy

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

A primer for non-specialists on GIS and its capabilities as a tool for planning and monitoring. Includes a computer lab.

Instructor: Ravi Lakshmikanthan

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Run as an NGO management workshop responding to issues and problems identified by students. Issues typically include mission statements, structure, governance, participation, and funding.

Instructor: Laurence Simon

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Conservation biologists and economic development planners have often had conflicting priorities and means. The class reviews methods of achieving biodiversity conservation and community development through an integrated approach.

Instructor: Marion Howard

This course may not be repeated for credit by students who have taken HS 303f in previous years.

Provides students with a sufficient background in legislative theory, methodology, and techniques to enable them to conceptualize how to translate policy into effectively implemented law and to assess bills purporting to resolve particular social problems.

Instructor: Ann Seidman

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

An introduction to survey design and applied principles of data analysis in development. Topics covered include: research design (hypothesis formulation, model building, experimental research design); data collection (principles of survey design, definition and measurement of variables, cross-sectional and panel surveys, focus groups and pilot tests of surveys); and data analysis (statistical and social significance, univariate and bivariate analysis, and multivariate analysis).

Instructor: Ricardo Godoy

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit. This course may not be repeated for credit by students who have taken HS 259f with this same topic in previous years.

This course seeks to expand the understanding of the relational nature of gender by focusing on the implications of incorporating men and masculinities in gender mainstreaming practices.

Instructor: Staff

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

An introduction to the basic principles of international law for non-lawyer professionals working in international development. Covers core terminology of international law that development practitioners are likely to encounter, explains how international agreements such as treaties are created and implemented, and examines how international disputes, on issues ranging from environmental laws to the use of force, are resolved. Also provides an overview, in an international law context, of the roles of international institutions such as the United Nations and the World Court and of private actors like corporations and NGOs.

Instructor: Maria Green

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

This course, co-taught by a professor of biology and a professor of human rights, focuses on the issue of access to clean water and sanitation from a human rights perspective. It looks at issues of water -- both science and policy -- with a focus on the societal arrangements and governmental choices that impact on access to water at the household level. At the core of the class are the decision points and modes of decision-making with regard to water policy, which we examine both from a technical perspective -- to understand the factual issues -- and from a rights perspective, to understand the relevant international standards and how they apply, in a practical sense, at national levels.

Instructor: Maria Green and Eric Olson

Introduces techniques of economic analysis, mainly from microeconomics. These tools are applied to problems of management and social policy. Uses case studies and frequent exercises to develop application and quantitative skills.

Instructor: Ricardo Godoy

Introduces students to the field of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), including its purpose, design, methodologies for data collection and analysis, and utilization. In keeping with the practice orientation of the SID program, we will emphasize the contexts in which M&E is carried out, the challenges and pitfalls frequently confronted in these processes, and some “tricks of the trade” drawn from written materials and the experiences of the instructors and enrolled students.

Instructor: Ricardo Godoy, Laura Roper, Barry Shelley, and Bridget Snell

Open to all Ph.D. students and to a small number of master’s students by permission of the instructor.

The course begins with basic theories, models, and evolving concepts for sustainable human development and examines the contexts in which development takes place. It also looks at some of the issues constraining sustainable human development.

Instructor: Laurence Simon