Weill Medical College of Cornell University · Courses
GDEV
138 courses with the subject GDEV, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
GDEV 1102Introduction to Global Development3
This course introduces students to the history of the idea of Development and to key definitions, theories, measures and debates in the study and practice of Global Development. We draw upon a variety of disciplines to address some of the big questions of this field: What is Development? How do we measure Development? Why are some countries (and people) poorer than others? Who are the key actors in the field of Global Development and how have they changed over time? What are some promising Development interventions? How should we think about our own role in Development?In exploring these questions, we will draw upon a variety of perspectives and approaches, and will likely end up with a range of answers. The field of Development is rich with exciting ideas and contentious debates. To this end, we may find that we (respectfully) disagree on what Development is, whether we should even use the term, and on the best route for global change. However, this class is intended to provide you with the skills to be an active participant in debates about Global Development (including questions of poverty, inequality, and justice). Drawing both from the fields of Development Studies, which focuses on the theoretical explanations of social change, and Development practice, which seeks to promote positive social change through action, you will gain exposure to both conceptual frameworks and current practices.
The Global Development Cornerstone aims to create an intellectual community among Global Development students, and to assist with transitioning to, or from within, Cornell University. This course will offer opportunities for interaction and intellectual exploration with a cross-section of faculty, staff, and alumni in an effort to establish supportive and cooperative relationships. In addition, it will foster exploration into personal identity in the context of career exploration and introduce the breadth of activities and resources available to achieve a balance between academic, extracurricular, and interpersonal activities during their time in the major.
GDEV 1300Just Food: Exploring the Modern Food System4
This course provides a comprehensive review of the modern food system from the green revolution to the industrialized model of today. It offers a critical perspective on existing paradigms and insights into alternative approaches for producing food security, environmental stewardship, and equity in an era of climate change. The course is taught by an interdisciplinary team of instructors who bring insights from both the biophysical and social sciences and will ask students to consider their food using a systems-thinking lens. This course is suitable for life sciences majors.
Introduction to population studies. The primary focus is on the relationships between demographic processes (fertility, mortality, and immigration) and social and economic issues. Discussion covers special topics related to population growth and spatial distribution, including marriage and family formation, population aging, changing roles and statuses of women, labor force participation, immigrations, urban growth and urbanization, resource allocation, and the environment.
This course examines the interface between development and environment issues in a global and international context. The ways we organize our economy, our culture, our social interactions, and the environment to meet our development needs have a profound impact on our ability to sustain ourselves, our society, and the planet. In this course, you will learn the theoretical and material linkages between environment and development issues and processes, and the multiple dimensions of sustainability and their synergies and tradeoffs. By taking a broad view of the development trajectory and the associated landscape transformation, you will explore various barriers and sustainability challenges, and critically examine the social, environmental, economic, and institutional dimensions of these challenges and proposed solutions.
Do adults learn differently than do youth? This experiential and community-engaged course is for anyone interested in planning and facilitating adult, community and lifelong learning. As inquirers ourselves, we not only study principles, theories and methods, we also put into practice what we learn. One of the ways we do this is by incorporating adult learning approaches within the seminar's design and educational practice (andragogy, rather than pedagogy). Another way we apply what we study is by mentoring adult learners. Each student serves as a learning partner to a Cornell employee who is pursuing an educational aim. A journey of mutual learning is a satisfying and meaningful adventure. As employees' partners, we are co-learners and co-educators, recognizing that each person has knowledge and experience to bring to the quest.
In this course, students focus on preparing for their internship experience (and future development practice more generally) through the intentional discernment about the ways in which their internship contributes to the broader development arena; who is served through the work of their internship; what they seek to learn; how they will go about fulfilling these learning goals, including through the application of personal ethical principles and critical thinking skills, and the strategies they will employ to ensure for their own health and safety. Students will demonstrate understanding and application of key course takeaways through a “Pre-Departure Portfolio.” The course is intended for Global Development majors.
GDEV 2130Introduction to Social Science Research Methods3
Introduction to social science research. The course reviews the general process through which social scientists derive credible answers to important questions about social change and social influences on individual behavior. It covers all steps in the research process, from the formulation of a research question to the final presentation of findings. The course is designed as a preparation for future work in social science research, but it is also intended for students who simply want to sharpen their capacity to evaluate the claims made by researchers. The course combines theory and application. A group research project is used to apply the concepts and ideas from the textbook and lectures.
GDEV 2155Exploring Strategies for Teaching and Learning2
Learn to become an effective Learning Assistant (aka undergraduate teaching assistant) through hands-on experience with proven teaching methods and learning theories. You'll work on developing essential skills like facilitating peer learning, providing constructive feedback, and creating welcoming classroom environments where all students can thrive. Through interactive discussions and real-world practice, you'll build your confidence as an educational leader. You'll engage with insightful readings, observe experienced instructors, reflect on your growth, and complete practical projects that prepare you to support undergraduate learning across any discipline. Whether you're specifically interested in becoming a Learning Assistant or want to develop valuable teaching and leadership skills, this course will equip you with the tools you need to succeed.
This course examines the ethical dimensions of technology, global development, and social change. Moving beyond abstract moral theory, it explores how ethical principles apply to real-world dilemmas, such as AI governance, lithium mining for green growth, and the upgrading of informal urban settlements. Students will learn to identify and evaluate normative claims, analyze value conflicts, and develop ethical frameworks for decision-making. Key topics include global trade and labor rights, technological solutionism, economic metrics, just transitions, and reparations. Through structured debates, ethical assessment tools, and speculative design projects, students will engage critically with systemic challenges and competing values. By the end of the course, they will be equipped to assess ethical claims and navigate complex trade-offs.
GDEV 2210Designing and Facilitating Learning for Development4
In Designing and Facilitating Learning for Development, we see commonalities across a variety of venues and settings where people meet together to learn, deliberate, and act. From professional development to social change and town hall to union hall, adult and community learning is everywhere. Yet, for many, the design and facilitation of meaningful learning experiences can be as mysterious as an unopened black box. How does one go about creating inclusive educational and participative experiences in our increasingly interconnected contexts? In this course we open the box and unpack the processes of crafting and conducting collaborative learning experiences. In developing our abilities as ethical leaders of learning and action we serve the growth of others even as we deepen our practice.Expected workload of approximately 3 hours per week during the FLD (field) portion of this course.
In this course, you will learn how to program in R and use this statistical software for effective data analysis and visualization. You will convert raw data into understanding and knowledge by using R for importing data, managing variables, executing basic functions, developing loops, creating linear models, and generating various kinds of graphs. This course is designed for those who have no experience in R or programming in general. It is a hands-on course to enable students to develop skills and solve statistical problems using R. It will help you to develop programming skills and introduce you to a new way of thinking and a new syntax of writing for data analysis, visualization, and communication.
GDEV 2300Food Systems and Sustainable Development3
This course introduces students to the fundamentals of food systems in the context of sustainable development. The course investigates how we ended up with the current food system and the key components of food systems, the key drivers shaping food supply and demand, as well as health, environmental and equity outcomes. Examination of our current system is supplemented with studies on the future of food systems and sustainable transitions. The sustainability performance of food systems is examined in relation to land use, climate change, nutrient cycles, biodiversity and water use. The course provides an overview of work being done to improve sustainability through novel technology like alternative proteins, circularity, robots and AI from production to consumption.
This course will provide students with theoretical frameworks, practical tools, and methods of written expression needed to foster inclusive development practice. Beginning with perspectives on practitioner ethics, the course walks students through the life-cycle of a development interventions, from issue identification and project conceptualization, to planning and implementation, to monitoring and evaluation. Through analytic writing, students will use evidence to explore the dynamics of power which can lead to complex, and even contentious development outcomes. Several development practitioners will present case studies of their own work to provide lessons and examples upon which students will be able to draw.
This exploratory course is designed for students of all backgrounds and interests who have a desire to learn more about education and teaching. Teaching takes place in a variety of contexts from the family to the workplace, and this course endeavors to examine the elements of teaching that transcend the typical school-teaching environment. Designed to guide students in reflecting upon their experiences to help them better understand the decisions they make as teachers. Students have the opportunity to pursue their own interests through a teaching fieldwork assignment. Possible field experiences range from large group to tutorial situations, from preschool to adult education, from traditional school subject matters to recreational and occupational areas, and from school-based to nonformal situations. The course work and readings are designed to build on these experiences throughout the semester and provide concepts and skills to apply in the field.
