2017-2018 Academic Catalog 
    
    Mar 28, 2024  
2017-2018 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Courses


 
  
  • IDCE 390 - CDP Research Seminar


    The general objective of the seminar is to engage students of the CDP Program (Accelerated MAs and 2-year MAs) in the process of defining, preparing, and shaping their final projects in order to meet the requirements of the CDP Program. Students will prepare proposals for one of the three possible kinds of projects they can choose to complete the CDP Program: (1) Research paper; (2) Practitioner Project or (3) Thesis. These projects have distinctive characteristics because they require approaching problem definition, research and practice in no equal terms. The seminar discusses some of these differences. However, more specifically, the seminar focuses on producing a good navigational chart for your project, a fluid proposal for a doable (and meaningful) project. The seminar starts with a “self-interview” about “what-do-you-want-to-do.” Then, it continues into crafting a proposal with a defined question, an applied problem, or a hypothesis; a working bibliography; and a methodological section.

  
  • IDCE 391 - GISDE Professional Seminar


    Required for M.A. in Geographic Information Sciences for Development and Environment. The seminar is restricted to GISDE M.A. students and focuses on applications of GIS and formulation of the research proposal. Examines applications of GIS to environment and development.

  
  • IDCE 395 - Culture, Environment, and Development


    This course/seminar explores a wide variety of themes at the intersection of culture, development and contemporary environmental problems. The course/seminar is built on two key premises: first, humans are part of nature as each society exists within the natural world, and second, environmental problems are social problems as they concern human relations with the natural world and the politics of resource access, use and control. We investigate these issues through an examination of infrastructure development, natural resource management, resilience, and agricultural knowledge and innovation. Falls under the Land, Food, and Natural Resource Governance signature.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Varies

  
  • IDCE 397 - Master’s Thesis


    Master’s degree candidates may register while working on research for their thesis or published paper.

  
  • IDCE 398 - Internship


    Academic experience taking place in the field with an opportunity to earn credit.

    Prerequisites: Permission of instructor needed.

  
  • IDCE 399 - Directed Study


    Students construct an independent study course on a topic approved and directed by a faculty member. Offered for variable credit.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: every

  
  • IDCE 30101 - The Political Economy of Food and the Ethics of Eating


    Is it possible to eat in an ethical fashion in world with more than seven billion people? What would this entail? And what are the likely consequences of our choices upon others as well as the environment?

    This course examines the evolving political-economy and ethics of food production, distribution, and consumption and its effects upon our ecosystems, animal welfare, worker safety, consumer health, and cultural identities. Course readings introduce different theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches to the study of what we eat. They range from: historical accounts to food exposés and detailed empirical studies to forecasts of what we will eat in the future. All of them are provocative and they provide us with the opportunity to develop critical perspectives on the following:

    1)The development of a global food system and the industrial techniques used to sustain it: confinement livestock operations, genetic homogenization, fisheries and aquaculture, and (trans-) national supply chain management;

    2)Contemporary debates over food safety: genetically modified organisms, oversight mechanisms, regulatory regimes, famine prevention and humanitarian relief;

    3)The possibilities and limits of ethical alternatives: organics, locavore, fair trade, biotech, and food sovereignty.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall

  
  • IDCE 30102 - Case Studies in Environmental Issues and Policy Analysis


    Many environmental policy issues are considered “messy” problems. These types of complex problems are characterized by scientific uncertainty, difficulty making progress on one dimension without trading off progress on another, and differences in underlying values leading to very different decisions. Examples include evaluating the risks and benefits of new chemicals, managing the multiple uses of natural resources, and using nuclear energy for climate mitigation policy. Through a series of case studies, this course will introduce students to a range of approaches for structuring and analyzing complex environmental problems, including decision-tree analysis, value of information, benefit-cost analysis and benefit-risk analysis, multi-attribute analysis, data synthesis techniques, and uncertainty analysis. Students will gain a working knowledge of these methods and the strengths and limitation of the different approaches, be able to construct simple models using DecisionTools software, and communicate the results and uncertainties to decision-makers.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall or Spring

  
  • IDCE 30103 - Networks and Analytics of Development


    This course introduces students to advanced analysis of data related to development and interpretation and communication of quantitative data. We begin with an overview of theoretical approaches to data analysis, explore their use, and guide students in applying them to individual projects. We will learn ways of organizing, analyzing, visualizing, and presenting data from publicly available national and international databases. The first half of the semester will include quantitative analytics, visualization, and presentation of health-related data. The second half of the semester will consist of ways of researching mobile, hidden, and vulnerable populations using social network analysis. Social network analysis, not to be confused with social networking, is a specialized methodology that examines the patterns of relationships among individuals, community, countries, etc. to identify who the most important people are in a network, who has the most influence or social capital, sub-groups, and if time permits, “hidden or shadow networks”. SNA can also be used to evaluate collaboration, coalition, and partnership networks.

    This course will assume that students will have basic information/quantitative literacy and are not intimidated by data and numbers.

    Classroom sessions include lectures, discussions, and lab sessions. Course open to IDCE graduate students; ID seniors or ADP students with previous analytics experience. If space permits, graduate students from other departments may request permission to enroll in the class.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Spring 2017

  
  • IDCE 30104 - Citizen Engagement in Urban Design


    The course will expose students to the tools and techniques needed to enhance citizen engagement in urban design, urban revitalization, urban environmental preservation, and public space management and restoration. Course draws from domestic and international case studies.

  
  • IDCE 30106 - Political Economy of Urban and Regional Revitalization


    We demand quite a bit of our regional economies: we want them to grow and to provide jobs; we want those jobs to provide a living wage. We want the private enterprises that comprise the urban and regional economies to earn enough profit or generate enough revenue to make significant contributions to workers’ health care and pensions, on the one hand, and to public budgets in order to fund a range of public goods including schools, roads, and environmental stewardship, on the other. In short, we care about the functioning of the urban and regional economy, the outputs of that economy, and the distribution of those outputs. Some metropolitan regions are on an upward trajectory on the “bundle of these indicators” (i.e., providing sufficient jobs at living wages in the context of a metropolitan regional economy where a high quality of life is widely enjoyed). Others, however, are not. This course will take a political economy approach to examining proposals for inventions that are aimed at significantly altering metropolitan regional trajectories.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: varied

  
  • IDCE 30107 - Development, Urban Refugees and Forced Migrants


    This course seeks to understand the experiences of urban refugees and forced migrants from a range of countries of origin and living in a number of cities, and how humanitarian actors, municipal authorities, and other actors incorporate these populations into urban planning and development initiatives. According to the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), over 60 per cent of the world’s refugees and 80 per cent of those displaced within their countries of origin live in urban environments. The UNHCR and its humanitarian partners now recognize that cities must play a key role in hosting refugees given the limitation and shrinking hopes of voluntary return to a peaceful country of origin for large numbers of refugees. This course considers a number of questions, including: What do we know about the lived experiences of urban refugees? How can we maximize the potential of urban refugees? What livelihood options allow urban refugees to cope with their displacement? Does a strategic focus on urban refugees contribute to a shift in the discourse of migration-related development? Coursework is comprised of readings, discussion, and a final project of the student’s choice.

    Corequisites:  

    Program of Liberal Studies (PLS) Designation: No

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Annually Online

  
  • IDCE 30108 - Research Methods for Forced Migration: Hidden, Vulnerable, and Mobile People


    This 7-week module provides an introduction to research methods in conducting research, both qualitative and quantitative, with hidden, vulnerable, and mobile people. The module introduces the main theories and research approaches on hard-to-reach, excluded, and mobile populations using different frameworks and techniques. It is designed to complement existing research design, qualitative and quantitative methods courses by providing tools to address key issues such as the lack of a known sample frame; difficulties in accessing research participants, and working with mobile networks of people across geographic space. The module explores topics such as: estimation and sampling techniques; participatory research; respondent-driven sampling (RSD), social network analysis; crowdsourcing and the use of technology in researching multi-sited populations; and ethical considerations arising when conducting research with hidden, vulnerable and mobile people.

    Prerequisites:  

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Annually

  
  • IDCE 30109 - Introduction to Epidemiology and Biostastistics


    In contrast to clinical medicine, which traditionally has focused on health in individuals, epidemiology investigates the distribution and determinants of health at the population level. Social epidemiology tries to understand how social and economic factors influence population health and contribute to disparities in health. Biostatistics provides the analytical tools needed to understand and critically evaluate, interpret, and communicate findings from epidemiological research. This course will cover basic principles of epidemiology and biostatistics and the use of epidemiological methods to study the associations between exposures and the risk of disease. We will also investigate how social and economic factors influence exposures, particularly among susceptible populations-and how epidemiologists and biostatisticians study and communicate these interactions.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Annually

  
  • IDCE 30110 - Social Policy: Qualitative methods for design and analysis


    This course will prepare students to conduct qualitative research that informs the design and analysis of social policies related to poverty and inequality. It will explore how qualitative research methods are utilized to advance the field’s understanding of the causes and consequences of poverty and inequality, and how this kind of policy research can inform the development of policy alternatives. Research techniques to be covered in the course include: question formulation; semi-structured interviews; focus groups; participant observation and field methods; case study research; and participatory action and community-based research. The semester will also include case profiles of how qualitative research can influence policy makers.­

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Annually

  
  • IDCE 30111 - Urban Development: Process and Change


    This graduate level course provides students with a framework for understanding the complexity of change in the processes of city building and reinvestment.  The course will look at the intersection of economic development and community development in “legacy” or “gateway” cities.  These cities are distinguished as older industrial urban areas that are experiencing job and population loss. The challenges of shrinking cities will be compared to current issues faced by expanding cities in other parts of the world.  The course will pursue several themes throughout:  1) the role of equity in regeneration, asking the questions of who benefits, who is involved, and who makes decisions; 2) the challenge of economic resiliency in the face of changing external forces such as technology, transportation, and demand in a global economy, and 3) the reality on the ground of real estate, governance, local culture, and politics that affect outcomes.

