International Development Studies (IDS)

An introduction to the field of international development, with particular focus on the various disciplines that have contributed to and shaped the development discourse. Readings, lectures, and discussions will draw from various disciplines, including economics, political science, sociology, anthropology, environmental and technological sciences, public health, law, and gender studies, among others. We will examine debates on the meaning and measurement of development; alternative approaches to, and methods in, the study of development; and attempts to address some of the main development challenges facing the world today. There will be a central focus on understanding "what works" in development. Working together in teams, students will conceptualize and design an international development project using "real world" constraints.

This course examines the development of Creole societies in the French, Spanish, Dutch, and British Caribbean in response to colonialism, slavery, migration, nationalism and, most recently, transnationalism. The recent exodus of as much as 20 percent of Caribbean populations to North America and Europe has afforded the rise of new transnational modes of existence. This course will explore the consciousness and experience of Caribbean diasporas through ethnography and history, religion, literature, music, and culinary arts.

Migration is a prevailing global phenomenon that affects millions of peoples around the world. According to the UNHCR report, at the end of 2019, there had been 79.5 million forcibly displaced people around the world. At the same time, refugees and migrants experience migration- and displacement-related physical and psychosocial stress and trauma, which may increase their vulnerability and affects their health and well-being. This course will explore, engage, and analyze contemporary migration flows - movements of people across national and international borders - and the ways human mobility shape refugees' and migrants' lived experiences, cultural meanings, social values, and health. How and why particular modes of mobility are permitted, encouraged, and enabled while others are conversely, banned, regulated, policed, and prevented? How do contemporary forms of displacement may challenge conventional understandings of who gets to be defined and accepted as a refugee? Why do we have so many different categories of people who simply seek refuge? Do these different categories indicate different treatments? How is migration associated with higher levels of mental health disorders among refugee/migrant populations? The course will engage with such questions by focusing on events that occurred in the second half of the twenty-first century in Europe, including both the EU and non-EU states. We will rely on the selected readings and documentaries as they reflect an integrative anthropological approach to migration, displacement, and refugeeness. Taking into account lived experiences, identity, social values, cultural meanings, health, and well-being, we will explore migration, borders, and displacement as a subjective experience and sites of ethical, socioeconomic, political, and cultural examinations and critiques. Topics will include transnational migration, terminology, citizenship, borders, asylum policy, health, and well-being. This course will also enrich your understanding of the fluidity of different categories, processes underlying refugees and migrants' cultural and social tuning, as well as their biosocial responses, resilience, and adaptability under conditions of migration and displacement.

It is tempting to think that South Asia - home to nearly two billion people - is only now beginning to occupy global attention. But India has played a prominent part in global history for centuries. This course will span three millennia - from the Indus Valley civilization, to the time of Buddha, to the powerful Mughal Empire, two centuries of the British rule, the Gandhi-led freedom struggle, and ending with the recent histories of independent India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. This introduction to India and South Asia will answer questions such as: Has there been an unbroken Indian civilization? How did a British company come to rule a vast Indian empire? How did India win its independence? What accounts for the region's poverty? Why are India and Pakistan separate countries today, with such divergent trajectories of democracy and dictatorship? And, finally, could India rival China and the United States in this century? South Asia is a place of extreme diversity and paradox: it can be confusing. However, its history offers us explanations. This course will offer an introduction and guide to the history of India's rich history, stormy politics, vibrant cultures, and globalized economies.

The difference between rich and poor nations is not, as Ernest Hemingway once said, that the rich have more money than the poor, but is in part because the rich produce more goods and services. Industrialization, in other words, has often brought wealth (as well as social dislocation and protest) to those who have succeeded. This course examines the process of industrialization from a comparative perspective and integrates the history of industrialization and its social consequences for Western Europe (Britain and Germany), the United States, Latin America (Mexico), and East Asia (Japan and South Korea). We will concentrate on these countries' transition from agriculture-based societies to industrial societies. We will analyze the process of industrialization on two levels from above the role of political authority and from below a view of factory life, industrial relations, and protest from the perspective of workers and the working classes. No specific prerequisites in history or economics are necessary.

India, Pakistan and Bangladesh account for more than a fifth of humanity: nearly two billion people in one of the most densely populated parts of the planet. South Asians speak more than a hundred languages, and represent most of the Hindus, Muslims, Sikh, Jains, and Zoroastrians in the world. The region's major economy, India, is by itself among the ten largest economies and one of the fastest growing. Yet, there is much about South Asia that can be perplexing. Caste based violence remains widespread in a society that is fast modernizing; billionaires mushroom alongside widespread malnourishment; space missions are launched to Mars amidst vast numbers of illiterate and uneducated citizens; Bollywood thrives while freedom of expression is often under threat; religious fundamentalism exists alongside extraordinary religious pluralism; gay rights expand alongside the murders of atheist bloggers; a democratic government lives in fear of military overthrow; a society that has that has chosen women as heads of state also sees increasing reports of sexual crimes. This course will unravel these knots and explain the processes that gave rise to them. Beginning in the middle of the twentieth century, this course will progress chronologically and bring us to the present day via themes on politics, economy, society, and popular culture. It offers an understanding of contemporary India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh and their place on the global stage.

