Development Studies Graduate Certificate Program

GRADUATE INTERDISCIPLINARY CERTIFICATE IN DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
Administered by the Developing Areas Research and Teaching (DART) Program

Statement of Purpose
The proposed Graduate Certificate in Development Studies aims to achieve four central goals. First, it is directed at providing inter-disciplinary training in the field of development studies. Thus, the certificate begins with a required three-semester, inter-disciplinary core-course taught by a team of development studies faculty drawn from the Departments of Anthropology, Economics, Geography, Political Science, and Sociology. The core-course sequence integrates the key concepts and main perspectives from these social science disciplines in order to examine the history, theory, and policy debates that inform approaches to development problems in the contemporary period.
Second, the certificate is intended to guide students in developing specialized knowledge in one of five focused streams within development studies: i) environment and development; ii) the economics of development; iii) governance and development; iv) population and development; or v) gender and development. For each of these specializations, students are required to take the three-seminar core course sequence. Students are also expected to take 3 additional courses from the lists that are explicitly linked to their specialization, for a total of 6 3-credit graduate seminars for Certificate completion.
Third, the Graduate Certificate in Development Studies is aimed at extending the success of the already existing course sequence in Sustainable Development. The three course seminar series in Sustainable Development has a six year record of high enrollments (15-20 graduate students per seminar) from across the disciplines. We aim to build on this success by both fulfilling the on-going student demand, and expanding the disciplinary base from which the core course is taught. While the Sustainable Development seminar series is currently housed in Geography, the sequence now includes segments taught by faculty from Economics (Charles Becker at C.U. Denver), Anthropology (Terry McCabe), Sociology (Jane Menken), and Political Science (Sam Fitch and Kimberly Niles).
Finally, the Certificate in Development Studies will provide training that will assist students in meeting the expectations of future employers in the field of development studies. Development Studies is a well established field of research with institutional centers at a number of major universities, and several journals dedicated to its study. The certificate will aid students in course selection, provide scholarly training with professional benefits, facilitate access to faculty, and create a network of development scholars and students who can benefit from other Developing Areas Research and Teaching (DART) Program activities.

Description of Curriculum
The Graduate Certificate Program in Development Studies is for graduate students enrolled in M.A., M.B.A, Ph.D., and J.D. programs at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Because development issues--such as agrarian change, labor migration, industrial growth, urban planning, and natural resource use--cut across disciplinary divides, the study of development requires interdisciplinary approaches.
Candidates for the certificate must complete three seminars from the Sustainable Development inter-disciplinary seminar series (currently listed as Geography 5762-3, 5772-3, and 5782-3). The Sustainable Development seminars are taught every year, ensuring sufficient course availability for timely completion of the Certificate. The core seminars focus on integrating the interdisciplinary material and approaches of development studies, and applying these perspectives to the analysis of empirical development processes. The core seminars provide training in the methods, theories, and critical perspectives of development studies as a field.

In addition to completion of the core sequence, candidates for the certificate will be expected to select a specialization, drawn from the five focused streams below (Environment and Development, Economic Development, Population and Development, Politics and Institutions of Development, Gender and Development). Following selection of a specialization, candidates must also complete three seminars from the guided lists below. These elective seminars are linked to the focused specialization areas in development studies. Faculty who teach the listed seminars have agreed to participate in the Certificate Program, and have expressed support for the interdisciplinary goals of DART more generally. A primary faculty is listed as a contact person for each stream, and will be expected to guide students in their course selections within that specialization.

****************************************************************
CORE SEMINARS (THREE REQUIRED)
GEOG 5762-3, 5772-3, 5782-3 Sustainable Development, Parts I, II, & III
Sustainable Development, Part I: Theory and Classic Issues
Sustainable Development, Part II: Policies and Institutions
Sustainable Development, Part III: Critiques and Alternatives

Primary faculty: Gary Gaile and Rachel Silvey.
Secondary faculty to participate in the core seminar series: Terry McCabe (Anthropology), and Charles Becker (Economics, CU Denver), Jane Menken (Sociology), Sam Fitch and Kimberly Niles (Political Science).