    The course is open to Clark University graduate students and prospective ADP students in their senior year, who would take this as a graduate level course.  There are no prerequisites for this course. 

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Annually

  
  • IDCE 30121 - Food Systems: Place, Politics and Policy


    Agriculture and animal production have changed dramatically over the last century, especially after WWII, bringing higher yields and less expensive food to people. The changes also brought considerable costs to the natural environment and human (and animal) health. The “agribusiness model”, as we have termed the combination of low-cost, industrial, mechanized, fertilizer-intensive food production, has fueled global climate change, which in turn is dramatically shifting yields and costs, and our strategies to feed people. This course will investigate the causes and consequences of the transformation, and alternative pathways to protect communities against the negative impact of such large-scale transformation. We will explore, first, the economic and political determinants of the industrialization of food and animal production: the agribusiness model and its diffusion throughout the world. The drivers of the agribusiness model are highly concentrated corporate entities, which control the production of agricultural commodities, and rely upon vast supply chains to move products from production to the consumer throughout the world. The global control and outreach capacity of such corporate entities is backed-up by a robust scientific and political complex whose main objectives are not necessarily to feed the growing population of the planet.  The second section of the course will be devoted to understand and dissect in greater depth the joint effects of global climate change and the agribusiness model on the environment and health of territories, with a focus on trade, gender, health disparities, and food waste. The third section of the course will be devoted to examine the challenges of development for local and regional food systems, with a special emphasis on policy instruments, collective action, and community development. While the focus of the course is on the United States, we examine a variety of topics in a comparative and global perspective. The course has a seminar format.

    May be repeatable for credit one time.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Spring

  
  • IDCE 30184 - Gender Analysis of Power and Conflict


    Explores the experiences of women and men in armed conflict and in the time just after conflict. We investigate dynamics of masculinities and femininities and their power consequences. We look at how diverse local and international actors roll back or exacerbate gendered inequities and violence.

  
  • IDCE 30185 - Sustainability and the Role of Higher Education


    Sustainability and the Role of Higher Education Course. This course explores both the theory and practice of sustainability and sustainable development by examining the role of higher education in promoting change toward sustainability. The societal role of higher education involves more than providing formal course instruction for enrolled students; institutions of higher education are also critical places of discovery and innovation, centers for political discourse, and catalysts for political action and social change. This course explores the unique potential that institutions of higher education have to contribute to a sustainability transition. The focus on the university provides a lens for examining how organizations with complex structures make a myriad of decisions with environmental consequences, a context for considering the broad role of education in sustainable development, and a framework and perspective with direct and personal connections for us consider the challenges of promoting sustainability. In addition to reading and writing about the challenges of sustainability and the role of the university in promoting sustainable practices in society, we will engage directly with the challenges associated with promoting sustainable behavior and fostering institutional and social change through team projects right here in the Clark and Worcester communities. Graduate students enrolled in this course should be prepared to take on a leadership role with an associated team of undergraduate students.

  
  • IDCE 30186 - Social Enterprise Practicum


    This course involves the operation and organizational development of a 501c3 nonprofit corporation, the Community Development Training Institute (CDTI). The organization is transitioning from historic (1984) to a new governance structure–a student-run and inspired nonprofit, operated by graduate students and alumni at Clark University. The hope is to create a solid base in professional skill areas, to develop relationship networks and begin formulating training and consultancy resources to use in the future. The goal is use CDTI as an institutional base where we can promote mainstream classic and alternative community development tools and implementation strategies. In the process, students seek to shift community development discourse and practice by employing socially and ecologically transformative processes and practices. This will be accomplished by offering consultancy services and offering our innovative skills and ideas to clients. Some of this will be fee based and pro bono. Additionally, we will be promoting alternative tools and strategies by developing training programs for interested community organizations. The students will be responsible for the successful and ongoing operations of CDTI. During the ‘credit period’ with CDTI, students will learn about social enterprise governance which will prepare them for possible board membership after the credit period. During the credit  period, students will provide staffing capabilities and consultancy to the CDTI student board. Board membership is solely by invitation only, extended after demonstration of capabilities, post-credit period time commitment, interest, and team-work propensities.

                                                                      

    A component of the work will also be grounded in theory with academic elements; namely, exploring state of the art community development strategies, social enterprise and implementation accompanied by corresponding literature and research.

  
  • IDCE 30189 - Strategic Use of Technology in Community Development & Planning


    An introductory course intended to develop technological fluency for those whose responsibility will involve deciding whether and when to invest in information technology systems (ITS) in community development projects and initiatives, and how to develop and manage ITS to promote human well-being. As such, the course investigates the use of ITS as a platform to organize, collaborate, and augment network building, improve human well-being, and improve data access for communities. Methods of deploying technology in support of diverse global citizenry will be an overarching theme.

  
  • IDCE 30196 - Special Topics in Community and Global Health


    This course is meant to engage in deeper conversations about different topics related to Community and Global Health (GCH). The course will be in a seminar format.

    The topics covered range from methods, to theories, to applications from GCH emerging scholarship. May be repeatable for credit.

    Program of Liberal Studies (PLS) Designation: No

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Annually

  
  • IDCE 30203 - Program Evaluation for Youth and Community Development Initiatives


    This course provides students with skills required to apply research methods to the assessment of youth and community development programs. By gaining exposure to the various types of program evaluation (e.g. process evaluation, impact evaluation, empowerment evaluation, etc.), analyzing evaluation case studies, and working on an actual evaluation of a program. Students will leave this class with an understanding of the importance of and challenges involved in conducting high quality program evaluations. Students will gain enough skill to assist in the development and implementation of evaluations.

  
  • IDCE 30204 - Advanced Community Development Finance and Research


    This Masters or PhD level course is designed for students who demonstrate competence in real estate or business finance and/or have successfully completed an introductory course ‘Community Development Finance’. An expansion of a basic Community Development Finance course, this course includes advanced lectures on financial feasibility sensitivity; market analysis; real estate appraisal; the RFP process; project mediation & implementation; construction contract negotiation; tax increment financing & bonding; loan guarantees; tax credits; brownfield financing and other complex public & private finance partnership concepts/programs/issues. Students are expected to be knowledgeable of debt and equity underwriting techniques and rationale. They also are required to have the ability to construct an Excel spreadsheet. A two hour introductory course ‘Community Development Finance’ DVD, produced by the instructor, is available to assist in ascertaining potential students’ competence for this level of study. Alternates every other year, in spring, with Advance Community Development and Planning Policy—Advanced/Long Term; ½ unit, in 2nd module;

  
  • IDCE 30205 - Climate Change, Energy and Development


    This course explores climate change, energy and development from multiple perspectives, disciplines and scales. Fusing perspectives from both the natural and social sciences, this interdisciplinary course will grapple with diverse themes and issues at the intersection of environmental science and policy. Climate change related topics deal with the evolving science of climate change, current observations, extreme weather and long term impacts, in addition to climate ethics and international climate governance. Our analysis of climate change will also include an examination of geoengineering, carbon capture and storage and the phenomenon of climate denial. Energy related themes deal with renewable energy (wind and solar), gas fracking, methane hydrates and an examination of the pros and cons of nuclear energy. Development dimensions then deal with human dimensions of climate change and energy challenges and address ethical and economic perspectives, diet and food and human security. This is a graduate level course, required for all Environmental Science and Policy (ES&P) graduate students. 

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall or Spring

  
  • IDCE 30209 - Research Project Development for Environmental Science and Policy


    This course provides students with perspective on and skills in developing and managing research projects at the nexus of environmental science, technology, and policy. This course aims to: 1) guide students’ understanding of the research process, its principles, approaches, and challenges; 2) introduce some specific research methods and techniques (qualitative, quantitative, and mixed); and 3) engage students with their own individual research process. In addition, the course will provide a forum for focused discussions related to professional development for emerging careers in environmental science and policy. This course may be repeatable for credit.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Annually

  
  • IDCE 30213 - Master’s Final Research Paper


    A year long seminar for second-year IDCE master’s degree students writing their final research paper.