African peoples and empires have always been at the heart of transformative world events. Their wealth, ingenuity, and power reshaped the medieval global economy. Their enslavement and back-breaking forced labor fueled industrial and agricultural revolutions. Their struggle against western racism and imperialism awakened pan-African consciousness. And today, their creativity and entrepreneurialism drive popular culture and economic opportunity. In this course, we will explore the many ways Africans shaped the history of the world. We will do so by examining primary documents, reading African fiction, watching African films, and immersing ourselves in current trends in Africa.

This class examines the history of engineering in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and its relationship with capitalism and development on a global scale, with the use of digital tools. Engineers came to design, implement, and manage nearly all elements of the modern world from their positions within corporations and state bureaucracies; they quickly became the primary agents in development in the 20th century. We will examine the history of engineering, introduce students to basic tools in data science, digital humanities, and data visualization, and students will develop data-intensive research projects using the skills they have learned. The class is designed for students from both Arts & Letters and STEM disciplines as a window onto historical methods and an introduction to using qualitative data for analysis and data visualization. There are no prerequisites. This course emerges from a three-year NSF-funded research grant to the instructors, which includes a commitment to develop new undergraduate courses on the subject and the development of open access course materials. Student projects from this course are eligible for inclusion in our global dataset and for hosting on the project website.

This course examines the interaction of politics and economics in the international arena. We begin with a brief historical exploration of the international political economy, and introduce four analytical perspectives on state behavior and international outcomes. Topics include trade policy, foreign direct investment and multinational corporations, international capital flows, exchange rate regimes and currency unions (including European Monetary Union), financial crises, and the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.

This class aspires to develop relevant knowledge and practical skills for students interested in engaging in positive change in a complex world. In this course on international development, students will: 1) examine the processes that bring about individual and societal change in an international context;2) explore the roles, complexities, opportunities and constraints of development projects in areas such as poverty reduction, social development, health and education; and, 3) develop practical skills related to project design, planning, management, negotiations, communications, and the evaluation of international development projects. A central theme of the course is to understand what have we learned over the past decades from systematic research and from experience in the field about "what works." The course makes use of cases studies and draws lessons from instructive stories of failure as well as inspirational stories of change. The course focuses significant attention on "bright spots" in development- specific interventions that have made meaningful contributions. The course aspires to help train students to think like creative, effective, and thoughtful development professionals. A central feature of the course will be the opportunity to work throughout the semester as a member of a "Development Advisory Team" directly with an international development organization client who has identified a specific problem or opportunity. Development clients for the class are organizations in Bangladesh, Chile, Haiti, and India, among others.

In this course we will explore the different ways that religious institutions and ideas affect political attitudes and behaviors in various parts of the world. With a special focus on Christianity and Islam, the course will address the following questions: Why do many citizens in some countries expect religious leaders to play a prominent role in politics while many citizens in other countries do not? Why are some religious institutions more supportive of freedom of religion than others and what explains religious persecution across the world? What effect do religious institutions have on support for liberal democracy? How does globalization affect the way religion is applied to public life? How can we tell when violence is motivated by religion and what explains religiously motivated or justified violence?

Course would provide an overview to all major themes in political science focusing on the African continent. The course will cover the entire continent, though likely focus on five cases studies that parallel substantive themes. The course would first provide a grounding in colonization, decolonization and state development, but then focus primarily on contemporary political behavior and institutions. I am interested in using Bleck & Van de Walle as a primary text.

The Middle East is simultaneously one of the most strategically important regions in the world and one of the least understood. This course provides an introduction to the politics of the region from a thematic perspective. It addresses a variety of topics, including democracy, development, sectarianism, oil, and conflict. Students will be assigned readings from both historical scholarship and contemporary analysis of regional issues. When applicable, cases from across the region will be used to illustrate the themes of the course.

Global environmental politics is a field of political science that examines how political processes shape environmental outcomes and vice versa. On the one hand, it is concerned with issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation, and natural resource use. On the other hand, it studies things like political institutions, social movements, party systems, and state-business relations. All the while, it places these ideas in a cross-national, global perspective. Throughout this course, students will grapple with both foundational and emerging questions in the study of global environmental politics. Why do some governments have stronger environmental policies than others? When do interest groups support or oppose different forms of environmental regulation? What role do social movements play in supporting diverse coalitions of environmental interests? How do voters form and express preferences for or against environmental action?

