MAIS Concentration in Global Development Practice
The MAIS concentration in Global Development Practice offers an interdisciplinary approach to prepare students to address the challenges of sustainable development. This concentration allows students to tailor a program of study that meets their needs and interests, in which they can combine courses in the social sciences, natural sciences, engineering, health sciences, agriculture, forestry, and management.
As the Final Report of the International Commission on Education for Sustainable Development Practice states, “extreme poverty in much of the world is rooted in a complex set of causes, including poor agricultural productivity, the stress of climate change, the burden of tropical disease and the absence of basic infrastructure, such as roads and telecommunications. A major obstacle to achieving the Millennium Development Goals is the lack of a cadre of generalist professionals trained across fields of public health, agronomy, engineering, economics and environmental science that can recognize these interrelated challenges and know how to address them, drawing from specialist expertise as needed”.
The aim of this concentration is to better equip practitioners to become the “generalist professionals” needed, so that they can work across different specialties, enabling them to better understand the causes of poverty and to address the challenge of sustainable development.
The program of study for this concentration will be structured like all other MAIS programs of study, including a minimum 49 credits coming from three different fields of study. (Please note that a single field of study can include classes from different academic departments).
SUGGESTED/POSSIBLE COURSES FOR THE MAIS CONCENTRATION IN GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT PRACTICE
Agriculture and Forestry
Social Sciences
Oceanic and Earth Sciences
Health Sciences
Engineering
Business