The Graduate Programs in Sustainable International Development form a community of concerned students and faculty drawn from around the world. OUR MISSION is to help build a new generation of development planners and policy makers in the U.S. and abroad for whom a global society free of poverty, preventable disease, and environmental degradation is achievable.
You are invited to a Symposium Honoring
Prof. Laurence R. Simon
Paths to Compassionate Action and Service
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
All invited - See program and details to RSVP
From the Executive Director
Welcome to the Graduate Programs in Sustainable International Development! There has never been a more exciting time to further your career as we believe we are at the beginning of a new age that will see a more equal distribution of the world’s prosperity. SID, for nearly two decades, has been at the leading edge of this transition helping to build the capacity within developing nations and within international aid organizations for sustainable development. We believe that development means sustained progress in reducing the marginalization of the world’s poor and reversing damage to the earth’s ecosystems.
SID is a unique program where young and mid-career professionals study with renowned faculty who are master practitioners and researchers. With a rigorous yet caring learning environment, students acquire intellectual and practical skills needed for effective and inclusive development. With one of the largest and most innovative course offerings of any development studies program in the world, students have flexibility to concentrate their learning in many fields of development and health care. And with most of our students coming from developing countries, SID is a stimulating mix of cultures, experiences and ideas that are shaping the values and ethics of development practice worldwide.
Thank you for visiting our website. Let us know how we can help you along your own path toward effective and compassionate action for development.
Laurence R. Simon, Ph.D.
Professor and Executive Director
Graduate Programs in Sustainable International Development
Why SID?
One billion children live in deep poverty. Six hundred forty million people lack decent shelter. Four hundred million lack safe water. Two hundred seventy million have no health services. Climate change and loss of biodiversity threaten the web of life. Today, over 1200 graduates of our Sustainable International Development program are working throughout the world to solve these problems -- in tiny villages, in large urban slums, as heads of organizations and ministries, and as advocates for equitable global policies on aid, trade and healthcare.
The Pioneer in Sustainable Development
Begun in 1994, SID led the way for graduate training on sustainable development. We have built a holistic and innovative professional curriculum that integrates development with the study of political and economic institutions, the allocation of scarce resources, the connection of policy and practice with ecology, demography, human rights and capabilities – and that draws upon intellectual and cultural histories of justice and social change. We equip our students with practical skills in project and program planning and implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and organizational management. The second year of our degree program applies that learning to real world problems through field practicums within host development organizations throughout the world. An option for second year advanced study furthers learning through faculty-directed independent study.
A distinct and diverse community of practice
SID is among the world’s largest and most distinctive development graduate training programs with over 140 students in residence and others in field practicums. Each year approximately two thirds of SID students come from developing nations, typically representing more than 60 countries and speaking over 100 languages - it is truly a global community embracing and celebrating the world’s cultures and religions.
Laying the foundation for a world without poverty
SID recognizes that the world of development is changing rapidly with emerging powers in the global south and a redistribution of wealth taking place. This is the most exciting time to train for a career in development for the potential has never been greater for a triumph over poverty and inequality. Yet enormous challenges exist if that new world is to be humane, equitable and sustainable. The challenges are not just about growth, but about human happiness and dignity. They are challenges of social transformation and of harnessing the power of knowledge to advance social and economic, and environmental rights.
Philosophy and ethics of development
SID is the first development graduate training program in the world to present its curriculum in a global liberal arts and human development framework. Ideas have histories and cultures and are considered at SID for their potential to help solve development problems. Our goal is to broaden and deepen critical thinking skills and to assist students to consider the ethical dimensions of development theory and practice and how ethics influence their own work.