Over the last two decades, there has been a groundswell of interest in global health across multiple disciplines and professional fields. The field of global health recognizes the multidimensionality of health as well as the interconnectedness of everyone living in the world today; its primary goal is to eliminate health disparities to achieve health equity for all. This course will provide foundational knowledge necessary to understand what global health is today; its history and evolution; how social theory contributes to understanding specific global health problems; the importance of understanding health and designing interventions by using a biosocial model that includes a myriad of cultural, social, political, economic factors; and an understanding of the role of various actors on the global health stage including international, bilateral, and civil society organizations.

Social Entrepreneurship has sparked dialogue and debate for two decades. Its very definition is much debated, as well as its capacity to create sustainable, scalable, systems-changing impact. This course explores the theoretical concepts, practices and strategies associated with the dynamic discipline of social enterprise and innovation. For our purposes, social entrepreneurship is the landscape, of which paradigm-shifting solutions like microfinance, MSME (Micro-Small-Medium Enterprise) development, bottom of the pyramid, fair trade, impact investing, and the like, are components. This course will study many of these concepts, focusing on their opportunity for social impact, and as a vehicle for wealth creation in vulnerable and disenfranchised communities across the globe. Further, the course covers examples of various social enterprise models (for-profit, non-profit, hybrid), requiring students to analyze and devise strategies to improve the efficacy of these ventures. Finally, the course engages students in research seeking to advance the field of social entrepreneurship at the Keough School of Global Affairs and Notre Dame.

The course will compare efforts by humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding communities and actors to articulate professional ethical standards and codes of conduct to guide their work. The course will explore how the distinct mandate and structure of each field of practice shapes the form and substance of ethical norms and practices. The course will also explore some common ethical issues that organizations working in these fields face, such as the ethics of fundraising and the ethical use of images. The course will give particular attention to challenges arising when ethical principles and norms are applied in practice. In addition to scholarly literature, the course will consider first-person narratives of aid workers and other global affairs professionals about ethical challenges they face in their work and case studies of humanitarian, development and peacebuilding action. Students will be encouraged to consider how various ethical standards discussed in class interact with their own personal and professional values.

This course prepares undergraduate students for independent field research. The course exposes students to various field research methodologies, including ethnography, archival research, interviews, surveys, and experiments as well as some theoretical and logistical considerations for research design. Students will engage in a variety of hands-on practicum exercises to solidify classroom learning during this section. The last part of the course will concentrate on student workshops to hone their own research designs for upcoming individual field research.This course is interdisciplinary, and focused on field research methods. We will *briefly* touch on topics of research design, such as developing a research question, a theoretical framework, and hypothesis testing, as well as analysis of data and evidence. However, students are encouraged to see this course as a complement, rather than a substitute, for discipline specific research methods and analysis courses.

This course is designed to introduce students to a wide range of health issues affecting women globally, with particular emphasis on Africa, Asia, and the United States. The topics will focus on a woman's life, from infancy and childhood, through adolescence and reproductive years, to old age. We will examine the physiological, social, psychological, economic, cultural, political, behavioral, and environmental factors that influence women's health, and the role of poverty, discrimination, and unequal health access. Topics such as determinants of women's health, reproductive health, sexual health, cardiovascular health, maternal health, cancers of the reproductive tract, mental and emotional health, substance use and abuse, and various forms of violence against women will be discussed. At the end of the course, students should have a solid grasp of key issues affecting the health of women in different cultural contexts globally, and how women can be empowered to take actions that positively influence their health.

This course introduces the role of economics in environmental issues and in the formation of environmental policy. Topics covered include choice, externalities, market failure, cost-benefit and environmental valuation analyses, and climate change. The course aims to encourage students to think about pressing environmental issues in economic terms and equip students with the diverse set of economics tools to contribute to the evaluation and implementation of wise policy choices. There is no prior knowledge of economics required, and students will have the opportunity to learn basic economic principles and frameworks that guide decision-making regarding environmental issues.

In many societies around the world, culture plays a major role in health and wellbeing. This course will provide a global overview of how society and culture influence the health and wellbeing of people, with discussions on strategies for health promotion and awareness that are sensitive to cultural settings. Focusing mostly on developing countries, we will examine the ways in which different aspects of culture, such as gender and social norms, values and belief systems, and religion influence health, with particular emphasis on physical health, mental & emotional health, and sexual & reproductive health.

This class examines the history of capitalism and development in the Americas and its relationship with the political history of its societies. The American continent was at the forefront of capitalist expansion, decolonization, the construction of nation-states, and the emergence of new imperial powers. We will study the history of economies and how entrepreneurship, business, and commerce shaped the structures of societies in South and North America: from the coffee plantations in the Brazil Empire to the Banana plantations in Central America of mid 20th century; from the colonial silver mines in Central Mexico in late 18th century to the gold dredge exploitations in Alaska in the early 20th century; from the consumption of English textiles in Argentina in the early 19th century to the creation of Latinx markets in the United States in the second half of the 20th.