GDEV 2450Development Economics: Global Perspectives3
The objective of this course is to provide students with a set of theoretical and practical skills to answer questions by understanding the microeconomic foundations of poverty in lower-income countries, and thereby learning how to design, implement and evaluate policies and programs. The course will start with a brief overview of development. We will then review the microeconomic foundations of household-and firm-level decision-making in low-income countries, before turning to issues that constrain and support development: human capital (health and education); financial capital (financial services); physical capital (land, the environment and infrastructure); technological innovations; and institutions.
GDEV 2710US Education System: Courts, Data, Law and Politics3-4
This course aims to explore and answer a single question about America's promise-of success if you work hard and do well in school: Why do we have such substantial and long-standing inequality in the U.S.? In answering this central question, we will investigate the goals, roles, and outcomes of formal educational institutions in American society and the legal and policy environment in which they operate. Specifically, we will review historical state and federal policy, trace the $700 million spent, and interrogate the sociological functions of public and private K12 schools, including the successes, failures, and enigmas of school organization and policy at the local, state, and national level.
GDEV 2940Preparing for Food Systems and Agriculture Engaged Experiences1
The Lund Fellows Program and Community Food Systems minor both offer students the opportunity for an engaged learning experience in agriculture and food systems. This course is designed to help students prepare for their engaged experiences with non-Cornell partner organizations. This seven-week course will maximize student engaged learning by utilizing the following learning topics: (1) understand the community and geographic area of your host organization; (2) develop personal and professional goals (3) explore critical reflection and how it can be applied to engaged experiences; (4) review relevant health and safety topics; (5) gain a deeper understating of agriculture and food systems through readings, other media and discussion. The course aims to build a sense of community through peer learning among the students who will be sharing similar summer experiences as well as ensure all internship and practicum logistics are completed.
GDEV 2941Reflection on Agriculture Engaged Experiences1
The Lund Fellows Program and Community Food Systems minor both offer students the opportunity for an engaged learning experience in agriculture and food systems. This course is designed to help students critically reflect on their engaged experiences with non-Cornell partner organizations. This seven-week course will maximize student engaged learning and reflection by utilizing the following learning topics: (1) critical reflection; (2) in-person discussions (3) peer-review; (4) gratitude; (5)public presentations The course aims to build a sense of community through peer learning and reflection among students who shared similar summer experiences.
This course explores the development of social theory from the Enlightenment in the eighteenth century to contemporary debates about the status and limits of sociological knowledge. It introduces the key texts of the most influential forerunners of modern sociological thought - Marx, Weber, Durkheim and Simmel - in the context of the social and political transformations of their time. The course is organized into two parts. The first part explores the contrasting accounts of modernity developed by these classical social theorists, placing particular emphasis on aspects of their thought concerned with the nature and direction of society as a whole. The second part examines contemporary critical engagements with the classical heritage from a variety of vantage points: globalization, postmodernism, feminism, race and cultural difference, and notions of multiple or alternative modernities.
This course investigates the relationships between political economy, the environment, and health to understand how disease and the desire for health transform social and ecological systems and how these systems impact human health. Using contemporary case studies from the United States and the Global South, we will critically analyze how class, race, and gender affect specific populations' health differently from others. We will move across scales from ecosystems and global development institutions to farms and cities to homes, offices, and bodies. We will also explore the roles capitalism, economic inequality, and environmental and social justice play in creating diverse health outcomes. Topics include infectious diseases; food, famine, and obesity; disasters and disease outbreaks; and environmental toxins including nuclear and chemical contamination.
GDEV 3030FoodCycle: Systems Thinking Toward Circular Economy for Organic Resources3
In seeking to understand issues and opportunities at the nexus of agriculture, sanitation, water, health and the natural and built environments, students will gain skills in systems thinking, participatory design and innovation towards systems change. Through individual and collective work, students will conduct general and specific systems analysis and construct systems models to identify opportunities to reduce carbon pollution, improve system health. Students will seek to learn from cases and literature from diverse national and international contexts. The Cornell campus will be considered a living laboratory for an inquiry into how organic resources flow through our facilities, and how waste flows might be utilized to produce energy, fertilizer, food, building materials and/or other valued products. Students will engage with local entities (facilities, organizations, farms and other enterprises) to gain specific information that will inform our analysis. Students will engage in hands-on work to learn about ways in which organic resources can be up-cycled.
GDEV 3060Farmworkers: Contemporary Issues and Their Implications1
The course examines issues related to primarily unauthorized immigrant workers, in particular immigrant farmworkers and their perceptions on their role in agriculture, their socio-economic interactions, labor concerns, opportunities for advancement in agriculture, and concerns stemming from the context in which they live. Students will examine sociological issues (immigration detentions, farmworker access to health, education and other services, labor concerns, on-farm chemical safety issues, and integration into new home communities, pests), with particular emphasis on developing educational materials for farmworkers. Students will analyze data collected through interviews and focus groups, and examine participatory research methodologies.
This seminar, open to students across the university, introduces circular economy principles and frameworks through a series of faculty and practitioner-led talks and activities. It features discussions about specific initiatives to keep materials - from organics to plastics, construction materials, textiles and more - in use. It also features sessions on efforts to bring about, manage, and govern circular economies, from the re-design of materials to efforts to help people repair and re-use the things they own. We will examine a city at the forefront of circularity initiatives, and prospects for a future in which products are engineered with living materials.
GDEV 3091Global Health Case Studies from Weill Cornell Medicine1
Weill Cornell Medicine faculty from several clinical departments including the department of medicine, department of surgery, department of anesthesiology, department of pediatrics, department of psychiatry, department of radiation oncology, department of public health, and department of emergency medicine, share their experiences in global health and international work. These global health experts will present their experiences abroad in a seminar style course.
GDEV 3100Foundations in Leadership: Skills for Personal and Professional Effectiveness3
This course frames leadership as a particular way of approaching life, one that is essential to both personal fulfillment and career effectiveness. The course begins with the inner work of a leader's personal development and then explores how leaders work through others to enhance their influence.
GDEV 3105Post-Internship: Reflection on Engaged Experiences1
The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) offers students opportunities for experiential and engaged learning through internships with organizations in communities and organizations locally, domestically, and internationally. While personal and professional growth happens during the internship itself, engaged learning theory suggests that intentional, scaffolded opportunities for reflection on those experiences is what enables transformative student learning and invites students to make connections between their individual actions and larger systems of global change. To that end, in this course students complete weekly reflection and skill building activities to intentionally discern what they have learned and continue building on that learning going forward. Students will summarize key course takeaways in a professional poster to be presented during the annual CALS Engaged and Experiential Learning Symposium.
Educational psychology is the application of psychological principles and concepts to cases of teaching and learning. We study behavioral, cognitive, embodied, and social-cultural perspectives on learning and thinking, and we use them in planning and reflecting on weekly fieldwork outside the classroom. In the process, we become more mindful and skilled learners ourselves and better facilitators of others' learning. *Both the Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 courses will focus on educational psychology as it relates to PreK-Adult learners; however, Fall fieldwork experiences will be with learners across the PreK-Adult spectrum; Spring fieldwork experiences will be with adult learners ONLY.
This course provides an introduction to the ways in which medical practice, the medical profession, and medical technology are embedded in society and culture. We will ask how medicine is connected to various sociocultural factors such as gender, social class, race, and administrative cultures. We will examine the rise of medical sociology as a discipline, the professionalization of medicine, and processes of medicalization and demedicalization. We will look at alternative medical practices and how they differ from and converge with the dominant medical paradigm. We will focus on the rise of medical technology in clinical practice with a special emphases on reproductive technologies. We will focus on the body as a site for medical knowledge, including the medicalization of sex differences, the effect of culture on nutrition, and eating disorders such as obesity and anorexia nervosa. We will also read various classic and contemporary texts that speak to the illness experience and the culture of surgeons, hospitals, and patients, and we will discuss various case studies in the social construction of physical and mental illness.