  
  • IDCE 30216 - Sustainable Fisheries Management


    This course explores the complexities of marine and freshwater fisheries and aquaculture, including basic fish science and monitoring, policy and regulation. The emphasis is on vulnerable fish stocks under international multilateral treaties and policies. A range of scales and perspectives will be used: small-scale fisheries and communities; international fisheries and the Law of the High Seas; and aquaculture including shell fish, shrimp and salmon.  Students will use case studies from specific fish treaties as the basis for team research on sustainable fisheries science and policy.  The course is highly interdisciplinary and deals with national and international controversial topics such as fish science and monitoring, marine sanctuaries and IUU (illegal, un-flagged and unregulated) fisheries.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: varied

  
  • IDCE 30217 - Economic Fundamentals for International Development


    This course is primarily intended for students entering the IDCE masters program. Its objectives are to introduce economic history, as well as microeconomics and macroeconomics to the noneconomist, while illustrating practical applications of these techniques in real-world situations. A flexible seminar format is used, in recognition of the diverse backgrounds and perspectives that students bring to this class.

  
  • IDCE 30218 - Community Development Decision Making & Negotiations


    This graduate level course will integrate negotiations with the process of making strategic decisions. The field of community development is practiced at all levels (e.g., manager, technician, project director, and support staff) and at all venues (e.g., government, and non-profit/for profit). Success in the community demands compromise and solution fitting for both basic and complex situations. Very often issue resolution involves two or more competing parties with disagreements over ultimate goals. Achieving a “win-win” scenario is an objective of competent negotiators. Students will learn the skill of negotiations, including the importance of information, the value of time and negotiated ‘position’ planning and execution.

  
  • IDCE 30221 - Education and Development


    Education (formal, non-formal and informal) has played a strategic role in shaping society over the past century, and continues to inform development at the community, national and international levels. This course examines the historical evolution of education and explores its continued local and global relationship to the process of international and community development.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: varied

  
  • IDCE 30222 - Advanced Topics in Development Theory


    Advanced Topics in Development Theory. This seminar provides students with an opportunity to engage in an in-depth study of some classical theorists of modernity and development. It aims to establish firm theoretical and textual foundations for the future study of politics, economics, culture and social relations related to “third world development.” Topics vary. May be repeatable for credit.

    Spring 2017 topic: INDIGENIZING, FEMINIZING, QUEERING DEVELOPMENT -

    Anticipated Terms Offered: typically in the spring

  
  • IDCE 30225 - Grant Writing for Community Developers


    Students go through a step-by-step process to gain fundamental grant research and writing skills. Writing problem statements, goals and objectives statements, program activities, evaluation templates, and logic models are covered. Students learn about public and private funding sources. The end product of this seven-week module is a completed grant proposal for an organization of the student’s choosing.

  
  • IDCE 30229 - Program Monitoring and Evaluation


    This course examines the evolution of the range of paradigms, methodologies, and methods of program and project monitoring and evaluation. It focuses on qualitative, participatory, and empowering approaches and helps students develop the range of practical skills and tools necessary for developing and conducting program evaluation. The course emphasizes the iterative action and reflection cycles of conceptualizing, planning, collecting, analyzing, interpreting, utilizing, and communicating data. The course examines a range of evaluation methodologies including participatory evaluation, utilization-focused evaluation, empowerment evaluation, outcome and impact evaluation. Students will be required to work with a local or international agency/program in the development, implementation, and assessment of a monitoring and evaluation plan.

  
  • IDCE 30231 - Humanitarian Assistances in Complex Emergencies/Disasters


    Disasters and Complex Humanitarian Emergencies (DCHE) have become increasingly common. Within the context of an emerging global political economy, effective delivery of humanitarian assistance has become complex and controversial. This course explores the theoretical and policy issues in DCHE with an emphasis on the roles of governmental and nongovernmental organizations in them. Drawing from a wide variety of case studies, this course will focus on the factors that shape risks and the vulnerability of affected populations and responses of government and NGOs. This course will provide students with comprehensive insights into the needs and policy challenges in DCHE situations and equip them with the awareness, understanding and skills that are essential for effective service in a humanitarian crisis. It will be particularly useful for those interested in working with international and governmental organizations as well as NGOs. This is a reading-intensive, interdisciplinary course designed for a range of backgrounds and experiences.

  
  • IDCE 30235 - Trafficking: Globalization and Its Illicit Commodities


    This course turns a critical eye towards the different cultural, political, and economic processes that make contemporary forms of “trafficking” possible. It examines these transnational processes from three different vantage points, each composing one part of the course as a whole. Part one will engage many of the key concepts that inform the existing literature on “trafficking” (e.g. commodification, shadow economies, transnational criminal networks, and regulatory authority) to explore both their assumptions and their limits. Special attention is focused on the ways scholars, policymakers, and activists have historically constructed trafficking as a “problem” either for analysis or action, and how the different legal and policy frameworks created to combat it have changed over recent decades. Part two examines the above concerns in greater detail through a series of case-studies on different forms of human trafficking, the global market for organs, genetic information, animal parts, and endangered species, among others. Part three will consider some of the opportunities and dilemmas (theoretical, methodological and ethical) such practices present for those who wish to study, to manage, or to advocate on behalf of those affected by different forms of trafficking.

  
  • IDCE 30238 - Public Communication Seminar


    This master’s level course introduces students to public presentation, professional writing, and record keeping skills as used in public and private planning practice and the community development field.
    Gain experience verbally communicating professional objectives, research findings, and various viewpoints through improved public presentation skills in informal and formal settings. Obtain necessary tools for producing professional written documents and organized and accurate record keeping principles as it relates to the project management and public administration tasks of planners and community development practitioners. Students will also become familiar with strategies to avoid common communication pitfalls in the field. The class format is structured around various public speaking activities with opportunities for peer and instructor feedback as well short, focused technical writing tasks that reflect practicing planners’ typical assignments

  
  • IDCE 30239 - Microfinance, Gender & Newliberalism


    Today, micro-finance is the dominant policy in the poverty alleviation strategies world-wide. The 2006 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to a Mohammad Yunus, a leader in micro-finance in Bangladesh. Increasingly micro-finance is used as important instrument in development policies concerned with income generation, sustainable development, gender inequality, empowerment, reproductive health, education, good governance etc., Hence, the need to develop increasingly flexible, responsive and sustainable financial products constitutes perhaps the most compelling challenge facing in development interventions. This course will take an in-depth critical look at micro-finance from developmental, political economy and operational perspectives. It is based on case studies and analysis of microfinance models and experiences in different geographical regions in order to understand the strengths and weaknesses of micro-finance based financial intermediation in development. It will also examine the strategic planning, implementation and evaluation strategies of micro-finance projects. The purpose is to provide a sound theoretical and practical knowledge of micro-finance.

  
  • IDCE 30240 - Community Development Planning Studio


    The community planning studio is an applied, results-driven exercise typically required in planning (and architecture) graduate programs. The objective of the exercise is to place students in direct contact with a real-life planning scenario in an urban setting, working with real organizations and community stakeholders. The topic of the studio changes every year. Students tackle one common problem working in teams to address distinct dimensions of the task at hand. In previous years, students assessed the capacity of community-based organizations in Holyoke (MA) to pursue federal funding from the Dept. of Education, and provided support to a network of community-based organizations and Clark University to plan for the development of the Main South Promise Neighborhood Partnership, Worcester (MA). Depending on the nature of the project, students used a variety of research and local planning methods: surveys; strategic use of data; interviews; multi-media; economic analysis; needs assessments.

  
  • IDCE 30241 - Environmental Toxicology


    Focuses on the assessment of hazardous properties of toxic chemicals in the environment and on development of public-health policy. Covers the principles of absorption, distribution, excretion, and toxic action of chemicals on humans; animal testing; and human epidemiology. Also covers assessment of public-health risks on the basis of animal and human test results, development of standards for air and water contaminants, and uncertainty in regulating hazardous chemicals.

    Prerequisites: One semester of organic chemistry or permission of the instructor.

  
  • IDCE 30243 - Seeing Like a Humanitarian Agency


    Since World War II, several different but overlapping regimes have emerged to help structure humanitarian responses to large-scale forms of displacement. In what ways do these evolving regimes enable humanitarian agencies to “see,” and in what ways does their particular field of vision differ from that of states, academics, policymakers and the displaced themselves? What kinds of blind-spots (theoretical, methodological, and ethical) inevitably result? This seminar will explore these questions from three different vantage points, each composing one part of the course as a whole. Part one will provide an overview of the literature and the main concepts of the course. Special attention is focused on the ways scholars and policymakers have historically constructed displacement as a “problem” either for analysis or action, and how these concerns have shifted over the past three decades. Part two will consist of ethnographic studies of humanitarian interventions in different geographic settings, which will highlight the relevance (and limits) of concepts and methods drawn from the social sciences, including anthropology. Part three will address some of the opportunities and dilemmas humanitarian emergencies present for those who wish to study or to manage them.