This course prepares undergraduate students to design and conduct independent social science field research. In so doing, it will also strengthen students' ability to be informed consumers of research presented in academic publications and the media. The first part of the class guides students through the steps of designing a research project, including developing a research question, testing hypotheses, planning data collection, and analyzing data. The second part of the course exposes students to various field research methodologies, including ethnography, archival research, interviews, surveys, and experiments as well as some theoretical and logistical considerations for research design. Students will engage in a variety of hands-on practicum exercises to solidify classroom learning during this section. The last part of the course will concentrate on student workshops to hone their own research designs and proposals for upcoming individual field research. The geographic focus is on the countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, but the content will have relevance to any field research setting. This course is interdisciplinary, and focused on field research methods. However, students are encouraged to see this course as a complement, rather than a substitute, for more in-depth, disciplinary research methods and analysis courses.

Social Entrepreneurship has sparked dialogue and debate for two decades. Its very definition is much debated, as well as its capacity to create sustainable, scalable, systems-changing impact. This course explores the theoretical concepts, practices and strategies associated with the dynamic discipline of social enterprise and innovation. For our purposes, social entrepreneurship is the landscape, of which paradigm-shifting solutions like microfinance, MSME (Micro-Small-Medium Enterprise) development, bottom of the pyramid, fair trade, impact investing, and the like, are components. This course will study many of these concepts, focusing on their opportunity for social impact, and as a vehicle for wealth creation in vulnerable and disenfranchised communities across the globe. Further, the course covers examples of various social enterprise models (for-profit, non-profit, hybrid), requiring students to analyze and devise strategies to improve the efficacy of these ventures. Finally, the course engages students in research seeking to advance the field of social entrepreneurship at the Keough School of Global Affairs and Notre Dame.

This class explores the use of marketing principles and concepts to support initiatives, causes and ventures that are social in nature. Attention is devoted to the marketing and communication challenges involved when attempting to do good, and how these issues can be overcome without spending large amounts of money. Sample topics include identifying and understanding target markets for social initiatives, constructing a value proposition, developing positioning approaches, designing communication programs, use of guerrilla techniques, the roles of price and place, and how to set goals and measure performance.

Students, in a structured format, are involved in assessing, prioritizing and creatively solving problems encountered by low-income and other disadvantaged South Bend entrepreneurs. A process consulting approach is employed and a number of useful tools and frameworks are introduced. Students work with both for-profit and non-profit enterprises, producing tangible deliverables that help clients launch, grow and sustain their ventures. In addition to class time, students will meet with clients on a weekly basis at a Notre Dame facility located downtown. Assistance with transportation will be available for students needing it. Class will meet on Tuesdays. On Thursdays, students will consult with local entrepreneurs in one hour blocks during the hours of 5p to 9p at the Center for Civic Innovation. This consulting time is flexible with students' schedules and based on appointments made by local entrepreneurs.

Do you want to learn how to solve problems that matter? Human Centered Design (HCD) is an empathetic tool that utilizes guided questioning related to product, service, or systems innovations to identify opportunities for sustainable, human-centered impact. For example, how might we design a cookstove that reduces the amount of smoke inhaled by a community member? How might we design a new service engaging low-income borrowers in rural communities? How might we design a system linking social innovators and their innovations to users across the globe in a manner that encourages collaboration and sharing of resources? Whether a social innovator is designing in the private, public or nonprofit sector, HCD provides a valuable framework, deeply rooted in empathy, and is an excellent methodology for social innovators who want to problem solve and design alongside communities. In this course students will be introduced to the HCD toolkit and will apply it in practice, either in a domestic or international context. This fast-paced course will take students through the HCD cycles of inspiration, ideation and implementation, and provide opportunities for student and community collaboration.

This rigorous, hands-on, interdisciplinary seminar prepares students to design and execute an independent international field research project. The course enhances your ability to conduct your own research, but also teaches techniques that will be useful for the rest of your academic studies, and for understanding research results presented to you through popular press in your life after college. This class is unique because throughout, your learning and work are geared specifically to your selected research interests. The first part of the class guides students through the steps of refining a research project and preparing a research proposal. The second part of the class will help students hone their ability to conduct research through a series of research practicums: students get hands-on experience in a variety of methodological approaches through research conducted in the local area. Because of the over-arching nature of the course, we will touch on topics of research design, such as developing a research question, a theoretical framework, and hypothesis testing, as well as analysis of data and evidence. However, we encourage students to see this course as a complement, rather than a substitute, for discipline specific research methods and analysis courses.

What is the relationship between development projects, which often pursue universal goals and scalable approaches, and cultural difference? How does culture shape the impact of development projects? How are development practitioners themselves shaped by culture? In this course, we use materials from anthropology, sociology, and history to explore how development processes shape, and are shaped by, culture. Approaching culture in terms of the meanings, values, practices, and norms that shape social life in both overt and subtle ways, we will focus on how different actors in the development world create and communicate knowledge about social issues and their potential solutions. Along the way, we will draw on different theories about culture, power, and inequality to analyze mainstream development approaches to data, expertise, and social transformation.