GDEV 3140Mapping Our Worlds: Cartography and Analysis in GIS4
How things are related in space matters for many things-where different groups live and work, who faces health hazards, how people experience the places they live in, and more. Maps are powerful tools because they help us recognize things we might not otherwise see-and because they present pictures of the world that people act upon to pursue goals. In this class we learn how to conduct spatial analyses and make maps, shouldering the responsibility entailed by the power maps can confer. In-class lectures and activities will provide conceptual and technical foundations for spatial analysis and cartography. Lab sessions and assignments will give a practical introduction to using GIS software to map and analyze spatial patterns.
GDEV 3142Reflecting on the Intersections of Education and Prison Systems2-4
The school-to-prison track refers to policies and practices that facilitate the transfer of students out of the school system and into the prison system (including juvenile detention, county jail, immigration detention centers, or adult prison). This course takes a critical analytical look at the intersections of the prisons and schooling, emphasizing pedagogy, history and policy.
GDEV 3150Climate Change and Global Development: Living in the Anthropocene3
This course investigates social, political, and economic life in the age of the Anthropocene: the current geological era in which humans have irrevocably altered the earth's biophysical systems. We analyze what political-economic dynamics have led to this, how climate change is known and predicted scientifically, and the impacts it has on politics, economies, environments, and societies across scales. Drawing on case studies from around the world, we investigate topics including climate change impacts on land, oceans, animals, and forests; climate migrants and political instability; (un)natural disasters such as fires, floods, and hurricanes; and sea level rise and cities. We also investigate existing and potential political and economic responses to climate change ranging from international governance agreements and green markets to local climate justice movements.
This course delves into the critical role of land systems in addressing global sustainability crises. Recognizing the profound impact of land use on specific areas such as deforestation, urban sprawl, and agricultural practices, it is grounded in the concept of transformative change - defined as a comprehensive, system-wide reorganization of land systems. This reorganization includes shifts in paradigms, goals, and values related to land use. Students will examine case studies on issues such as land degradation and biodiversity loss to explore the multi-dimensional nature of land systems changes, emphasizing the need for actions that integrate local and global objectives. Through multiple writing exercises and discussions, we will re-imagine land use strategies to better organize our communities, institutions, and societies for sustainable outcomes amidst future uncertainties.
The United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal 5 states that countries should Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls by 2030. In this course, we unpack the different and often competing definitions of 'empowerment' and 'gender equality' deployed in development, and consider the historical lineages of feminisms and development theory that led to women and girls as an important constituency. We examine the programs and policies associated with these lineages and consider how women's and girls' intersectional experiences of gender, shape the outcomes of the programs and policies designed to improve their lives. This course blends practice and theory, encouraging students to evaluate the material effects of diverse approaches to reducing gender inequality through case studies, writing, and readings in gender and development.
Humans have fraught relationships with the animals, plants, land, water-even geological processes-around us. In this course, we will examine how people make and respond to environmental change and how groups of people form, express, struggle over, and work out environmental concerns. We will probe how environmental injustices, demographic change, economic activity, government action, social movements, and varied ways of thinking shape human-environmental relationships. Through our conversations, we will explore possibilities for durable ways of living together in our social and material world. Our goal in this course is to give you knowledge, analytical tools, and expressive skills that help you feel confident to address environmental concerns as a social scientist and a citizen.
This course will provide the basic toolkit for students to have an informed discussion on energy systems, and our future energy portfolio. Course material will begin with demand (what forms of energy we use, and how it is embedded into the things we consume) and continue on to supply (principles of energy production, and the energetics + economics of conventional and renewable energy sources). The course will emphasize trade-offs among energy sources of cost, land use, pollution, and climate, and what they imply for new energy development.
This course confronts the present and future challenge of sharing water resources that are abundant for some and scarce for others. We will start with the science of water, what it provides for us and how it constrains us. We will examine perceptions of scarcity through film and field trips. We will consider the way we use water and the tools we have for sharing it and valuing it. Finally, we’ll draw on games and role play to draw out the challenges of managing water conflict and achieving equitable, efficient use of water resources. Students should expect to push themselves with readings across the sciences and the humanities; critical writing; quantitative reasoning with spreadsheets; and in-class participation in experiments, games, and roleplay.
Population health focuses on the health and well-being of entire populations. Populations may be geographically defined, such as neighborhoods or counties; may be based on groups of individuals who share common characteristics such as age, race-ethnicity, disease status, or socioeconomic status; or may be specific patient groups attributed to accountable healthcare organizations using a variety of methods. With roots in epidemiology, public health, and demography, key tools of population health include health measurement, risk stratification, chronic care management, identifying upstream social determinants of health, cross-sector collaboration to improve prevention and wellness, and increasing health equity. Given the shifting health care environment - from fee-for-service to value-based care - students who are able to apply tools to measure analyze, evaluate, and improve the health of populations (and achieve the Triple Aim) will be well-positioned for jobs in health care, health policy, public health, and medicine (among others) as the field continues to evolve. (HCP-EL)
This course is designed as an introduction to political, economic, and social issues in 20th century Latin America. Topics are organized chronologically, beginning with the crisis of agro-export economies and oligarchic rule in the 1930s, the onset of state-led development and mass politics in the 1930s and 40s, the military takeovers and revolutionary struggles of the 1960s and 70s, patterns of democratization and market liberalization in the 1980s and 90s, and the recent experience with populist and leftist governments in much of the region. Among the main issues covered are populism and corporatism, dependency theory and import-substitution industrialization, different patterns of authoritarian rule, social movements and revolution, democratic breakdowns and transitions, the debt crisis and market reforms, and U.S.-Latin American relations. Throughout the semester, we will draw on examples from the entire region, but focus on paradigmatic national cases. Knowledge of Spanish or Portuguese is not required. (GOVT-CP)
The course will cover impact evaluation theory and empirical methods for measuring the impact of development programs (including randomization, difference-in-differences, regression discontinuity, and propensity score matching). The curriculum will combine theory and practice. The primary objectives of the course are to provide participants with the skills to understand the value and practice of impact evaluation within development economics, design and implement impact evaluations and act as critical consumers of impact evaluations. Open to students who have taken statistics.
Environmental governance is defined as the assemblage of institutions that regulate society-nature interactions and shape environmental outcomes across a range of spatial and temporal scales. Institutions, broadly defined, are mechanisms of social coordination including laws (formal) and social norms (informal) that guide the behavior of individuals. Participants in the course will explore the roles of governments, markets, and collective action in environmental management and mismanagement. We will emphasize interactions among leading environmental policy strategies: public regulation, market-based incentives, and community-based resource management. The course is focused around a set of analytic perspectives. These theoretical frameworks allow us to synthesize empirical observations and material changes in ways that inform our understanding of contemporary evolution of environmental policy and management.
GDEV 3350Youth Organizations and Leadership Development3
Participants learn how to facilitate both youth and adult volunteer leadership development. They examine factors affecting membership, purposes, design, operation, and administration of youth organizations.
This course will provide an introduction to the process of building and using models of environmental systems using a systems dynamics (stock & flow) modeling platform called STELLA. Key concepts include causal modeling and the representation of systems as a set of processes, basic numerical methods, model development in STELLA, and analytical approaches to make inferences from model results. No prior coding experience is necessary, but students should expect to make significant use of algebra and basic statistics.
GDEV 3400Agriculture, Food, Sustainability and Social Justice3
How is our food produced: where, by whom and under what conditions? What are the major trends and drivers of the agriculture and food system? How has our agriculture and food system changed over time? What are some of the environmental, social, nutritional and health implications of our food system? In this course we will use a sociological perspective to examine the social, political, economic and environmental aspects of agriculture and food. We will consider the historical background to our food and agricultural system, and will look at different agriculture and food issues in the Global North and South. We will also examine examples of alternative agriculture and food approaches and concepts, such as food sovereignty, agroecology, food justice, fair trade and community-supported agriculture, all of which attempt to support more sustainable, socially equitable agriculture and food systems. Engaged, critical learning is encouraged, including regular field trips for hands-on learning, guest speakers and films as well as discussions and lecture-based classes.