  
  • IDCE 30245 - Natural Resource Management


    Natural resource management is the planning and operation of ecosystem components and processes for human benefit. Management of natural resources can be approached from many sometimes conflicting perspectives such as exploitation versus conservation. The purpose of this course is to explore the science of natural resource management by examining the fundamental topics that include ecology, climatology, and economics; latest concepts and technology such as mathematical modeling and life cycle analysis; and policy and institutional frameworks such as planning and policy development.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: varied

  
  • IDCE 30248 - Gender and Health


    This course introduces students to social science perspectives on the intersection of gender and health. In the course we will examine theoretical approaches to gender and health, such as feminist and political economic perspectives, and explore historical and contemporary case studies that analyze particular dimensions of gender, health, and sexuality. We will explore health issues such as health disparities along lines of gender, race and class, the regulation of reproductive health by nation-states and the “development industry”, and political and social struggles for reproductive rights. We will also consider some dimensions of gender and occupational health, and contemporary health challenges such as gender violence and HIV/AIDS. These issues will be explored mainly in the context of developing countries with some cases drawn from the United States.

  
  • IDCE 30250 - People and Places: Theories of Community Development and Planning


    This course deepens students’ understanding of social, economic, and political forces that shape places. Students learn to critique assumptions, values, and methods of various approaches in order to more effectively apply them to actual cases. Topics covered include political economy of urban areas, race, social construction of space, and planning models and theories.

  
  • IDCE 30253 - Sustainable Communities


    Communities around the world are taking a lead role responding to sustainability challenges, including climate change, by pursuing various forms of sustainable communities which seek to re-imagine the relationship between human societies, the built environment, and ecological systems. This course will explore the different approaches to sustainable community development and it will interrogate the assumptions, philosophies, and economic models that underlie these different approaches. It will investigate the many dimensions of sustainability that are valued in lived communities, including ecological integrity, economic security, empowerment, responsibility, and social well-being, and it will consider the extent to which different approaches to sustainable communities support these goals. Case studies will be drawn from around the world.

  
  • IDCE 30261 - Immigration and Knowledge-Driven Industries


    Deepening economic and cultural globalization has transformed the dynamics of migration. In 1990, there were 120 million international migrants and by 2000 there were 180 million. Among the migrants we find both highly skilled and not so skilled ones. They move for numerous reasons, but undeniably the global demand for their labor and services (mainly in rich countries) is a fundamental one. For poor countries, the growing share of their skilled moving to and residing in rich countries (brain drain) represents a staggering loss, and the outflows may entrap countries into further pauperization. In the receiving countries, immigrants find employment in practically all segments of the labor market yet we see a strong bifurcation. Large numbers are going into the lower echelons of the labor market as menial service and manual laborers but also more educated immigrants are increasingly fitting into the upper echelons of the knowledge-based economy. In the receiving countries, we listen to arguments about critical occupational shortages, labor displacement and replacement, and competition between domestic and foreign born workers. In addition, we also hear stories of distorted incorporation, doctors from poor countries unable to practice in the receiving country because of certification problems, or mathematicians working as cab drivers because they lack language skills. With globalization, we are also witnessing the creation of transnational communities of professionals connected to global value chains, processes of offshoring, and the diffusion of know-how. This course will be divided into three sections. First, we will learn about general theories of migration, especially to explain global flows of labor with multiple kinds of human capital attributes (selectivity), and to understand the complex political economy of the current global distribution and circulation of talent, and regulatory regimes. Secondly, we will learn about the processes of incorporation that both professionals and proletarians experience in the labor market of receiving countries. We will address both supply-side factors (human capital, demography, entrepreneurship, etc.) and supply-side factors (economic restructuring, technology, industrial organization, geographic division of labor, deskilling, labor flexibility, internal labor markets, etc.) In this section, even though we will consider some material from the European experience, the emphasis will be on the incorporation of immigrants in three critical sectors of the US national and regional economies: high-tech, bio-tech and health. Finally, we will examine the workforce development practices and strategies needed to meet the current and future development needs of these industrial sectors, and how such strategies are considering the incorporation of foreign born workers (career ladders, sectorial strategies, public-private partnerships between “ed’s and med’s” and communities, labor market intermediaries, regional economic development strategies, workforce development networks, and transnational networks).

    Anticipated Terms Offered: varied

  
  • IDCE 30262 - Web Mapping and Open Source GIS


    This course introduces core principles and procedures of spatial database development and open source GIS and internet mapping. This course emphasizes a hands-on learning approach to real-world problem solving. Several programming languages will be used simultaneously to gather, manipulate, and display spatial data on the web. Topics to be covered include spatial data representation, principles of open source database design and management, open source internet mapping, and online mapping applications development with spatial databases. All tools used by the course are free and open source, meaning they can be used, modified, and distributed without cost anywhere with an internet connection.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: varied

  
  • IDCE 30264 - Environmental and Social Epidemiology


    Epidemiology investigates the distribution and determinants of health at the population level, in contrast to medicine, which traditionally has focused on health in individuals. Social epidemiology tries to understand how social and economic factors influence population health and contribute to disparities in health. This course will cover basic principles of epidemiology and social epidemiology and the use of epidemiologic methods to study the associations between environmental exposures and the risk of disease. We will also investigate how social and economic factors influence environmental exposures, particularly among susceptible populations. Lectures, discussions, problem solving.

  
  • IDCE 30272 - Environmental Justice in Latin America


    Environment and Justice in Latin America From fishing communities along the Baja California coast, to indigenous organizations in the Peruvian Amazon, to citizen coalitions in the Argentine Patagonia, growing numbers of communities and groups are contesting development plans and projects considered to be socially, culturally and environmentally damaging. This seminar explores the intersection of environment, social justice, democracy and human rights debates in contemporary Latin America. We will examine the drivers of economic development in the region and link them to specific examples of socio environmental conflict emerging from extractive industry activity, large-scale infrastructure projects and energy development among others. We will examine how communities respond to such conflict and consider emerging initiatives that seek more inclusive and environmentally sustainable forms of development.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: varied

  
  • IDCE 30274 - Computer Programming for GIS


    Introduces fundamental concepts of computer programming to automate geoprocessing, spatial analysis and mapping. This course is ideal for graduate students and upper level undergraduates who are looking for advanced programming skills for GIS. Topics to be covered include object-oriented programming, scripting,  error handling and customization using Python within the ArcGIS environment. A series of hands-on lab exercises will walk students through the Python programming and development with ArcGIS modules.

    Prerequisites: IDCE302 Python Programming and IDCE310 Intro to GIS

    Prerequisites: IDCE 302 and IDCE 310

  
  • IDCE 30275 - Gender in Development Planning


    This mini-course explores the rationale for incorporating gender into development planning and analysis and builds knowledge, expertise and skills, which will enable course participants to integrate gender analysis into their various fields of academic and professional responsibility. We clarify approaches and identify tools for gender analysis in the context of participatory research, institutional change and community empowerment. We also explore methods of gender analysis for their usefulness to national policies and programs and for the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programs and projects

  
  • IDCE 30277 - Sustainable Consumption and Production


    The increasingly unsustainable pressure on the Earth’s natural systems calls for radical changes in the way people in the industrialized and in the rapidly growing economies satisfy their appetite for goods and services. Some believe that innovation in technologies is our great hope, while others emphasize the need to change the consumption patterns of individuals and societies. Both necessitate changes in institutions, values, and social arrangements. This advanced seminar examines the role that changes in technology, institutions and culture might play in bringing about the necessary change toward more environmentally sustainable development. Four types of innovation are discussed: in the production process, in product design, in function delivery by way of products and services, and in a larger sociotechnical system. The course draws on theories of technological innovation, consumer behavior and institutionalism as well as empirical case studies from the United States, Europe and some developing countries. The course considers the key drivers of change, such as government policy, market forces, cultural norms, activities of mission-oriented organizations, social movements and others.

  
  • IDCE 30281 - Community Needs and Resource Analysis


    Community Needs and Resource Analysis students develop skills in identifying and analyzing community issues through community resources and first-hand community observations and contacts.

  
  • IDCE 30282 - Community Based Health Research


    This advanced IDCE course will provide students with an overview of community health through a “hands on” experience in conducting research in the field. A trans-disciplinary course, it will draw on and integrate the theoretical and methodological perspectives of fields including medical anthropology, community and population public health, and medicine. As part of a global health initiative within IDCE and in collaboration with UMASS Medical, it will be an advanced course that builds on methods and health courses across the department that use both qualitative and quantitative approaches.

    In this course, students will work on an ongoing community-based health research project that uses social network analysis and storytelling to understand pregnancy-related advice sharing networks and to try to understand perinatal cultural practices and beliefs.

    The project, “Networks of Informal Helpers in Perinatal Care Practices and Beliefs among Immigrant Women in Worcester, MA”, will use a mixed-methods cross-sectional design by integrating network surveys with semi-structured interviews with immigrants and refugees in Worcester. Since we are interested in the quality, intensity, and trust in information-sharing health networks, a mixed-methods approach will allow us to complement network structures with case-level ethnographic understanding of health-seeking behavior and decision-making related to health treatment.

    The specific aims of the research project include:

    1. Use Social Network Analysis to understand the networks of information sharing about pregnancy in immigrant communities in Worcester, as well as identify the natural helpers who are most commonly referred to for pregnancy-related information.