The goal of the course is to compare the processes by which social scientists and filmmakers/photographers engage in social documentation. Students explore how global social problems such as rural and urban poverty, race and gender inequalities, immigration, and violence are analyzed across the social sciences and depicted in a variety of documentary film and photography genres. The course also explores the role that documentary photography and film play in promoting rights and advocating for social change, particularly in the realm of human rights and global inequality. It examines the history of documentary film and photography in relationship to politics and the development of concerns across the social sciences with inequality and social justice. It also looks at how individual documentarians, non-profit organizations, and social movements use film and photography to further their goals and causes as well as issues of representation their choices raise. The course is unique because it requires students to engage in the process of visual documentation themselves by incorporating an activity-based learning component. For their final project, students choose a human rights or social problem that concerns or interests them (and which they can document locally - no travel is required), prepare a documentary exhibit on the chosen topic (10-12 photographs), and write an essay analyzing how social scientists construct and frame the given problem. Students also have the option to produce a short documentary film.

In this course we will examine how different kinds of organizations and institutions (corporations and firms, NGOs and non-profits, economic development organizations, social movement organizations) respond and adapt to cultural differences in a globalizing world. We will begin by analyzing the processes by which the children's educational television program Sesame Street is transformed and spread around the world, and how the organization that creates it builds relationships with its international partners and counterparts. We will then compare Sesame Street to other organizations that translate, locally adapt, and diffuse various kinds of innovations around the world, from products (toys and soap operas) and policies (health care and anti-discrimination laws), to norms and ideas (human rights, peace building, and democracy).

The course adopts an entrepreneurial perspective in exploring the role of business in helping to address the poverty challenge in developing and developed economies. The multi-faceted nature of poverty and its implications when it comes to business and entrepreneurship are explored. Attention is devoted to venture creation as a pathway out of poverty, and to how the larger business community can be leveraged in poverty alleviation efforts. Students will examine case studies and meet low income entrepreneurs.

This course is an introduction to the theory and practice of modern diplomacy and statecraft. We will examine the instruments of bilateral and multilateral diplomatic craft, as well as some of the emerging challenges faced by diplomats at home and abroad.

This course is an introduction to the theory and practice of modern diplomacy and statecraft. We will examine the instruments of bilateral and multilateral diplomatic craft, as well as some of the emerging challenges faced by diplomats at home and abroad.

Fracking, Water Wars, Deforestation of the Amazon, Droughts, Global Warming, Climate Change, Unsustainable Agriculture, Hurricanes, Pollution, Species Extinction, Invasive Species, Poaching, Overfishing, Depletion of Fossil Fuels, Overpopulation, Wastes, Ocean Acidification, Wildfires, Oil Spills, Overpopulation, Overconsumption, Land degradation - the list goes on!These complex environmental problems are occurring constantly and rapidly; their consequences are global in scope and transcend national boundaries; and they embody the complex relationship between humans and the natural environment. This course is about developing an interdisciplinary understanding of the relationship between humans (society) and the environment. We will examine the historical and contemporary environmental challenges of global concern, the underlying role of humans, and attempts by society to address, mitigate, and adapt to such complex problems through policies, institutions, and governance. We will pay attention to the roles of different state and non-state actors in environmental policy making. Overall, students will draw from both the social and natural sciences to develop a deeper understanding of how society - through consumption, culture, politics, power, ethics, values, economic growth, location, etc... contribute to, or solve, environmental problems.

Despite important progress in alleviating poverty in low- and middle-income countries, technological change, automation, and rising levels of training required for employment pose a great challenge for reducing economic insecurity and precarity as well as the future of work in these countries. A major challenge in attaining these goals is the tension between the global diffusion of innovation paradigms and national cultural traditions. This course will draw on concrete examples from countries such as India, Peru, The Philippines, Mexico, Indonesia, and Kenya and on conceptual tools from across disciplines (economics, anthropology, sociology, and history) to provide students with the needed intuitions for examining the interplay between global economic transformations and the institutional and cultural characteristics of emerging societies. Throughout the course, we explore as well some of the ramifications for racial, ethnic and gender inequality resulting from these global economic changes and from the policy strategies adopted to address them.

Conserving the earth's rich biological heritage while enhancing the well-being of some of the world's poorest people stands as a critical global challenge. This course examines this complex issue using the lens of political science and related fields such as political ecology, gender studies, and sustainability science. It will demonstrate how insights and approaches from these areas of scholarship can help understand and address the twin problems of biodiversity loss and poverty in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Examples will focus on forest and wildlife conservation and management. This course will be of interest to students from a wide range of natural and social science disciplines.

When India gained independence from British Rule in 1947, democracy was not expected to last in the heterogeneous and poor sub-continent. Yet, democracy has thrived in India for over 70 years. More recently, other South Asian countries have democratized. What explains this unexpected trend? Is there a connection between colonial legacies, international institutions and South Asian democratization successes (and failures)? After an overview of caste, religion and language in the region, this course explores South Asian politics by examining the historical and institutional development of democracy in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, including internal and external threats to democratic institutions. In particular, we will examine how the politics of accommodation and good institutional design have affected the persistence of democracy on the sub-continent, while also considering how non-state actors and international organizations have impacted outcomes. The course also takes a deep look at the degree to which findings from South Asia might be used in other parts of the world and relevant policy implications.

