INDEV 601 Integrated Approaches to Sustainable Development (CREDIT/NO CREDIT 0.00) SEM This is an e-course delivered with the Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York, for all members of the Master of Development Practice international network. It is a multidisciplinary, survey course in which students explore the connection between energy, health and poverty and the implications for sustainable development, the role of science, technology and policy, and the ‘energy ladder.’ Students will learn about the barriers to sustainable development and discuss cost-effective, culturally appropriate solutions.
INDEV 602 International Development: Theory and Practice (0.50) SEM This course emphasizes both theoretical and conceptual frameworks, techniques, practices and methods for analysis of development, focusing in particular on the development - environment interface and questions of sustainability.
INDEV 603 Global Health (0.50) SEM This course explores aspects of the distribution, diffusion, determinants and delivery of health and health care in a global context. Building on foundational skills (i.e. basic understandings of epidemiology; the social determinants of health) the course will review a range of case studies (e.g. infectious disease; water; access to care; global environmental change) from a variety of regions around the world. Students will gain an appreciation for the complexity of the issues, as well as science-policy bridging.
INDEV 604 Sustainable Cities (0.50) SEM This course surveys the dominant trends in human settlement since the industrial revolution. Emphasis is placed on selected problems (e.g., provision of basic services such as water supply and sanitation, waste disposal, expanding ecological footprints) faced by cities of various sizes (from mid-sized to mega), the resources available to deal with them, and new approaches to sustainability.
INDEV 605 Economics for Sustainable Development (0.50) SEM This course introduces students to the history, theories and practices of development economics. Select issues such as trade, (public and private) capital flows, transnational corporations, technological change and innovation, agricultural and industrial policy and production, poverty reduction, structural adjustment, etc. are treated, as are recent developments in globalization and global economic governance.
INDEV 606 Energy and Sustainability (0.50) SEM Renewable and non-renewable energy supply systems are compared using economic and environmental measures. Consumption trends, conservation options and choices are considered at the household, community and global scales. Projects are used to demonstrate the economic and environmental challenges in the design of sustainable energy systems.
INDEV 607 Management for Sustainability (0.50) SEM Students will obtain an understanding of the fundamental features of creative thinking, decision-making and problem-solving from both a descriptive and a normative point of view. Case studies showcasing real world management challenges across issues and scales will introduce the student to complexity in decision-making.
INDEV 608 Water and Security (0.50) SEM The course will provide students with comprehensive background knowledge relevant to the increasingly important policy challenge of ‘water security’. The course will explore how the multiple levels of water security – human, community, state, international, global – require broad but considered policy inputs. Emphasis will be placed on the inter-dependencies of different sectors (climate security, food security, energy security) that interact within a ‘web’ of water security.
INDEV 609 Methods of Sustainable Development Practice (0.50) SEM Students will learn fundamental management skills and techniques relevant to international development practice. Students will obtain an understanding of the features of creative thinking, decision-making and problem-solving from both a descriptive and a normative point of view. Techniques for analyzing problem-solving and decision-making by individuals and groups will be demonstrated with reference to specific case studies.
Pre-Departure Field Placement Workshop (milestone) During their second semester, students will engage in a weekly exercise in preparation for their field placements. This exercise will involve elements of culture, language, geography, and history that is pertinent to their field placement.
INDEV 611 Field Placement The student spends 4 months in the field, working with a local community partner on a particular development challenge. Ideally, placements will be tailored to the student’s specialization, while also providing a setting in which integrative planning and management is required.