GDEV 3410Refugee Pathways: From Conflict to Resettlement3
In collaboration with refugee resettlement centers in New York State, this community-engaged course will explore: the global systems of inequality that produce forced migration; the politics of who gets to be a refugee; the uncertain pathways from conflict to internal displacement and/or non-permanent settlement; the comparative racialization of refugees in the United States; the process by which refugees are resettled in Upstate New York; the challenges and opportunities of community integration in three Upstate NY cities; and the role of local schools and universities in promoting refugee justice and community building. Students will work on collaborative projects with refugee-supporting organizations in Upstate NY and will be required to attend at least one course-organized site visit to a partner organization in Buffalo, Syracuse or Utica.
GDEV 3500Development in Action: Fall Faculty-Led Study Trip Preparation0.5
This 7-week fall course prepares students for a faculty-led winter study trip within the Global Development department. Students will spend class sessions gaining familiarity with a particular global development challenge (i.e., hunger & sustainable food production, inequality across the life course, environmental challenges & solutions, etc.) through readings, lectures, and in-class discussions. Upon completion of the fall course, students then enroll in 2.5 practicum hours of winter session credits, where they travel to meet with actors on the ground who are navigating and developing solutions to these challenges.
GDEV 3501Development in Action: Winter Faculty-Led Study Trips2.5
Each section of this course is a different faculty-led winter study trip that follows a 0.5 credit Fall course where students gain familiarity with a particular global development challenge (i.e., hunger & sustainable food production, inequality across the life course, environmental challenges & solutions, etc.) through readings, lectures, and in-class discussions. Then, in this winter session course, students travel to meet with actors on the ground who are navigating and developing solutions to these challenges.
GDEV 3502Dev in Action: Spring Break Faculty-Led Study Trip3
This course is the shell course for the spring courses that includes a faculty-led Spring Break practicum within the Global Development department. In these courses, students spend 10 class sessions gaining familiarity with a particular global development challenge (i.e., hunger & sustainable food production, inequality across the life course, environmental challenges & solutions, etc.) and a particular geographic context through readings, lectures, and in-class discussions. The course continues during an intensive Spring-break field study trip, and concludes with post-fieldwork analysis, reflection, and follow-up during the last 5 weeks of the semester.
GDEV 3510Engaged Learning through Extension, Outreach, and Instruction3
Course is designed to explore strategies and instruction across three aspects of adult education: the Cooperative Extension Service as a structured delivery vehicle, outreach in more informal and non-traditional formats, and college instruction as a formal structure to deliver technical expertise. The intent is to develop a program to meet our target audience, then implement a plan that successfully meets the needs and expectations of instructor and participants alike.
GDEV 3547WIM: America, Business and International Political Economy4
Do you want to learn the discussion-based case method as taught at the Harvard Business School? Do you want to learn how to write a long research paper? Do you not want to take a final examination? If you answer these questions affirmatively, this course may be for you. We are told often that American primacy is in decline and that other powers are rising. What does this mean when we examine the experience of Government and Business in different countries around the world? Is the international political economy a hydraulic system in which some units rise and others fall? Are the dynamics of the international political economy all pointing in one direction? Or are they marked by cross-currents? This course seeks answers to these questions by teaching the basics of macro-economics, examining a range of powerful states (among others China, India, Russia and Japan) and persisting issues (financial globalization and foreign investment; oil and OPEC; trade and aid) as they play themselves out in different countries (such as Malaysia, Korea; Saudi Arabia, Nigeria; Mexico, Brazil, Uganda, Indonesia). (GOVT-AM, GOVT-CP, GOVT-IR)
This course provides an introduction to basic econometric methods. These are the tools of data analysis that economists and other social scientists use to estimate the size of economic and social relationships and to test hypotheses about them, using real-world data. The goal of this course is to equip students with the facts, intuition and skills necessary to critically read econometric research produced by others and to conduct independent econometric research. Coursework includes quizzes, problem sets, midterm and final examinations and a small group econometrics research project. The problem sets will require students to use the statistical software package, STATA. Free versions of the software can also be provided by STATA.
Students in this course will develop skills and dispositions that support pluralism and aid in addressing complex challenges that impact society and our local community. Pluralism recognizes that difference is a social and cultural fact, with consequences and opportunities for society, politics, and our everyday lives; it seeks to foster human connection and mutual understanding, co-develop knowledge about society, and motivate shared action to advance the social good. These civic capacities will be cultivated through critical dialogue, an approach through which students leverage their curiosity about themselves, the people around them, and issues around housing, food, and health systems. Combining academic material, individuals’ stories, and experiential learning, this course will leave students with a more comprehensive understanding of these complex issues and potential paths forward.
This course is an introduction to the science underlying decision making with an emphasis on environmental decisions. The course will introduce the basics of judgment and decision-making theory and demonstrate how and why people often make 'bad' decisions. Students will learn how policy makers are able to influence people's environmental behavior. Working in teams, student will try to influence environmental behavior around campus or town, developing an experiment and executing it. In the process students will learn how to write up an academic study that provides rationale, theoretical justification, and presents the results of their experiment.
This course offers a sociological understanding of social inequality and the social construction of difference. Designed from the perspective of comparative historical analysis, we will examine the ways in which class, gender, race/ethnicity, religion, and sexuality differences work across place and time within a shared set of global dynamics. The course will pay special attention to how difference is constructed, institutionalized, and experienced. Thus, the course will not only address inequality based on economic and labor relations, but also emphasize complicated notions of difference and identity to offer an analysis that links inequality to power and forms of rule.
This class provides students with an introduction to qualitative research methods. While we will center our attention on questions, problems, and issues related to the field of global development, the class will also be relevant for students from other fields. In class lectures, discussions, and assignments, we will learn about, draw from, and interweave frameworks and tools from a wide variety of fields. In doing so we will explore the challenges and benefits of both multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary research. Questions of ethics, responsibility, and relationality will be taken up throughout the class, including our obligation to reject extractive colonial methods and ways of knowing. On this theme, we will explore theorists and practitioners of publicly engaged, participatory, feminist, indigenous, emancipatory, and action-oriented research.
This transdisciplinary project-based course features small teams advancing technology and policy for the circular economy using the Cornell Campus as a living lab. Students are first grounded in concepts of circular economy, industrial ecology and systems engineering. Using this knowledge, students will be developing simulation models as part of the course using system dynamics modeling. All modeling and simulation are taught from the ground up, and students do not need to have a strong computational background before taking this course.
GDEV 4011Methods in Ag Sci Education: Welding and Metal1
Students complete learning and skills development in GMAW and Mig welding and identification/handling of metals. Skills developed can lead toward instructional opportunities in agricultural sciences as well. This course is taught at Tompkins, Seneca, Tioga (TST) BOCES in Ithaca, NY.
This 7-week class will be an interactive discussion of current issues in global food and fiber systems policy. Students will research key elements of an issue and lead an analysis of impacts and possible solutions. Topics may include urban sprawl; environmental stewardship; energy sources and land protection. Course will focus three weeks on international topics and three weeks on national topics.
This course introduces students to the practical and critical use of data in addressing global development challenges, including poverty, food security, environmental sustainability, and climate adaptation. Through two hands-on modules, students first learn data interpretation, management, and analysis using open-access tools to work with imperfect but widely available datasets such as World Bank indicators. The second module introduces geospatial analysis with Google Earth Engine, focusing on environmental change, land use, and remote sensing applications in development. Both modules emphasize climate change and sustainability, encouraging exploration of data-driven strategies for adaptation resilience. The course also provides an accessible introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI), highlighting how machine learning can inform development practice and policy while critically engaging with the ethical considerations inherent to data-driven approaches.
The course lays out the process of managing inventions, including evaluation and conversion into IP and tangible biological property assets; includes Inventiveness Analysis, development of a “Property Control Position” (IP and bioproperty), market applications, and Value Proposition Analysis. Intellectual property strategy development, and alternatives for commercialization and implementation pathways also covered. Emphasis is on practical aspects of IP protection (patents, trade secrets, copyrights, plant breeder’s rights, and tangible personal bioproperty for new product development and venture creation. Technology transfer and international aspects described. The course is particularly relevant to students interested in the intersection of innovative technology management, IP and contract law, and business development. The use of invention and the Property Control Position for economic and global development are reviewed.