Enrolling in school does not guarantee that children acquire the human capital that their schooling should provide. Also, in some countries a large fraction of children still are not finishing primary school, and there are still millions of children who never attend school at all. In this lab we will review the impact of various types of educational interventions on schooling in the Global South. We explore the rationale behind specific policies and the evidence (or lack of) in support of their effectiveness in improving education outcomes. The aim is to engage the broader debates on the challenges facing effective education policy. Students will critically evaluate real-life policy options in different contexts, as well as propose potential innovations. By the lab's end, students will possess an analytical framework that allows them to think clearly about the impacts of alternative education policies, as well as be able to judge the quality of existing evidence.

Market-oriented reforms known as ‘neoliberalism’ have dominated the reform agenda across the world. These reforms were passed amidst tremendous political contestations and have delivered varying degrees of success. For the developing countries that faced the additional/simultaneous challenges of building ‘good’ institutions and governance systems, these reforms have resulted in questionable outcomes. Given this, today’s emerging economies have been forced to re-assess the benefits of market-oriented reforms, and those with policy space and political will/capacity have embarked on new reform experiments. The module introduces the students to the complexities and challenges of economic reforms in the fast-growing economies by placing politics at the heart of the analysis. The course is comprised of two parts. The first part provides the theoretical and conceptual foundations for examining the processes and outcomes of economic reforms. It discusses the limitations and dangers of designing and implementing reforms without consideration of the broader concept of states and markets or sufficient engagement with politics. This is because policy always produces new winners and losers, and as a result provokes resistance from those who believe they will lose wealth, status, or power. The second part investigates reforms in key areas of the political economy where there have been significant reforms and where distributive tension and conflicts are rampant. These include privatization, trade liberalization, industrial policies, debt and macroeconomic stabilization, tax and fiscal, and social policy reforms, food and nutrition, among others. Given the importance of national and regional contexts when discussing politics, the course draws cases from a wide range of geographical areas including East Asia, Latin American and Sub-Saharan Africa. The module concludes by examining the implications of factoring politics and local contexts into economic reforms for development policy and management and discusses whether new development paradigms and models exist for emerging economies.

Enrolling in school does not guarantee that children acquire the human capital that their schooling should provide. Also, in some countries a large fraction of children still are not finishing primary school, and there are still millions of children who never attend school at all. In this course, we will review the impact of various types of educational interventions on schooling in the Global South. We explore the rationale behind specific policies and the evidence (or lack of) in support of their effectiveness in improving education outcomes. The aim is to engage in broader debates on the challenges facing effective education policy. Students will critically evaluate real-life policy options in different contexts, as well as propose potential innovations. By the end of the course, students will possess an analytical framework that allows them to think clearly about the impacts of alternative education policies, as well as be able to judge the quality of existing evidence.

How do people in immigrant-receiving countries shape their attitudes toward immigrants? What are the differences between refugees and other migrants? How is immigration related to urban "immigrant riots?" And what can anthropological studies of borders and national policies tell us about the transnational world in which we live? We will examine these and related questions, and more generally the causes, lived experiences, and consequences of migration. We will acquire a sound understanding of migration in its social, political, legal, and cultural facets. Fieldwork accounts from countries of origin and from the U.S., Europe, Australia, and Japan will enable us to appreciate both global and U.S. distinctive trends. Rather than merely learning a collection of facts about immigrants, we will address how migration intersects with gender and class, the mass media, border enforcement, racism, the economy, territory and identity formation, and religion.

In this course we will engage in an interactive seminar-style discourse that grapples with current concepts, issues, and trends associated with comparative and international education. We will consider education in its relation to economic and integral human development in lower-income country contexts. We will also discuss various issues from comparative education - including school choice, accountability systems, and teacher policy and practice - attempting to learn from exemplary case studies and top performing countries.

Directed readings for IDS students, conducted on an approved subject under the direction of a faculty member. Please contact the Associate Director of the Kellogg Institute for permission to register.

The concept of the "commons" has returned to the focus of socio-environmental research, politics, and theorizing with recent debates on climate crisis and justice. From the late 1960s debates on environmental degradation and overpopulation to the present concerns with social change, economic degrowth, and global warming, the "commons" has returned as a key symbol for social analysis, political organizing, and collective resource management. Since then, various currents have claimed and reclaimed the concept under the guide of "communality," "conviviality," "common-pool resources," and the "common" as concrete alternatives to public and private modes of governance. In the past two decades, the concept has been central as well for the discussion of the "digital commons" with decentralized, community-based governance of online resources. In this seminar, we will map out key definitions of the "commons" to examine socio-technical and socio-environmental alternatives to existing enclosures across a wide range of examples (including, but not limited to land, tools, forests, lakes, heirloom seeds, potable water, fish stocks, software, hardware, and much more). The seminar will be organized around presentations by students and guest speakers, followed by debate of concepts, case studies, and methodological approaches in socio-environmental and digital commons research. We welcome advanced undergraduates and graduate students working on environmental research technologies, climate change, conservation, and sustainability to join the seminar.