     

    1. Enhance the capacity of local providers to convey culturally-appropriate health messaging to African-born patients, and to engage patients in primary care instead of free health clinics.

    Over the course of the semester students will work in teams to design and conduct a study, using qualitative or quantitative approaches or mixed methods that combine the two. They will also develop a literature review to situate their work in the appropriate literature. Student teams will also be meeting with residents and faculty from the University of Massachusetts Medical School for debriefing. Each group will present their study to the class and team partners and also critique the study designs of the other project groups. Preliminary assignments include a research design, critiques of the research design and methods of recent journal articles, data collection, data analysis, and reporting on results.

    This course requires a significant time commitment outside of class for the research in the community. It will also have a steep learning curve at the beginning for those not familiar with SNA.

    Since this is an advanced course, students will be expected to be familiar with quantitative data analysis techniques (univariate and some bivariate) and be comfortable using data analysis tools such as Microsoft Excel, and nVivo or equivalent software for the qualitative research.  Only students who have taken a research methods course and who are able to pass a basic qualitative and quantitative data analysis screening will be admitted to the class.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Annual

  
  • IDCE 30287 - Fundamentals of Environmental Science


    This foundation science class will give you the literacy and skills you need to understand the science behind environmental problems that affect us all: Water pollution; air pollution; environmental health risks; population growth and the over-exploitation of natural resources. It will also strengthen your math skills and quantitative ability. It has three main objectives. Knowledge Objective: That students be able to describe and understand how principles from science (especially Physics and Chemistry), as well as methods from Math, are used to model two main types of environmental problem: 1) problems of pollution; and 2) problems of natural resource over-exploitation. Skills Objective: That students be able to apply simple, yet powerful mathematical models to such problems, manipulating quantitative data and interpreting diagrams and tables that use these data. Attitudes Objective: That students become comfortable with handling quantitative data, equations and models, and more confident in their own abilities to understand and apply scientific and technical information.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall

  
  • IDCE 30288 - Applied Ecology


    This is an active field- and project-based course using citizen science approaches such as bioblitzes to explore natural resource management and community engagement.  Bioblitzes are rapid assessment approaches to biodiversity surveys recently used by the US National Parks and National Geographic Society to explore the state of ecological resources within protected areas.  In this applied course, students will work in teams to design, develop and execute a local bioblitz using Clark’s Arboretum and Coes Reservoir.  As a field-based practicum (‘learning by doing’), students will work in teams to explore field design and ecological assessment methods, work with local stakeholders, learn basic statistical approaches and online databases on biodiversity. This course is designed for students interested in applied ecology, resource management and policy.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: varied

  
  • IDCE 30289 - Community Development Finance


    This course introduces students to the field of community development, with a particular focus on finance. The class explores the roles of various “field actors,” such as developers, community-based community-development corporations, other nonprofits, for profits, banks, local governments and low-income residents. Students learn about the use of governmental subsidies to achieve public purposes, hot and cold commercial and housing real-estate markets, the basics of identifying financial feasibility gaps in public-spirited projects, the financial analysis necessary to attract debt and stimulate equity investment, strategies to fill the gaps in community needs and funding and ways to sustain projects. Familiarity with Excel spreadsheets is useful.

  
  • IDCE 30291 - Qualitative Research Methods


    Provides an introduction to qualitative inquiry and explores the major assumptions, language and logic of qualitative research. The course emphasizes the modes of thinking and specific practices of qualitative research and focuses on conceptualizing and designing qualitative studies. It explores the issues and practices of qualitative inquiry; emphasizes strategies for developing research questions; and covers methods for data gathering, analysis and interpreting qualitative research.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall or Spring

  
  • IDCE 30292 - Participatory Development Planning


    The course combines participatory theory and practice in a seven week module. The first two classes will cover the rationale for using participatory tools in development planning and action. The second two classes will introduce a wide variety of participatory data collection, analysis, and planning tools. The next two meetings will be conducted in a field setting (probably a Friday night and all day Saturday) in either Manchester or Concord, New Hampshire with Bhutanese refugees. Your role as a member of the class will be to lead exercises in the workshop, using some of these tools. The goal will be to help the refugee community advance from its present state of semi-disorganization all the way through a process culminating in a community action plan that the entire group both supports and will implement. Our final class will be a review of the action plan and an evaluation of the methodology. Grades will be based on field performance and two short (6 pages) papers. One will focus on evaluation of a particular tool and its usefulness in our exercise. The second will be your design of a community planning exercise for an urban setting. Nepali speakers are especially urged to take the course.

  
  • IDCE 30296 - Nonprofit Management I


    This class will be taught from the perspective of community spirited action associated with civil society. Missions of examined organizations will include social services; economic justice; human rights and advocacy; and housing endeavors covering both programs and projects. Topics will include a coursework related to mission selection and definition; gender-related trends; administrative and governance issues; budgeting; personnel management; public relations; and leadership approaches. These are generally generic topics relevant to both nonprofits and NGOs. The course will prove valuable for students intending to work for—or start-up—a U.S. nonprofit (NP) or an international nongovernmental organization (NGO). The course will compare issues associated with domestic NP and international NGOs. Generally, this skills course will inform the students how to start and/or operate a NP along with the basic core elements of running–or working within a NP or NGO. Also, this course would be useful to those interested in governmental services at the local or regional levels, including potential careers in housing, economic development, equity advocacy, environmental planning or other enterprising nonprofit organization.  This course is a prerequisite for IDCE 30298.


    Anticipated Terms Offered: annually

  
  • IDCE 30297 - Displacement and Development in the Contemporary World


    This course investigates the development practices and theories that have emerged to address population displacement in its various forms. It looks at the relationship between forced displacement and the nation-state, the changing nature of humanitarian emergencies in a globalising world, and the role of diaspora. The course also explores the issues around urbanisation, urban development and displacement, and transnational networks and associations in development processes and agendas.

  
  • IDCE 30298 - Nonprofit Management II


    Spring 2014 Topics:
    Domestic Housing and Economic Development Nonprofit - This module extends and expands on the First Module Nonprofit Management course, but focuses on more specific (i.e., functional) activities of domestic nonprofits in two categories; namely, housing and economic development. The subtopics will include: the peculiarities of community development corporations (CDCs); local development corporations (LDCs); community based organizations (CBOs); regional / national nonprofits; etc. The class work will include lectures, readings, student papers and presentation. The signature module project will be teams of students designing an entrepreneurial start-up nonprofit. The course is intended for CDP, GISDE, and ES&P students planning to work on the domestic scene.
    Domestic Youth and Social Services Nonprofit - Nonprofit Management in Youth and Human Services Organizations will explore the critical topics facing mission-driven organizations. The course will examine the importance of: (1) working with Boards of Directors, (2) strategic planning, (3) Fund development strategies, (4) collaborating with partners, (5) Understanding external factors that impact service delivery (funder expectations and Government relations), (6) Program design to achieve outcomes, and (7) Program and Outcome evaluation. Each class participant will have the opportunity to better understand the primary responsibility of senior management, to preserve and forward the mission, vision and goals of youth and human services organizations.

     

    Prerequisites: IDCE 30296

    Anticipated Terms Offered: annually

  
  • IDCE 30306 - GIS for International Development in Practice


    This course introduces the use of geospatial technologies in development and humanitarian response. The course will cover how geographic information systems (GIS) are used for data creation, mapping, and analysis in the context of international development and humanitarian response. In addition, the course will explore the multiple ways in which NGOs and international organizations leverage GIS. Topics covered will include, among others, data creation, crowd sourced mapping, mobile technologies, and support of GIS in resource constrained settings.

    Prerequisites: P=IDCE 310

  
  • IDCE 30309 - Research Practicum: Health, Communities, and the Environment


    This course is a substitute for the individual Masters Final Project course IDCE30213 when the student is working as part of a larger project team. The course is designed to coordinate, guide and implement team project research efforts that are new or ongoing in the Health and Environment IDCE Signature domain. Each student has a specific task and role in the larger team effort, and her/his efforts make a significant contribution to the success of the larger project.  The course supports - and is supported by - the ongoing Holliston Health (H2). Project H2 is a multi-dimensional project that draws from environmental science and policy, epidemiology, GIS, hydrology, water engineering, political and social networks, and health anthropology.  Students can take the course for 0.5 or 1.0 course credit (as they could with IDCE30213).  Students not only learn how to develop their own research focus/questions in the context of the larger research goals, they learn mixed methods for data gathering and processing, as well as valuable team-project collaborative learning that is highly sought-after professionally.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: annually

  
  • IDCE 30310 - Transitional Justice: Theoretical Debates, Institutional Frameworks, and Development Impacts


    Never forget” and “never again” are promises-to remember the horrors of the past and to prevent their reoccurrence in the future. Present circumstances shape the possibilities of what can be done to realize both goals in the wake of mass atrocities. This course examines: 1) how these circumstances affect understandings of what “transitional justice” means to different actors; 2) the myriad forms it takes in different contexts (e.g. criminal proceedings, truth and reconciliation commissions, reparations, and memory projects); and 3) the impacts these initiatives have upon post-conflict reconstruction and development.