GDEV 4075Program Evaluation for Community-Based Organizations3
This course serves as an introduction to the principles and practice of collaborative program evaluation for community-based organizations. This is an applied research methods course in which students will learn how to develop frameworks and tools that help small and mid-sized organizations answer the question: Is our program working? and/or how can our program be improved? This course is part conceptual and part applied, teaching students critical thinking for evaluation and practical skills in M&E planning and evaluation design. During the semester students will work with a local community development organization in a consultancy project to design and present an evaluation plan for use in a real practice setting. ALL students will produce a rigorous non-experimental evaluation design for a local practice-partner organization or 'client.'
This course explores social change through demographic methods, addressing how public policies aim to impact societal outcomes-such as reducing crime rates, lowering poverty levels, or increasing voter turnout-rather than focusing on individual behavior. While quantitative social science often emphasizes understanding individual actions, this course provides methods that bridge the gap between individual patterns and broader societal trends. Building on foundational techniques from introductory social statistics courses-such as univariate, bivariate, and multivariate regression-the course covers life tables, Lexis diagrams, and decomposition methods. These demographic methods focus on population-level dynamics and the changing composition of national populations, making the course essential for social scientists and policy analysts interested in examining the trends, causes, and consequences of aggregate social change.
Local governments across the world face challenges of infrastructure and service delivery in the context of fiscal constraints. Innovations often involve devolution and privatization. Scholarly research debates whether these market approaches promote efficiency, regional equity, local economic growth and citizen voice. Students will review the theoretical bases for these claims and the empirical evidence from around the world. Students will write theory papers as well as engage in group work on practical policy questions facing cities.
GDEV 4140Global Cropping Systems and Sustainable Development3
With accelerating demands for food, feed, and fiber along with increasing recognition of the importance of agricultural systems to ecosystem services and rural livelihoods, the requirements of agricultural systems are simultaneously intensifying and diversifying. This course introduces foundational concepts that explain the distribution, productivity, and ecological impacts of the world's major cropping systems from an interdisciplinary perspective, including soils, climate and water, markets, policies, and institutions. Through systems thinking and process-based agronomy, an emphasis is placed on assessing solutions for resolving core challenges to the sustainable development goals in the context of global change. Students gain insights into sustainable intensification technologies as well as the social process that support innovation. Evidence synthesis through a geographically-anchored case study and active participation in class discussions are required.
In this course, students will harness statistical analysis to tackle real-world questions. It is designed for undergrads and grads with introductory statistical knowledge. The curriculum covers techniques such as correlation, ANOVA, and regression but emphasizes the derivation of meaning for applied audiences using cross-sectional, nested, and time-series data. The hands-on experience extends to data cleaning, analysis of missing data, variable transformation, and other data management tasks facilitated by statistical software. Initially, students work on provided data. Later, they collaborate in teams finding data to complete a significant project suitable for publication. This practical approach equips students with the skills to analyze and interpret complex data, contributing to informed decision-making in social sciences.
GDEV 4200Adult Language Learners and Marginalization: Applied Teaching Methods for Empowerment4
When educators teach English to speakers of other languages, what assumptions do they often bring, about learners' goals, abilities, and backgrounds, and about the language-learning process? Which versions of English are often valued more highly in TESOL programs and materials? How can we create opportunities for English-language learning, while also recognizing the knowledge that learners already hold? Through reflections on readings, simulations, and weekly fieldwork, students will deepen their understanding of what it means to teach English to non-native speakers. Students will analyze and apply TESOL methodologies and receive feedback on their lesson planning and delivery in order to strengthen their teaching practice. Participants will learn from each other's situated experiences and increase their awareness of issues involved in global migrations and language learning.
This course introduces students to the applied aspects of R programming, a powerful tool for data analysis and statistical modeling widely utilized across various scientific and research disciplines. R's comprehensive environment supports everything from data manipulation to complex statistical analyses and graphics, making it an ideal choice for data-driven research. Students will engage in a hands-on exploration of data import and management, mastering basic and advanced R functions, and utilizing loops for repetitive tasks. They will also learn to create compelling visualizations using R's graphing tools, which are crucial for interpreting and presenting data effectively.
In this course, students will gain a grasp of social science and perspectives on risk and disaster, with a focus on environmental domains. We will work through various ways scholars have worked to understand risk and social responses to it. We will then conceptualize disasters and examine how both scholars and practitioners address disaster risk management. We will draw from disciplines including geography, psychology, anthropology, political science, economics, and emergency management, and we will address a variety of natural and technical hazards. Prior coursework in social science theory, qualitative methods, and statistics is recommended for success in this course.
GDEV 4450Toward a Sustainable Global Food System: Food Policy for Developing Countries3
Comprehensive presentation and discussion of policy options for a sustainable global food system, with focus on developing countries. Topics include economic policy related to nutrition, health, consumption, production, natural resource management, trade, markets, gender roles, armed conflict, and ethics. A social entrepreneurship approach based on case studies and active participation by students will be used.
GDEV 4721Peace Building in Conflict Regions: Case Studies Sub-Saharan Africa Israel Palestinian Territories3
This course focuses on issues of conflict, peace, and reconciliation in Israel and the Palestinian Territories as well as Sub-Saharan Africa. Both regions exemplify how issues ranging from nationalism and ethnocentrism to land, water and resource management, climate change and migration, as well as socio-psychological dynamics, can exacerbate conflicts. At the same time, these regions also exemplify how trans-border collaboration and regional integration, civilian peace building efforts, strategies for achieving historical justice, as well as science education and science diplomacy can become crucial tools for long-term peace-building, reconciliation and development. In this course we will work with and discuss issues of peace and conflict with policy-makers and local stakeholders involved in peace-building efforts.
GDEV 4770Seminar on Issues in African Development1
Examines a broad range of critical concerns in contemporary Africa including food production, human resource development, migration, urbanization, environmental resource management, economic growth, and policy guidance. The weekly presentations are made by invited specialists. Students write weekly memos about the talks.
This course is a project-based course, meaning you will work in teams with a community or campus partner on a sustainability project with multiple outcomes or goals. A project will be outlined with an assigned community partner working towards sustainability and you will work to produce deliverables that meets the needs of the partner. The project will require you and your peers to utilize the skills you have learned during your time at Cornell. During this process you will learn about sustainability in action, project planning and management, and practicing the ‘soft skills’ that will help you navigate life after graduation. Most importantly you will gain experience working in teams to deliver real-world project results to partners– this can be research, practice, or a combination.
GDEV 4880Global Food, Energy, and Water Nexus – Engage the US, China, and India for Sustainable Future3-4
This course is offered by six Departments at Cornell, in collaboration with five Universities in China and India. Video conferencing will be used to connect classrooms in the three countries in real time. Important issues related to the food, energy, and water nexus and its implications for nutrition security, one health, environmental sustainability,climate change, and economic development in the US, China, India, and other countries will be described. Challenges associated with these issues will be evaluated and strategies to address them will be proposed. Engagement of these countries with each other and the rest of the world will be explored. The course serves as a platform for students from Cornell, China, and India to learn from and interact with each other in the same class, and to share their thinking, creativity, and perspectives on these issues.
The department teaches trial courses under this number. Offerings vary by semester, and are advertised by the department before the semester starts. Courses offered under the number will be approved by the department curriculum committee, and the same course is not offered more than twice under this number.
This course engages students in real-world, community-based sustainability projects through Cornell GreenClub. Structured as a student-led, engaged-learning experience, students work in interdisciplinary teams to design and implement stakeholder-focused projects that address community needs. Teams collaborate with campus or community partners to define goals, analyze constraints, gather and interpret data, and develop actionable recommendations. Class sessions function as collaborative workshops where students share progress, troubleshoot challenges, and receive feedback from peers and the instructor. The course emphasizes project management, stakeholder engagement, communication strategies, and translating research into practical solutions.
A variety of speakers present seminars on international development topics relating to sustainable development throughout the world. Students attend each seminar and submit a five-page essay at the end of the semester reflecting on the speakers' presentations and analyzing connections between topics.
GDEV 4980Teaching Experience in Global Development1-4
Designed to give an undergraduate student practical teaching experience and deepened subject matter knowledge through working with a Development Sociology faculty member in planning and teaching a course. An enrolled student will regularly discuss teaching topics with the supervising faculty member; topics such as course objectives, subject matter, teaching techniques, and assessment strategies. The specific responsibilities will be negotiated between the faculty member and student, but, as appropriate for the particular course, may include researching course-related topics, preparing course materials, leading discussions, commenting on assignments, writing exam questions, assisting with grading, gathering student feedback, and tutoring.