This course examines the intersection of gender, health policy, and health care organization around the world. Gender is frequently a central contributing (though sometimes ignored) factor to people's health. Men and women have different biologies, and it thus stands to reason that their lives—social, economic, political, and biological—would have an effect on their health. What causes men to have different illnesses than women? What places one gender at greater risk for illness than the other? How do men and women across the world experience health policies? Are they affected and constrained by similar factors? How do their work lives affect their experiences with health? How is the body medically produced? How do poverty and development play a role in people's well-being? Through an inquiry-based approach, these and other topics will be addressed in this class.

What are Beijing's objectives towards the developing world and how have they evolved and been pursued over time? In light of China's unprecedented Belt and Road Initiative and increasingly assertive military activities far from its shores, the answer to this question is perhaps more important than ever before. This course analyzes and explains China's strategies in Southeast Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, Africa, Middle East, and Latin America, and evaluates their effectiveness. It is informed by the functionally organized academic literature, but uses a regional approach that allows for comparisons among regions based on their economic, political, military, and social characteristics. Topics will cut across the overlapping political, economic and security spheres, with particular attention paid to how different developing countries have perceived and responded to China's rapidly growing engagement in each region, but also place them in the larger context of Beijing's strategy towards other developing regions and the developing world as a whole. This course will be of great interest to students and scholars interested in international development, Chinese foreign policy, comparative political economy, and international relations.

Water is central to the survival of humans and natural ecosystems. However, the scarcity of water has become a critical social and public health issue in the 21st century, and humans play a central role in transforming this critical resource. This course aims to provide students with a holistic understanding of the policy, governance, and institutional processes shaping human-water interactions globally. The course will cover topics ranging from water conflicts, climate-water nexus, water-sanitation-health nexus, politics of water use and management, the human right to water, water infrastructure and pricing, and other related themes through an interdisciplinary, policy lens. The course will also introduce students to relevant social theories, frameworks (for eg. political ecology, environmental justice, social justice), and methods for analyzing global water policy challenges.

Climate change is destabilizing economic, political, legal, and social institutions everywhere. In this context, how can rules and norms be used to foster sustainable development and maintain social order? This is a pressing question for international and domestic stakeholders concerned with the causes and consequences of climate change. Global South countries are disproportionately facing the immediate local impacts of global environmental change. In the Global North, historically marginalized groups are unequally vulnerable to climate-related risks. This course aims to provide students with an interdisciplinary understanding of the influence of actors, institutions, and organizations on climate policymaking and its effects on people's lives. While the course will emphasize global political and legal affairs, we will also discuss the role of the law in shaping climate change governance at the national and subnational levels of government. In doing so, we will explore how individuals and interest groups turn to the legal system when climate change and sustainable development policies are ineffective. Ultimately, this course will give students the tools to think critically about laws and policies devised to address social-ecological problems worsened by climate change.

International organizations (IOs) are now ubiquitous actors in world politics. Whether in the realm of security, environmental affairs, health, development, or economics, IOs are involved in coordinating state action and in addressing global problems. The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the theory and practice of international organizations. It is focused on three broad questions: First, do international organizations matter? Second, how do they matter, and third, should they matter? The class begins with an overview of how the major perspectives from international relations understand the role, function, and effects of IOs. While considering these questions, students will learn about the inner-workings of major international organizations, including the United Nations, World Bank and IMF, WTO, World Health Organization and others.

Gustavo Gutiérrez famously posed a fundamental question for theological inquiry: how can we talk about God in the face of crushing poverty that leads to death? This course explores that foundational question through an examination of biblical perspectives on poverty, early Christian understandings of poverty, and contemporary theological and social scientific analyses and responses to poverty. The contemporary portion of the course tracks and draws on the earlier Christian tradition and its developments in Catholic Social Teaching, putting these sources into critical dialogue with recent social scientific studies of poverty, its causes, and policy solutions.

The main emphasis of the course will be to study the diseases important to both the developed and developing world. Basic principles of public health, epidemiology, infectious disease microbiology, immunology, and engineering application will be learned utilizing both local and global examples. Particular emphasis will be given to diseases transmitted by water. As a complement to environmental engineering design classes, this class will focus upon the disease agents removed in properly designed municipal water and waste systems.

In this course, we will examine the creation of "gender" and "sexuality" as objects of development practices around the world. While development projects often assume that gender and sexuality are stable, coherent categories of identity, scholars have long shown that both take socially and historically specific forms as they emerge through social practices. In this course we will read a range of critical case studies that demonstrate the complicated ways that local and transnational ideas about gender, sexuality, and development intersect in everyday life around the world. This course will help you approach "gender" and "sexuality"—two key terms in development discourse and global affairs—with an understanding of how these categories shape not just individuals but institutions, processes, and practices.