     

    The course is divided into two sections. The first section is philosophical and historical in orientation. The focus is upon the ethical issues, political events, and the legal mechanisms out of which the concept of “transitional justice” emerged and has since become institutionalized. The second section consists of topic-focused case studies on development-related issues - ranging from displacement and corruption to sexual violence and climate change - in different countries such as Yugoslavia, Argentina, Cambodia, Guatemala, Rwanda, among others. The details shed light on both the implementation of transitional justice proceedings in concrete settings, creating the basis for informed comparative discussions.

     

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Bi-Annually

  
  • IDCE 30325 - Controversial and Emerging Environmental Issues at the Science-Policy Interface


    This graduate course examines cutting-edge and controversial environmental challenges situated at the nexus of environmental science and environmental policy. Through a series of in-depth case studies, each week we tackle a specific controversial or emerging environmental issue from two perspectives: (1) scientific evidence framing understanding of the issue and (2) policy implications and desirable countermeasures to tackle the issue. By combing both social science and natural science perspectives, we will tackle a broad array of emerging topics at the forefront of scientific understanding and policy action. Topics will include marine plastic waste, urban waste treatment options, nuclear energy and waste, carbon capture and storage, nitrogen use, pesticides (neonicitinoids and glyphosphates), GMOs, methane emissions in agriculture, gas fracking, and natural resource (fish stocks and water) management, and deforestation. We will examine each of these issues from a range of geographical scales and locations. Some cases will be centered on the USA (e.g gas fracking) whilst others will be focused globally (marine plastic waste and fishing stocks). Other cases will involve a multi-national comparison of policy responses (e.g. GMOs, pesticides etc.). Our study of scientific evidence shaping understanding of the nature and dangers of the environmental challenge will highlight scientific uncertainties. It will also contrast differing scientific conclusions regarding the same environmental phenomena. Our study of policy will scrutinize both existing policies in place to manage the specific problem, and new or additional policy actions required for further addressing the problem. This graduate course is of especially high relevance to Environmental Science and Policy students, or other graduates interested in gaining scientific and policy literacy in an array of cutting edge environmental challenges. ES&P major undergraduate enrolments will be considered after consultation with the instructor.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Varies

  
  • IDCE 30326 - Beyond Victims and Villains? Politics of Gender-Based Violence in the “Global South”


    Reductionist analyses of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in the “Global South”, that often depict women as victims and men as villains, are embedded in the imagery and discourses of International media, politics, and the realm of International development. While GBV continues to be a predicament worldwide, this problematic representation of this region has served to reinforce cultural, religious, political, and moral stereotypes of the “Other.” How do we understand and critique GBV in the “Global South”? How can we acknowledge the seriousness of GBV without contributing to the stigmatization of particular communities and their representation as exceptional? How can GBV be understood and analyzed in a way that does not (re)produce the Orientalist and xenophobic stereotypes of victims and villains? This course aims to look at the politics of GBV as a highly complex and variable phenomenon, which intersects with a web of political, structural, and legal systems of oppression and power relations operating locally, regionally, and globally (Merry, 2011). The course will examine these structures of power that continue to shape and complicate the experiences of women and men in the “South” with violence. Reductionist analyses of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in the “Global South”, that often depict women as victims and men as villains, are embedded in the imagery and discourses of International media, politics, and the realm of International development. While GBV continues to be a predicament worldwide, this problematic representation of this region has served to reinforce cultural, religious, political, and moral stereotypes of the “Other.” How do we understand and critique GBV in the “Global South”? How can we acknowledge the seriousness of GBV without contributing to the stigmatization of particular communities and their representation as exceptional? How can GBV be understood and analyzed in a way that does not (re)produce the Orientalist and xenophobic stereotypes of victims and villains? This course aims to look at the politics of GBV as a highly complex and variable phenomenon, which intersects with a web of political, structural, and legal systems of oppression and power relations operating locally, regionally, and globally (Merry, 2011). The course will examine these structures of power that continue to shape and complicate the experiences of women and men in the “South” with violence.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Bi-Annually

  
  • IDCE 30327 - Ideologies of Race in Development


    This course explores the inherent silences in development discourse regarding “race”. We will explore how the colonial projects of civilizing the “primitives” was primarily a racial project that continues into modern day development. We synthesize historical, political, and anthropological approaches to examine how the beliefs in “racial” hierarchies dominated the ideologies of social evolution, eugenics, the missionary project, colonialism, slavery, and current international development. We will also explore how this racial discourse was appropriated by global resistance movements. This is a graduate seminar course. Students will be expected to lead a seminar discussion and write a 20-25 page research paper.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: varied

  
  • IDCE 30330 - Approaches to Community Health


    What makes a community healthy? Why do some community members thrive, while others consistently experience health disparities?  The social determinants of health - the conditions in which people are born, live, work, play and age have significant impact on individual and population health.  Similarly, the factors that influence community health and wellness are complex and inter-related such as health literacy, availability of services, culture, and social and behavioral norms, these issues require multi-disciplinary coordinated approaches across sectors.  In this course, you will learn:

    How to assess a community’s health and how to identify needs using evidence-based methodologies

    How to identify and select evidence-based approaches to solve problems

    How to empower and mobilize community members to engage in community health improvement efforts

    Paying particular attention to vulnerable populations, we will examine challenges and barriers communities face, as well as current movements that promote social justice and health equity across a variety of current and emerging threats to community health.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Annual

  
  • IDCE 30360 - Spatial Analysis for Health


    This graduate-level course provides an introduction to Geographic Information Science and its application in public health research and practice. Each week incorporates a lecture and a computer lab that focuses on a health-care issue. Topics covered may include mapping disease rates, analyzing health outcomes, access to health care and health resources, environmental justice, exposure assessment, and social determinant of health. Students will learn how to visualize and analyze health-related and demographic data, and how to geocode tabular data. They will have the opportunity to develop their GIS skills using commercial and open source GIS software and to conduct their own independent research on a topic of their interest.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Annually

  
  • IDCE 30365 - Global Issues in Education


    An upper-level undergraduate (juniors and seniors) and graduate seminar. The course will use the logic and principles of international and comparative education to explore the phenomena of education and international development as they pertain to a range of intersecting and cross-cutting themes. We will examine education historically and currently through issues such as globalization, aid and development, gender, youth, HIV/AIDS, and displaced and migrant communities.

  
  • IDCE 30391 - Introduction to Public Policy: Context and Analysis


    Nonprofit and public affairs professionals are faced with finding viable solutions to increasingly complex public problems-from raising revenue to fix congested roadways to reducing poverty. To do so they often rely on policy analysts to investigate problems, formulate solutions, forecast outcomes, and choose between competing policy proposals. This course introduces students to the major institutions and processes involved in the development and implementation of public policy in the United States. We will examine why some problems reach the public agenda, why some solutions are adopted and others rejected, and why some policies appear to succeed while others appear to fail. The course will also explore a number of contemporary issues in American public policy that can impact the work of nonprofit and public affairs professionals such as education, health, social welfare, immigration, and the environment.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Annually (Module)

  
  • IDCE 30393 - Seminar in Social Applications of GIS


    Seminar in Social Applications of GIS Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a powerful tool for data visualization and analysis. This graduate-level seminar investigates how GIS is used to understand and respond to an array of social, economic, and environmental issues. Specific topics will include: community mapping, local government decision making, geo-demographics, sustainable development, urban and regional planning, disaster preparedness and emergency management, health, poverty and environmental justice, and hunger vulnerability. Students will read and critically evaluate current literature on these topics and facilitate class discussions. Some applications will be illustrated through case studies with hands-on GIS exercises.

    Prerequisites: GEOG 190 /GEOG 390 /IDCE 310 - Intro to Geographic Information Systems 

  
  • IDCE 30396 - Politics and Policy: Responses to Sustainability, Climate Change, and Energy


    This course critically examines various political and policy measures implemented across the globe in response to various sustainability, energy and climate change challenges. Through multiple case studies we will approach the broad theme of environmental politics, governance and policy from three dimensions: global, national and city-level. Global level political and policy frameworks will focus on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol. National level responses will focus on policy solutions and climate governance in the context of the European Union (Emissions Trading Scheme and various GHG emission and renewable energy targets) and the USA (taken as an example of a nation without an effective national climate policy). After examining the socio-cultural factors, strengths, impacts and limitations of international and national level political responses to climate change and sustainability we will then analyze the experiences of several frontrunner cities around the globe implementing innovative policy responses to climate change in the building sector. These cases will include several large cities from Asia (Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo), USA (Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Houston and New York) and Australia (Sydney and Melbourne). We will also examine innovative policy initiatives by other small communities around the USA to hasten societal transitions towards sustainability.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: annually

  
  • IDCE 30397 - People on the Move Research Studio


    Refugee Integration in Worcester

     

    People on the move, including refugees, migrants, and undocumented movers, can be hard to incorporate in standard social science methodologies and difficult to include in participatory research. The first third of this full-semester participatory research studio familiarizes students with innovative techniques for producing knowledge of mobile people’s lives, livelihoods, and concerns in a collaborative way, and promotes understanding of local, state, and national policies for refugee support, integration, or management. During the middle of the semester, students will participate in an action research project with refugee participants, agency staff, and other researchers (project may change from year to year). Analysis of data, write-up, and community sharing take place in the final part of the semester. This year, we will be exploring Refugee Integration in Worcester-Best Practices with community partners and practitioners.