GDEV 4990Independent Research in Global Development1-4
Permits outstanding students to conduct laboratory or field research in global development under appropriate faculty supervision. The research should be scientific: systematic, controlled, empirical. Research goals should include description, prediction, explanation, or policy orientation and should generate new knowledge.
GDEV 5030FoodCycle: Systems Thinking Toward Circular Economy for Organic Resources3
In seeking to understand issues and opportunities at the nexus of agriculture, sanitation, water, health and the natural and built environments, students will gain skills in systems thinking, participatory design and innovation towards systems change. Through individual and collective work, students will conduct general and specific systems analysis and construct systems models to identify opportunities to reduce carbon pollution, improve system health. Students will seek to learn from cases and literature from diverse national and international contexts. The Cornell campus will be considered a living laboratory for an inquiry into how organic resources flow through our facilities, and how waste flows might be utilized to produce energy, fertilizer, food, building materials and/or other valued products. Students will engage with local entities (facilities, organizations, farms and other enterprises) to gain specific information that will inform our analysis. Students will engage in hands-on work to learn about ways in which organic resources can be up-cycled.
This course introduces students to the practical and critical use of data in addressing global development challenges, including poverty, food security, environmental sustainability, and climate adaptation. Through two hands-on modules, students first learn data interpretation, management, and analysis using open-access tools to work with imperfect but widely available datasets such as World Bank indicators. The second module introduces geospatial analysis with Google Earth Engine, focusing on environmental change, land use, and remote sensing applications in development. Both modules emphasize climate change and sustainability, encouraging exploration of data-driven strategies for adaptation and resilience. The course also provides an accessible introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI), highlighting how machine learning can inform development practice and policy while critically engaging with the ethical considerations inherent to data-driven approaches.
The course lays out the process of managing inventions, including evaluation and conversion into IP and tangible biological property assets; includes Inventiveness Analysis, development of a “Property Control Position” (IP and bioproperty), market applications, and Value Proposition Analysis. Intellectual property strategy development, and alternatives for commercialization and implementation pathways also covered. Emphasis is on practical aspects of IP protection (patents, trade secrets, copyrights, plant breeder’s rights, and tangible personal bioproperty for new product development and venture creation. Technology transfer and international aspects described. The course is particularly relevant to students interested in the intersection of innovative technology management, IP and contract law, and business development. The use of invention and the Property Control Position for economic and global development are reviewed.
This seminar, open to students across the university, introduces circular economy principles and frameworks through a series of faculty and practitioner-led talks and activities. It features discussions about specific initiatives to keep materials - from organics to plastics, construction materials, textiles and more - in use. It also features sessions on efforts to bring about, manage, and govern circular economies, from the re-design of materials to efforts to help people repair and re-use the things they own. We will examine a city at the forefront of circularity initiatives, and prospects for a future in which products are engineered with living materials.
GDEV 5130Introduction to Social Science Research Methods3
Introduction to social science research. The course reviews the general process through which social scientists derive credible answers to important questions about social change and social influences on individual behavior. It covers all steps in the research process, from the formulation of a research question to the final presentation of findings. The course is designed as a preparation for future work in social science research, but it is also intended for students who simply want to sharpen their capacity to evaluate the claims made by researchers. The course combines theory and application. A group research project is used to apply the concepts and ideas from the textbook and lectures.
GDEV 5140Mapping Our Worlds with GIS: Cartography and Analysis in GIS4
How things are related in space matters for many things-where different groups live and work, who faces health hazards, how people experience the places they live in, and more. Maps are powerful tools because they help us recognize things we might not otherwise see-and because they present pictures of the world that people act upon to pursue goals. In this class we learn how to conduct spatial analyses and make maps, shouldering the responsibility entailed by the power maps can confer. In-class lectures and activities will provide conceptual and technical foundations for spatial analysis and cartography. Lab sessions and assignments will give a practical introduction to using GIS software to map and analyze spatial patterns.
This course delves into the critical role of land systems in addressing global sustainability crises. Recognizing the profound impact of land use on specific areas such as deforestation, urban sprawl, and agricultural practices, it is grounded in the concept of transformative change - defined as a comprehensive, system-wide reorganization of land systems. This reorganization includes shifts in paradigms, goals, and values related to land use. Students will examine case studies on issues such as land degradation and biodiversity loss to explore the multi-dimensional nature of land systems changes, emphasizing the need for actions that integrate local and global objectives. Through multiple writing exercises and discussions, we will re-imagine land use strategies to better organize our communities, institutions, and societies for sustainable outcomes amidst future uncertainties.
The United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal 5 states that countries should Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls by 2030. In this course, we unpack the different and often competing definitions of 'empowerment' and 'gender equality' deployed in development, and consider the historical lineages of feminisms and development theory that led to women and girls as an important constituency. We examine the programs and policies associated with these lineages and consider how women's and girls' intersectional experiences of gender, shape the outcomes of the programs and policies designed to improve their lives. This course blends practice and theory, encouraging students to evaluate the material effects of diverse approaches to reducing gender inequality through case studies, writing, and readings in gender and development.
This course confronts the present and future challenge of sharing water resources that are abundant for some and scarce for others. We will start with the science of water, what it provides for us and how it constrains us. We will examine perceptions of scarcity through film and field trips. We will consider the way we use water and the tools we have for sharing it and valuing it. Finally, we’ll draw on games and role play to draw out the challenges of managing water conflict and achieving equitable, efficient use of water resources. Students should expect to push themselves with readings across the sciences and the humanities; critical writing; quantitative reasoning with spreadsheets; and in-class participation in experiments, games, and roleplay.
This course introduces students to the applied aspects of R programming, a powerful tool for data analysis and statistical modeling widely utilized across various scientific and research disciplines. R's comprehensive environment supports everything from data manipulation to complex statistical analyses and graphics, making it an ideal choice for data-driven research. Students will engage in a hands-on exploration of data import and management, mastering basic and advanced R functions, and utilizing loops for repetitive tasks. They will also learn to create compelling visualizations using R's graphing tools, which are crucial for interpreting and presenting data effectively.
The course will cover impact evaluation theory and empirical methods for measuring the impact of development programs (including randomization, difference-in-differences, regression discontinuity, and propensity score matching). The curriculum will combine theory and practice. The primary objectives of the course are to provide participants with the skills to understand the value and practice of impact evaluation within development economics, design and implement impact evaluations and act as critical consumers of impact evaluations. Open to students who have taken statistics.
GDEV 5350Youth Organizations and Leadership Development3
Participants learn how to facilitate both youth and adult volunteer leadership development. They examine factors affecting membership, purposes, design, operation, and administration of youth organizations.
This course will provide an introduction to the process of building and using models of environmental systems using a systems dynamics (stock & flow) modeling platform called STELLA. Key concepts include causal modeling and the representation of systems as a set of processes, basic numerical methods, model development in STELLA, and analytical approaches to make inferences from model results. No prior coding experience is necessary, but students should expect to make significant use of algebra and basic statistics.
GDEV 5400Agriculture, Food, Sustainability and Social Justice3
How is our food produced: where, by whom and under what conditions? What are the major trends and drivers of the agriculture and food system? How has our agriculture and food system changed over time? What are some of the environmental, social, nutritional and health implications of our food system? In this course we will use a sociological perspective to examine the social, political, economic and environmental aspects of agriculture and food. We will consider the historical background to our food and agricultural system, and will look at different agriculture and food issues in the Global North and South. We will also examine examples of alternative agriculture and food approaches and concepts, such as food sovereignty, agroecology, food justice, fair trade and community-supported agriculture, all of which attempt to support more sustainable, socially equitable agriculture and food systems. Engaged, critical learning is encouraged, including regular field trips for hands-on learning, guest speakers and films as well as discussions and lecture-based classes.