This course will provide students with an overview of the current concepts, issues and trends associated with comparative and international education, paying particular attention to issues of education policy. Roughly half the course will focus on education and integral human development and international economic development, concerned with the trends, issues, and opportunities facing lower-income country contexts in terms of education policy and practice. This will cover issues such as funding policy, the role of international actors, global policy priorities, and effective programs and policies. The second half of the course will look more broadly at salient issues from comparative education, drawing from cross national studies and country case studies of notable policies and reforms in education systems globally.

This class explores the use of marketing principles and concepts to support initiatives, causes and ventures that are social in nature. Attention is devoted to the marketing and communication challenges involved when attempting to do good, and how these issues can be overcome without spending large amounts of money. Sample topics include identifying and understanding target markets for social initiatives, constructing a value proposition, developing positioning approaches, designing communication programs, use of guerrilla techniques, the roles of price and place, and how to set goals and measure performance.

The international development studies capstone seminar is a required course for all international development studies minors. The centerpiece of the course is high quality research that incorporates the student's fieldwork experience and an interdisciplinary perspective into a substantial written senior essay of approximately 30 pages. Students will share their fieldwork experiences and findings; get feedback from their classmates and the instructor; and give a final presentation to the class that will incorporate a literature review, their fieldwork data collection, and subsequent original analysis. The course also consists of readings and discussions that explore familiar topics in international development studies in greater depth. This course is open to international development studies minors only.

Why are identities important in a world of connections? How do different societies deal with cultural, linguistic, religious, gendered, and physical "diversity"? What are the differences between multiculturalism, relativism, and pluralism? What can we add, as anthropologists, to discussions on identity, democracy, and social justice? The course addresses such questions by focusing on relevant issues including genital modification, current events in the US, Muslim-Christian relationships, urban conflict and coexistence in Bosnia, and the recent London riots and Arab Uprising.

Indigenous people often appear to be people without property. Whether it is outside observers who presume that they never had a "proper" economy of individual possessions, or whether it is indigenous representatives who define themselves as having lost their property?their land, their traditions, their languages?what and who is indigenous is defined by an absence. In contemporary contexts of globalization, however, indigenous traditional knowledge as intellectual property has become a lightning rod of political action. There has been a corresponding redefinition of the indigenous from the criterion of autochthony or priority to relations of dispossession or appropriation. Anthropology has continued comparative study of the variety of theories of, or knowledge about, property and its place in the construction of individuals and collectivities in indigenous societies. This course connects cultural categories of property with ethnographic scenes of its alienation to explore the emerging role of culture as emblem, itself a kind of property. We ask how indigenous appropriation of the culture concept and colonial appropriation of the environmental knowledge, art, language, and land of indigenous cultures furthers the cycle of symbolic and material exchange that defines indigeneity.

Scholars and development practitioners increasingly agree that state effectiveness is a critical precursor for many other developmental efforts to improve human wellbeing, from health campaigns to mass education. Unfortunately, despite billions of dollars spent annually attempting reforms, many states around the world still struggle to administer effectively. This course will focus on understanding what affects state capacity, including the state's relationship with development. The course will focus on work on low- and lower-middle-income countries in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, but unlike much work on the Global South that focuses on failures, we will disproportionately engage scholarship about what is working. Readings will include a combination of geography, scholarly periods (classic works, contemporary great pieces, and neglected insights that might be ripe for a come-back), and disciplines (political science, sociology, history and anthropology). Students will leave able to understand more precisely the central tasks of state administration, the foremost administrative challenges, and lessons from "pockets of effectiveness" around the world that have managed to provide relatively strong administration in the public interest, despite operating in environments where many peer organizations fail.

This course is an extension from the mini-course to a full term, with a wider coverage of international migration experiences in the world with an emphasis on human rights. It starts with a historical approach to various immigration waves to the United States, from the years of the Industrial Revolution to the present. It focuses on the current debate on the impact of the undocumented immigration from Mexico and Central America, with a discussion of the gap between public perceptions and research findings. Differences between Mexico and the United States' migration policies, and its social and economic implications, are discussed. The recent developments within the context of the United Nations' Commission of Human Rights on the relationship between migration and human rights are also covered.

This course is designed for Global Affairs students who are completing a paper Capstone that focuses on a topic in the field of global affairs. It typically answers a question of practical importance and results in a research paper that draws upon from one or more modes of research with primary sources that could include library, digital, archival, field-based research, data analysis, etc. The class aims to give students an opportunity to conduct independent research while moving as a group through the normal stages of developing, managing, and completing a project and bringing student research into dialogue with trends in the field of Global Affairs. By the end of the semester, students are expected to complete a research paper of 20-35 pages.