    ID or IDCE research methods course - can be taken concurrently

    Prerequisites:
     

    Anticipated Terms Offered: annually

  
  • IDCE 30398 - Innovation and Societal Transformations Toward Sustainability


    This course examines the various forms of scientific, social, technical and political innovation required to drive societal transformations towards sustainability. In particular, we will focus upon the way by which science (and universities in particular) contribute to societal innovation through cross-sector networks with various stakeholders from government, industry and civil society. We begin by examining the evolution of the modern research university and the global emergence of the entrepreneurial university and technology transfer to industry. After identifying trends and problems with traditional forms of technology transfer and university-industry collaboration, we will consider the need for alternative forms of university-stakeholder collaborations for tackling complex sustainability problems. From here our course will explore through case studies various emerging innovation attempts around the world to trigger societal transformations towards sustainability. Various analytical lenses used include “living laboratories”, “climate experiments”, “environmental governance” and “sustainability transitions”, in addition to emerging concepts of “co-design”, “co-production” and “co-creation” for sustainability. The examination of real-life partnerships (particularly in the New England region) for spurring innovation towards sustainability will form a key component of this course. Students will also gain firsthand knowledge via field trips to Boston (University of Boston) and the City of Cambridge (MIT and Harvard) and live SKYPE interviews with key actors in various locations across the USA and Canada.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: annually

  
  • IDCE 30399 - MDGs and the Post 2015 Development Agenda


    This course explores the politics and practice of global development “policy” by critically examining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including their systems of design, targets, participation, commitments, responsibilities, implementation, accountability, and funding. The course draws on the analytical framework of global public policy and governance that examines the complexity and tensions of pursuing international development cooperation in the context of national sovereignty. We will also explore the contradictions inherent in efforts to “improve lives” around the world. The course consists of three inter-related sections. For the first few weeks we will examine concepts of global development policy and planning by exploring the various frameworks that underpin post-war development governance. This approach will help us understand how various stakeholders - states and institutions - construct the global development apparatus. In part II of the course we will explore the history, politics and core principles of the Millennium Development Goals and the new Sustainable Development Goals, as well as their aspirations, achievements and failures. The final section will look at the multiple consequences (intended and unintended) of the post-2015 development agenda.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: annually

  
  • IDCE 30701 - Beyond the Population Bomb: Rethinking population and the environment in an era of climate change


    Population, or “overpopulation,” has long been blamed as a primary reason for environmental problems, including climate change. In this class, we will examine the gendered and racialized ways that environmental thinkers have framed population in relation to resource scarcity, food insecurity, conflict and violence, environmental degradation and climate change. Starting from the 1948 bestsellers Our Plundered Planet and Road to Survival to the 2014 coffee table book, Overdevelopment, Overpopulation, Overshoot, we will analyze environmental discourses that call for population reduction to address environmental issues. We will explore how these discourses influence environmental activism, impact sexual and reproductive health policy, and fuel anti-immigrant rhetoric, while obscuring the complex contributors to environmental problems. In the class, we will look to reproductive, environmental and climate justice movements to find frameworks that propose action on environmental issues while fighting for social justice.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall

  
  • IDND 011 - Making a Difference


    This course will offer a scholarly perspective on “making a difference,” defined as the many varieties of social change ranging from philanthropy to political activism. Students will analyze how others have made a difference in a range of times and places, and will learn skills to make a difference at three levels: in their lives, on the Clark campus, and in the city of Worcester. This is a multi-disciplinary course in which readings will be derived from the fields of sociology, psychology, community development, urban studies, education, social policy, and political science. Themes of personal growth, leadership, collaboration, and activism will be explored. In addition to writing assignments, students will be expected to participate actively in class discussions and experiential exercises, as well as complete a structured service placement in a neighborhood agency. The concluding assignment will be a proposal for community-based social change activity.

    Prerequisites: VE placement required

    Program of Liberal Studies (PLS) Designation: VE

    Anticipated Terms Offered: unknown

  
  • IDND 018 - Expository Writing


    Centered on student writing, this course teaches the writing process, emphasizing revision. Students write informal exercises and essays. This course is required of some students.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every semester

  
  • IDND 019 - Fiction on the Fringe: Crimes, Addictions, and Psychoses


    This course examines representative works of 20th century fiction (both literary fiction and film) that deal with the social or psychological outcast(s). While studying these works of fiction, students will primarily focus on each author’s/filmmaker’s construction of narrative point of view and characterization, both of which help create the marginalized figures who dominate the novels/films. These marginalized characters allow the authors/filmmakers to question and critique traditional, mainstream society’s morals, values, laws, and codes of behavior. Students will also investigate the novels’/films’ subjective versus objective realities and the differentiation between marginal versus mainstream ethos.

    Prerequisites: VE placement or IDND 018  

    Program of Liberal Studies (PLS) Designation: VE

    Anticipated Terms Offered: varied

  
  • IDND 021 - Queer Horror


    From Frankenstein to Freddy Krueger, the horror monster has thrilled and terrified horror fans for decades. What the general audience might not recognize is how the monster embodies society’s anxieties, particularly those involving sexuality and gender. In this class, we will analyze a selection of horror novels and films, paying attention to how the monsters are “coded” as queer, exploring how the monsters are representations of popular culture’s changing views on queerness, and considering how and why the queer monster has evolved over the decades. We will also consider how a queer audience might have responded to these monsters.

    Prerequisites: VE placement required

    Program of Liberal Studies (PLS) Designation: VE

    Anticipated Terms Offered: -

  
  • IDND 022 - Writing: Topics Workshop


    Fall 2015 topic: Monsters, Tales, and Going to the Dark Side

    We live in strange times. On one hand, we in the 21st Century claim to prize logic and rationality above all else; in our college classrooms, in our Fortune 500 boardrooms and in our civic debates over immigration, birth control or oil exploration, our society seeks empirical data and proof. Yet in the popular media the irrational prevails. We are obsessed, it seems, with zombies and vampires, conspiracy theories, terror and tall tales. Why? Is there something in us that craves the balance of light and darkness? Literature and art have always provided an artistic and intellectual space to explore what logic and reason cannot, the unspoken possibilities inherent in humanity. In this course, we will read two novels as well a number of traditional tales and contemporary short stories in the hope of understanding how art and fiction seeks to enlighten us about the darker sides of ourselves.
    We will be reading for every class, but this is primarily a writing class. You will be writing about what you read each week. My aim is that the monsters and misdeeds in our readings will inspire you, challenge you but also improve your critical reading abilities. You will write in and out of class. You will do some creative writing (stories), daily response pages, an analytical paper and an essay exploration of historical and culture importance of the monsters we make in literature and art.

    Prerequisites:  

    Verbal Expression placement or previous completion of IDND 18

    Program of Liberal Studies (PLS) Designation: VE

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall

  
  • IDND 025 - Community Leadership: Building Student Engagement


    Transitioning to a new academic community comes with great expectations, an opportunity to define your sense of self, and the chance to grapple with new ideas and to experiment with different approaches to learning. This course will explore a broad definition of leadership to prepare students for an engaged and purposeful role as members of the Clark community. Through dialogue and readings from multiple disciplines/genres, students will increase their knowledge about community values, relationships, and responsibilities. Students will be challenged to answer four questions as they transition into the Clark community: who am I; who am I as a new student at Clark; what does it take to be successful inside and outside of the classroom; and what is my role and purpose in this community? Course readings, research, and writing assignments will focus on ethical wisdom, intentional decision making, and personal values.

     

    Program of Liberal Studies (PLS) Designation: VP

    Anticipated Terms Offered: unknown

  
  • IDND 030 - LEEP Fellows Symposium


    This course is designed to prepare and support students completing LEEP Projects.  The goal of this course is to provide a forum through which students learn how to communicate their experiences completing problem-based projects in various ways to different audiences.  The course will emphasize communication skills, project development, proposal writing, professional development, and reflection.  By the end of the course, students will be able to integrate their summer experience with both their academic coursework and professional goals, and communicate this in a number of ways to different audiences.
    This course is required of all students completing LEEP Projects.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: every summer

  
  • IDND 050 - Unpacking the Journey: Post-Study Abroad Reflections


    A half-credit course, taught Pass/Fail, available to any student who has completed any Clark-approved Study Abroad program. A medieval Berber traveler and scholar once said “Traveling - it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” In this course, you’ll tell your story, and engage with the stories of your peers and with seminal works of others who have returned changed.

    How might you explore and articulate your transformations? How do you integrate the experience of living and learning away from home with the rest of your Clark life? The goal is to gain an awareness of how study abroad has shaped your personal and academic growth, and to gain a greater understanding of how to inincorporate this journey into your life journey.  