ADDITONAL REQUIRED COURSES
(THREE REQUIRED, BASED ON FOCUSED CORE SPECIALIZATION)

Stream 1. ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
Lead faculty: Terry McCabe (Anthropology)

ANTH 5600-3 Human Ecology: Cultural Aspects
ANTH 5500-3 Cross-Cultural Aspects of
Socio-economic Development
ANTH 7010-3 Anthropology of Globalization
ANTH 4510/ Applied Anthropology
ETHN 4520
GEOG 6742-3 Seminar: Cultural Geography
HIST 6019-3 Readings in Third World History
The goal of this specialization is to train graduate students in the history, theory, and methods of approaches to the environmental issues in development studies.

Stream 2. ECONOMICS OF DEVELOPMENT
Lead faculty: Charles Becker (Economics, C.U., Denver)

ECON 6555 Water Resources Development and Management: Technology, Economics, Institutions (CVEN 5393)
ECON 4774 or 6774-3 Economic Reform in Developing
Countries
ECON 4626 Economics of Inequality and Discrimination
ECON 6774 Economics Crises and Reform in Developing Countries
ECON 8333-3 Globalization and Democracy
ECON 8764-3/HIST 7214 History of Economic Development
ECON 4784 or 8784-3 Economic Development
GEOG 5222-3 /SOC 5223 Continuities and Changes in the
PSCI 7223/ECON 8323 Modern World Economy
The goal of this specialization is to train graduate students in the history, theory, and methods of research on the economics of development.

Stream 3. POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT
Lead faculty: Jane Menken (Sociology and IBS, Population Program)

GEOG 5292/4292 Migration, Urbanization, and
& ECON 4292 Development
GEOG 5732-3 Population Geography
GEOG 6732 Formal Population Geography
SOCY 5012-3 Population, Problems, and Policies
SOCY 5161 Population and Environment
ECON 8666 Economic Demography
The goal of this specialization is to train graduate students in the history, theory, and methods of research on population and development issues.

Stream 4: GOVERNANCE OF DEVELOPMENT
Lead faculty: Sam Fitch and Kimberly Niles (Political Science)

GEOG/PSCI 5332-3 Globalization and Democracy
GEOG 5712-3 Political Geography
GEOG 6712-3 Seminar: Political Geography
SOCY 5055-3 Modern Marxist Social Theory
HIST 6019-3 Readings in Third World History
ECON 4774 Economic Reform in Developing Countries
PSCI 4732 Critical Thinking on Development
PSCI 4783 Global Issues
PSCI 5113 Advanced Readings in International Relations
The goal of this specialization is to train graduate students in the history, theory, and methods of research on the governance issues in development studies.

Stream 5: GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT
Lead faculty: Rachel Silvey (Geography)

SOCY 4016/WMST 4016 Sex, Gender, and Society 2.
SOCY 5026-3 Feminist Research Methods
GEOG 5642-3 Seminar: Urban Geography
WMST 5010-3 Feminist Methodology
WMST 5090-3 Feminist Theories
WMST 4300 International Sex Trade
ECON 4626 Economics of Inequality and Discrimination
SOCY 4086/WMST4086 Family and Society
SOCY 5006 Sociology of Sex and Gender.
The goal of this specialization is to train graduate students in the history, theory, and methods of research on gender issues in development studies.

Admission Requirements
Graduate students from any department at the University of Colorado at Boulder are eligible to apply for admission to the Graduate Certificate in Development Studies. Students who are interested in admission to CU should contact the department in which they plan to earn their degree. To complete the Certificate, students must complete the three course core seminar series, one focused core course, and at least 9 credit hours of course work from the list of elective courses linked to the particular specialized stream they select. Of the total 18 required hours, no more than 12 may be in the student’s degree-granting department. Up to 6 transfer credits will be accepted from courses taken at other universities, pending approval of those courses by the DART Student Advisory Board.