GDEV 5410Refugee Pathways: From Conflict to Resettlement3
In collaboration with refugee resettlement centers in New York State, this community-engaged course will explore: the global systems of inequality that produce forced migration; the politics of who gets to be a refugee; the uncertain pathways from conflict to internal displacement and/or non-permanent settlement; the comparative racialization of refugees in the United States; the process by which refugees are resettled in Upstate New York; the challenges and opportunities of community integration in three Upstate NY cities; and the role of local schools and universities in promoting refugee justice and community building. Students will work on collaborative projects with refugee-supporting organizations in Upstate NY and will be required to attend at least one course-organized site visit to a partner organization in Buffalo, Syracuse or Utica.
GDEV 5500Development in Action: Fall Faculty-Led Study Trip Preparation0.5
This 7-week fall course prepares students for a faculty-led winter study trip within the Global Development department. Students will spend class sessions gaining familiarity with a particular global development challenge (i.e., hunger & sustainable food production, inequality across the life course, environmental challenges & solutions, etc.) through readings, lectures, and in-class discussions. Upon completion of the fall course, students then enroll in 2.5 practicum hours of winter session credits, where they travel to meet with actors on the ground who are navigating and developing solutions to these challenges.
GDEV 5501Development in Action: Winter Faculty-Led Study Trips2.5
Each section of this course is a different faculty-led winter study trip that follows a 0.5 credit Fall course where students gain familiarity with a particular global development challenge (i.e., hunger & sustainable food production, inequality across the life course, environmental challenges & solutions, etc.) through readings, lectures, and in-class discussions. Then, in this winter session course, students travel to meet with actors on the ground who are navigating and developing solutions to these challenges.
GDEV 5502Dev in Action: Spring Break Faculty-Led Study Trip3
This course is the shell course for the spring courses that includes a faculty-led Spring Break practicum within the Global Development department. In these courses, students spend 10 class sessions gaining familiarity with a particular global development challenge (i.e., hunger & sustainable food production, inequality across the life course, environmental challenges & solutions, etc.) and a particular geographic context through readings, lectures, and in-class discussions. The course continues during an intensive Spring-break field study trip, and concludes with post-fieldwork analysis, reflection, and follow-up during the last 5 weeks of the semester.
GDEV 5510Engaged Learning Through Extension, Outreach, and Instruction3
Course is designed to explore strategies and instruction across three aspects of adult education: the Cooperative Extension Service as a structured delivery vehicle, outreach in more informal and non-traditional formats, and college instruction as a formal structure to deliver technical expertise. The intent is to develop a program to meet our target audience, then implement a plan that successfully meets the needs and expectations of instructor and participants alike. The graduate level option will incorporate workshop, outreach, and instructional presentations developed from the grad student's area of expertise. A unit plan of instruction will also be developed.
This course provides an introduction to basic econometric methods. These are the tools of data analysis that economists and other social scientists use to estimate the size of economic and social relationships and to test hypotheses about them, using real-world data. The goal of this course is to equip students with the facts, intuition and skills necessary to critically read econometric research produced by others and to conduct independent econometric research. Coursework includes quizzes, problem sets, midterm and final examinations and a small group econometrics research project. The problem sets will require students to use the statistical software package, STATA. Free versions of the software can also be provided by STATA.
The objective of this course is to provide an interdisciplinary introduction to the science underlying decision making with an emphasis on environmental decisions. The course will introduce the basics of information processing and demonstrate how and why we as humans often make 'bad' decisions. They will study how policy makers are able to intervene and influence people's behavior. Throughout the course students will work in groups to try to influence an environmental behavior around campus or town- developing an experiment and executing it. In the process students will learn how to write up an academic study that provides rational, justification, and analysis of the results of your experiment.
GDEV 5710US Education System: Courts, Data, Law and Politics3-4
This course aims to explore and answer a single question about America's promise-of success if you work hard and do well in school: Why do we have such substantial and long-standing inequality in the U.S.? In answering this central question, we will investigate the goals, roles, and outcomes of formal educational institutions in American society and the legal and policy environment in which they operate. Specifically, we will review historical state and federal policy, trace the $700 million spent, and interrogate the sociological functions of public and private K12 schools, including the successes, failures, and enigmas of school organization and policy at the local, state, and national level.
This class provides students with an introduction to qualitative research methods. While we will center our attention on questions, problems, and issues related to the field of global development, the class will also be relevant for students from other fields. In class lectures, discussions, and assignments, we will learn about, draw from, and interweave frameworks and tools from a wide variety of fields. In doing so we will explore the challenges and benefits of both multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary research. Questions of ethics, responsibility, and relationality will be taken up throughout the class, including our obligation to reject extractive colonial methods and ways of knowing. On this theme, we will explore theorists and practitioners of publicly engaged, participatory, feminist, indigenous, emancipatory, and action-oriented research.
This course is a project-based course, meaning you will work in teams with a community or campus partner on a sustainability project with multiple outcomes or goals. A project will be outlined with an assigned community partner working towards sustainability and you will work to produce deliverables that meets the needs of the partner. The project will require you and your peers to utilize the skills you have learned during your time at Cornell. During this process you will learn about sustainability in action, project planning and management, and practicing the ‘soft skills’ that will help you navigate life after graduation. Most importantly you will gain experience working in teams to deliver real-world project results to partners– this can be research, practice, or a combination.
This transdisciplinary project-based course features small teams advancing technology and policy for the circular economy using the Cornell Campus as a living lab. Students are first grounded in concepts of circular economy, industrial ecology and systems engineering. Using this knowledge, students will be developing simulation models as part of the course using system dynamics modeling. All modeling and simulation are taught from the ground up, and students do not need to have a strong computational background before taking this course. Please note that the distance learning is only available for the graduate level.
GDEV 5970Independent Study in Global Development (MPS Students)1-6
Allows M.P.S. students the opportunity to investigate special interests that are not treated in regularly scheduled courses. The student develops a plan of study to pursue under the direction of a faculty member.
This course provides students with an overview of the classical theoretical foundations of sociology, focusing primarily on the work of Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber. Students read original texts and contemporary treatments of them to examine the key questions, concepts, methods and explanations that contributed to the formation of the discipline.
With the transformation of former colonies into developing countries, the notion of development emerged as a key conceptual framework for conceptualizing global hierarchies in wealth and power. Sustained by an apparatus of national and international agencies, and university programs in development studies, the 'development industry' generated a vast body of literature seeking to account for or promote social, economic, and political change. This course aims to familiarize students with some of the key theoretical approaches and debates in the field of development. Throughout the course, the concept of development itself is questioned and critiqued both theoretically and in terms of the challenges posed by development practice.
The objective of this course is to provide a conceptual overview and technical tool-kit for studying population issues and public policies. What is a demographic perspective? And how can it be applied usefully to important domestic and international policy issues of the day (e.g., housing segregation, health and retirement, labor mobility and immigration, and above- and below-replacement fertility, school projections, etc.). The course will introduce students to various demographic data sources (e.g., decennial census and periodic fertility surveys), conventional measures (e.g., fertility rates and measures of poverty/inequality), and conventional demographic techniques (e.g., life tables, rate standardization, and population forecasting) used in social demography. For the most part, the course places the emphasis on the appropriate application of demographic tools and on scientifically-sound interpretations.
GDEV 6075Program Evaluation for Community-Based Organizations3
This course serves as an introduction to the principles and practice of collaborative program evaluation for community-based organizations. This is an applied research methods course in which students will learn how to develop frameworks and tools that help small and mid-sized organizations answer the question: Is our program working? and/or how can our program be improved? This course is part conceptual and part applied, teaching students critical thinking for evaluation and practical skills in M&E planning and evaluation design. During the semester students will work with a local community development organization in a consultancy project to design and present an evaluation plan for use in a real practice setting. ALL students will produce a rigorous non-experimental evaluation design for a local practice-partner organization or 'client.'
This is the second course in the demographic techniques sequence. It has two foci. First, we will learn the basics of constructing single and multiple decrement life tables, along with extensions to cause-deleted life tables. Second, we will learn the basics of survival analysis, as well as how survival analysis relates to life tables. Although the primary goal is learning to use these techniques, this class also has a heavy emphasis on thinking about how to use these methods to produce something new and important for research. The grad students will also be asked to complete a 10 page research proposal. (MPA-DA, MPA-DATSCI, MPA-TPA)
Local governments across the world face challenges of infrastructure and service delivery in the context of fiscal constraints. Innovations often involve devolution and privatization. Scholarly research debates whether these market approaches promote efficiency, regional equity, local economic growth and citizen voice. Students will review the theoretical bases for these claims and the empirical evidence from around the world. Students will write theory papers as well as engage in group work on practical policy questions facing cities.