    Prerequisites: Students must have completed any Clark Study Abroad program.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall or Spring

  
  • IDND 066 - Global Society


    The globalization of cultural, economic and political life is a defining theme of modern existence. Globalization presents the possibility of a common humanity. It also offers the reality of peoples in intimate contact, yet utterly divided. The great international institutions of the 20th century-the United Nations, the IMF, World Bank, and the World Trade Organization-try to reconcile these differences. Yet they also re-assert Western dominance. This course provides a wide-ranging, historical and theoretical  introduction to these themes of global society. Fulfills the Global Perspective.

    Program of Liberal Studies (PLS) Designation: GP

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

  
  • IDND 087 - Challenge Convention, Change our World


    The motto of Clark University is “Challenge Convention, Change our World.” But how does major societal change happen? What theories and paradigms exist to help us understand when change occurs or fails to occur? This course will use a series of case studies to introduce students to the analysis and theoretical dimensions of societal change within geography and allied social science disciplines. Among the cases we will study are the rise and fall in the popularity of living in cities, changing societal attitudes toward cigarette smoking, and the adoption of renewable energy technologies. Students will also have the opportunity to develop their own case studies, and will be presented with different ways of building capacity to lead and effect change. We will encourage social learning through dialogue and classroom discussions, lectures, multimedia presentations and guest speakers, capacity-building activities, and written assignments.

    Prerequisites: VE Placement

    Program of Liberal Studies (PLS) Designation: VE

    Anticipated Terms Offered: unknown

  
  • IDND 101 - American Sign Language I


    This course is an introduction to American Sign Language (ASL), a visual/gestural language used by deaf people in the United States and Canada. Students learn visual readiness skills to recognize and express spatial relationships and to use appropriate non-manual signals, such as facial expressions and body movements. Course topics include communicative functions, vocabulary, grammar and cultural aspects of the deaf community. The course also covers functional communication to help students understand the needs and history of the deaf as well as their community. Students learn the differences between American Sign Language and oral communication for the deaf.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year in the fall

  
  • IDND 102 - American Sign Language II


    A continuation of American Sign Language (IDND 101), including grammar, basic vocabulary, manual alphabets/numbers, and visual gestural communication. ASL written code will also be covered.

    Prerequisites: IDND 101

    Program of Liberal Studies (PLS) Designation: LP

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Every Spring

  
  • IDND 110 - Becoming a Problem Solver


    This course -­‐ in combination with the Social Innovator’s Toolbox and the daily work at an internship -­‐ will help you develop four Power Tools and two essential Daily Practices that will improve your ability to solve problems big and small. The Tools and Practices presented in this course will start you down the path to becoming a great problem solver, which will in turn make you a more valuable employee now and in the future, and help you to become a contributor to solving the many tough challenges facing humanity.  Work for this course includes five orientation boot camp days, the Friday reflection and workshop days, and the final showcase.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: fall, annually

  
  • IDND 112 - The Social Innovator’s Toolbox


    This course will expose students to the concepts and practices associated with social innovation and social entrepreneurship - i.e., the development and growth of new, sustainable, and scalable approaches to the major social economic, and environmental challenges facing society.  Students will learn a variety of tools and methods used for the development, implementation, management, and assessment of social solutions that they will be able to use over the course of their careers. 

     

    This course provides the theoretical foundation and academic counterpart to the Social Innovation Fellowship and Social Innovation Fellowship Workshops.  The course will emphasize the systemic, interdisciplinary, and often cross-sector nature of both the problems and their solutions.

     

    As a course rooted in the social sciences, students will learn some basic concepts of social science methodology and data collection techniques and analysis.  This will be important to support their ability to read, understand, and interpret some of the research and data driven materials we plan to use in the course.  In addition, there will be an emphasis put on using a systems approach to understanding the complexity of the social issues we will cover.  While students’ internships will provide one context for their understanding of social issues, the course will aim to provide the broader cultural, community, and societal contexts relevant to how issues arose and what solutions are the most likely to succeed.

     

    Student learning will be assessed through a set of writing assignments and a group project with writing and presentation components.  As a seminar course, students will experience the course as highly participatory and interactive, experiential and dynamic.  Students will actively engage with instructors and each other on the complex social issues facing our society using a variety of sources including texts and articles, cases, video, and guest speakers. 

     

     

    Prerequisites: VE PLACEMENT OR IDND 018

    Program of Liberal Studies (PLS) Designation: VE

    Anticipated Terms Offered: fall

  
  • IDND 140 - Race, Health, and Social Justice in United States History


    IDND 140: Race, Health, and Social Justice in United States History

     

    Students in this First Year Intensive will examine the inextricable connectedness of race and racism to medicine, science and health care throughout United States history. Race and health will be studied as historical phenomena that rely on the constructions, productions and experiences of each other.  Despite examining race writ large, we will focus on the African American experience within the medical and health services delivery system of the United States. Students will explore how public health, medical, and scientific authorities have conceptualized, portrayed and treated African Americans as both individual “patients” and as a “racial” group, writ large. We will also explore how political and cultural authorities have used health and medical sciences to enact racist ideas and policies. Furthermore, students will assess the ways in which individual African Americans and predominantly African-American organizations have earned for themselves quality and equitable health care services, thus constituting an important American social movement. African-American doctors, nurses, scientists and political activists play important roles in many of the histories that students will read and discuss. This course progresses chronologically and thematically. It is designed to be topical, not comprehensive.

     

    Program of Liberal Studies (PLS) Designation: Historical Perspective (HP)

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall 2017

  
  • IDND 200 - Advanced Topics in Gender, Race, and Area Studies


    SPRING 2108 Topic: LGTBQ Social Movements Across the Global Line

    Global LGTBQ communities have successfully utilized various cultural, political, and legal strategies to enact social change: marriage equality, transgender visibility, job protection, and parental rights, to name a few. However, the pace of civil rights has not progressed evenly. LGBTQ people are not only denied their basic legal rights in many nations, government sanctioned violence toward LGBTQ people is increasing on a global level. Students will grapple with these historical, political and cultural tensions in a number of ways. First, students will examine the history of international LGBTQ social change that began with the Second World War. Next, students will explore the causes and ramifications of current discriminatory policies and actions against LGBTQ people in various geographical localities. Thirdly, students will engage in an action-research project in which they utilize the history to confront the current issues. The Center for Gender, Race and Area Studies (CGRAS) is offering LGBTQ Social Movements as its first course that connects CGRAS’s seven different interdisciplinary programs: Africana, Holocaust and Genocide, Latin American and Latino, Peace, Comparative Race and Ethnic, Asian, and Women’s and Gender Studies. Not only will the disciplinary standards of these programs frame the course, students will complete their final projects through the academic lenses of these various programs.  May be repeatable for credit.

    Program of Liberal Studies (PLS) Designation: VP, DI

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Periodically

  
  • IDND 297 - Honors


    Readings and research for students in the honors program. May be repeatable for credit.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Every Semester

  
  • IDND 299 - Directed Study


    Undergraduates, typically juniors and seniors, construct an independent study course on a topic (in an area not covered in regular courses) approved and directed by a faculty member.  Offered for variable credit.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: Every Summer

  
  • IDND 1130 - Writing to Heal


    An exploration of writing as a tool in maintaining health and well being. We will look at the medical and psychological research that supports the belief that writing boosts in the immune system, reduces emotional distress, and lessens physical pain for some people. Through hands-on practice and group sharing we will become familiar with the ways in which the literary arts are tools for personal growth.

  
  • IDND 1630 - Another Way of Seeing: The World View of the Bible


    We will see how a particular way of looking at God, the world and the nature of humanity emerges by tracing the historical development of the people of Israel through to the early followers of Jesus. This way of seeing will provoke thought, challenge our own presuppositions and engage us in lively conversation about the bible and its meaning. This course assumes no prior knowledge of the Bible, but will require students to interact with the biblical material by reading significant portions of it from each of its different genres. The readings, discussions and presentations will challenge students to let the Bible speak for itself and draw their own conclusions accordingly. Students will also explore areas of personal interest and share their discoveries with the class.

  
  • IDND 1670 - Children’s Literature


    No doubt everyone has a children’s book they remember loving or having a particular impact. When books appeal to a child’s interests in natural, interesting ways, they develop a realtionship with literature that will last a lifetime. Students will learn how to recognize best literature for children, compile a children’s literature book summary, participate in discussions of the genre, and create an original example of literature for children.

  
  • IDND 2000 - Special Topics: Interdisciplinary


    This course addresses current or timely topics, that are in a pilot phase or that are known to be one time offerings.  Special Topics vary from semester to semester.

    May be repeatable for credit.

    SUMMER 2017 TOPIC: YOUTH CULTURE IN CUBA - This course will address topics related to youth culture in modern Cuba, including opportunities for youth to express themselves creatively, socially, and politically. Readings for this course will range from scholarly articles, newspaper articles and blogs, to documentaries on Cuba’s economy, political structure, history, and culture.  This course includes travel to Havana, Cuba from June 18-June 27, 2017. In Cuba, students will participate in lectures, site visits, and service learning opportunities regarding youth culture. There is a fee of $2,680 associated with this course. To register for this course, students must have successfully submitted an application and been approved as a program participant in February 2017.

    Anticipated Terms Offered: varied

 

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