This seminar introduces students to a number of qualitative research methods in the social sciences. Discusses field observation, archival research, in-depth individual interviews, and focus group interviews. Assesses the strengths and weaknesses of various strategies of field research and consider a range of practical matters such as choice of research site (and sample where appropriate). Considers choice of research questions and issues of feasibility in research plans. Ethical considerations are highlighted. Students produce a full-length research proposal of their own by the course's end.
In this course, students will harness statistical analysis to tackle real-world questions. It is designed for undergrads and grads with introductory statistical knowledge. The curriculum covers techniques such as correlation, ANOVA, and regression but emphasizes the derivation of meaning for applied audiences using cross-sectional, nested, and time-series data. The hands-on experience extends to data cleaning, analysis of missing data, variable transformation, and other data management tasks facilitated by statistical software. Initially, students work on provided data. Later, they collaborate in teams finding data to complete a significant project suitable for publication. This practical approach equips students with the skills to analyze and interpret complex data, contributing to informed decision-making in social sciences.
This seminar provides graduate students with a broad survey of the literature in environmental sociology. Students read foundational works in environmental sociology as well as key literature in the various substantive foci of this specialty. The principle objective of this course is to provide graduate students specializing in environmental sociology with a firm grasp of the content, controversies, and trends in the area. Sessions are conducted in a seminar style, and discussions are focused on close review of assigned readings.
Considers the question of environmental governance, defined as the assemblage of social institutions that regulate natural resource use and shape environmental outcomes. Participants explore the roles of public policy, market exchange, and collective action in resource (mis)management. Introduces theoretical concepts from a variety of social science perspectives to support case studies and student-led discussions. Comparative analysis of how governance is pursued in different countries, historical periods, and ecological contexts (forestry, endangered species, water quality) highlight scope for institutional innovation. Students taking the course for graduate credit are required to read supplemental materials, undertake more complex research assignments, and participate in seminar discussion section. (MHA-EL)
In this course, students will gain a grasp of social science and perspectives on risk and disaster, with a focus on environmental domains. We will work through various ways scholars have worked to understand risk and social responses to it. We will then conceptualize disasters and examine how both scholars and practitioners address disaster risk management. We will draw from disciplines including geography, psychology, anthropology, political science, economics, and emergency management, and we will address a variety of natural and technical hazards. Prior coursework in social science theory, qualitative methods, and statistics is recommended for success in this course.
GDEV 6400Agent-based Modeling of People and the Environment3
Agent-based models are ideal for analyzing systems (cities, economies, roads, forests) in which the outcomes of interest (illness, traffic, land use, violence) are shaped strongly by interactions among individual ‘agents’ (drivers, farmers, spouses) with each other and their environments. This course builds skills in agent-based modeling using the NetLogo platform as a tool for analyzing complex human-environment problems. The course will emphasize the iterative model-building process– forming research questions, building conceptual and then operational models, experimenting, and then refining – to address current research problems. Students should expect to commit time outside of meetings to gain comfort with NetLogo syntax; read current research in the areas of agent-based modeling and human environment and health problems; and a team based approach to building models.
GDEV 6455Toward a Sustainable Global Food System: Food Policy for Developing Countries3
Comprehensive presentation and discussion of policy options for a sustainable global food system, with focus on developing countries. Topics include: economic policy related to nutrition, health, consumption, production, natural resource management, trade, markets, gender roles, armed conflict, and ethics. A social entrepreneurship approach based on case studies and active participation by students will be used.
The graduate seminar this spring will include three distinct pieces: first, an intensive reading of the classics in agrarian studies around the topics of state formation, economic exchange and systems, colonization and post-colonial studies, development, and environmental politics; second, regular attendance and participation in the weekly public symposium series; and third, organization of a student-led workshop to be held in early May with papers presented by the seminar participants. In order to prepare for the student-led workshop, we will select one keynote speaker to give a talk on the day of the workshop, and students will read each other's papers and work on their own throughout the semester.
GDEV 6770Seminar on Issues in African Development1
Examines a broad range of critical concerns in contemporary Africa including food production, human resource development, migration, urbanization, environmental resource management, economic growth, and policy guidance. The weekly presentations are made by invited specialists. Students write weekly memos about the talks. Graduate students (CRP 6770/GDEV 6770) facilitate one seminar question period.
This course is designed to provoke students from a wide variety of gradate fields to question and examine the cultural and political dimensions of development practice in everyday community settings and contexts. It's specifically focused on the history, theory and practice of community organizing, and the roles NGO, government, academic, and other professionals do, can, and should play in the public work of democracy.
GDEV 6880Global Food, Energy, and Water Nexus – Engage the US, China, and India for Sustainable Future3-4
This course is offered by six Departments at Cornell, in collaboration with five Universities in China and one India. Video conferencing will be used to connect classrooms in the three countries in real time. Important issues related to the food, energy, and water nexus and its implications for nutrition security, one health, environmental sustainability, climate change, and economic development in the US and these two countries will be described. Challenges associated with these issues will be evaluated and strategies to address them will be proposed. Engagement of these countries with each other and the rest of the world will be explored. The course serves as a platform for students from Cornell, China, and India to learn from and interact with each other in the same class, and to share their thinking, creativity, and perspectives on these issues.
GDEV 6940Graduate Special Topics in Global Development1-4
The department teaches trial courses under this number. Offerings vary by semester, and are advertised by the department before the semester starts. Courses offered under the number will be approved by the department curriculum committee, and the same course is not offered more than twice under this number.
A variety of speakers present seminars on international development topics relating to sustainable development throughout the world. Students attend each seminar and submit a five-page essay at the end of the semester reflecting on the speakers' presentations and analyzing connections between topics. (MHA-EL)
A seminar for M.P.S. - Global Development students to discuss important issues in their field and to prepare themselves to write M.P.S. project papers. Specific content varies.
The notion of modernity - conceived as a schema for making sense of long-term processes of social and cultural change, and as a uniquely European phenomenon that was universalized through the impact of colonial empires and the world market, -- provides the deep conceptual framework for both classical social theory and contemporary theories of development. These dominant motifs, and the meta-theories that seek to legitimate them, continue to be the subject of heated scholarly controversy. In this course, we explore some of these controversies through engagement with a range of critical studies that seek to rethink the historical sociology of the modern world.
This course provides a comprehensive review of the research and writing process to help Ph.D. students develop a strategy for writing a research proposal and journal article. The course provides a comprehensive review of the research design process and will result in each student developing his/her dissertation proposal. The course focuses on articulating research objectives, managing the research process, ethics, funding and professional development as a scholar. The course also explores how to write journal articles (journal selection, review process) and how to position your work in your academic field.
The object of our inquiry is labor: as an activity, a class position, a social movement, an institution, a political subject. A sociology of labor must take as its charge identifying the historically specific constitution of labor in relationship to processes of capitalist development, colonialism, gendered and racialized forms of domination, culture, and technology. Integrating an account of such broader social phenomena reveals insights into labor that would not be possible were we to restrict our inquiry to the workplace. But as one of the fundamental social categories, the concrete manifestation of multifarious labor in any given setting is simultaneously a window onto the basic architecture of society.
This seminar is concerned with agri-food systems and their socio-ecological relations. There is increased attention and public discourse on agriculture and food systems, and its increasingly evident health and ecological implications. This seminar works with social science analytical approaches and contemporary issues and processes concerning food, ecology and agrarian change from development studies, sociology, geography, anthropology and related disciplines. The goal of the seminar is to develop analytical perspectives on the relationships embedded in food and agrarian systems and their political, social and ecological implications, and to explore various alternatives to the dominant mode of agriculture and agrarian relations.
GDEV 7970Development Studies Professional Development Seminar1
This course will serve as a collaborative space where PhD students can learn and share about issues of course-taking selection, grant sources and writing strategies, preparation of CVs and cover letters, meet and interact with Field Faculty, engage in practice conference- and job-talks, and other useful professionalization practices for new and more experienced PhD students. Guest speakers will be engaged and current students and alumni will share useful and strategic practices.
