2018-2019 Academic Catalog 
    
    Mar 28, 2024  
2018-2019 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

International Development and Social Change, MA


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IDSC Graduate Program Overview


The Master of Arts degree in International Development and Social Change (IDSC) emphasizes the connection between critical thinking and effective action. It is designed for scholars of international development, as well as for present and future practitioners of grassroots and community-based development.

The challenge for the 21st-century is to promote just and equitable development and sustain environmental resources through critical thought and reflection, planning, and action. The IDCE Department and the IDSC Program stress approaches that foster alliances and partnerships between local institutions and broader stakeholders such as external development agencies, universities, and state and non-governmental organizations.

This master’s program helps students conceptualize innovative approaches to development problems by building an understanding of the complex causes, influences and implications of poverty, inequality, social injustice, and conflict. Rooted in the belief that effective approaches merge many disciplines, the IDSC MA employs a cross-disciplinary focus, with faculty from anthropology, development studies, economics, environmental sciences, women and gender studies, education, geography, history, government, and management.

The IDSC MA Program has three key elements:

  1. We challenge conventional ideas about development and seek innovative alternatives,
  2. We understand how the interplay of power relationships gives rise to social injustice and inequity, and
  3. We explore the linkages between critical thinking and effective development practices at the community, regional, national, and global levels.

Visit www.clarku.edu/departments/idce/academicsGradID.cfm on the IDCE Web site for more information about the IDSC program.

Graduate Program Requirements


IDSC Course of Study


The Master’s degree in International Development and Social Change requires a minimum of 12 graduate course units. These include three required core courses, two skills/methods courses, and six elective courses.  Students may choose to pursue a concentration by taking six elective courses within one of ten possible IDCE concentrations. The final course unit provides a choice of completing a Thesis, an MA paper, a Practitioner paper, or an IDCE Capstone course.

Required Core Courses


  • IDCE 360 Development Theory  provides a critical overview of historical and contemporary theories of development across a range of disciplines. The course encourages thinking about the multiplicity of development processes and the complex relations of power that underlie them.
  • IDCE 361 Development Program and Project Management  develops skills in needs assessment, project design, implementation, management, budgeting, scheduling, work plans, and monitoring/evaluation.  Students may take a graduate policy-oriented course as a substitute for the 361 requirement.
  • IDCE 30217 Economic Fundamentals for International Development  introduces economic history, as well as microeconomics and macroeconomics to non-economists, while illustrating practical applications of these techniques to real-world development situations.  Students with a substantial background in economics (e.g. an undergraduate major in economics) may apply to be exempt from this requirement.

IDSC students must take two course units of methods or skills courses.  We strongly suggest taking a research methods course (Qualitative, Quantitative or Mixed Methods).

IDSC students must complete one Final Project (1 unit); there are several options for the Final Project:

  • IDCE 30213 Master’s Final Research Paper :Thesis (after approval of a proposal, with two Faculty Readers) - Typically for those considering a doctoral path or professional research path. Research Paper (one Reader) - Typically based on secondary data analysis. Practitioner Paper (one Reader) - A deliverable based on the student’s professional experience (e.g. consultancy).
  • Collaborative Final Project- (led by faculty) - Tackling larger problems and issues, and providing students with team-based experience that reflects the professional setting.

  • A 3rd Methods/Skills focus via extra one Unit/Course and related to the student’s concentration or self-designed course of study.

After consulting with their advisors, students choose the option that is most compatible with their research and professional interests, and then develop these interests independently through the Final Project.

IDCE Methods/Skills Courses (a selection of 2 course units required)

The IDSC program requires students to take two course units of Methods/Skills courses (please see the Methods and Skills Options).

IDCE Concentrations (a selection of 6 course units per concentration)

Students select an IDCE concentration to focus their research, deepen their understanding of, and develop an area of concentration in one of the following 10 areas (please see the Concentrations List). Students may, with the approval of their academic advisor, elect to ‘self-design’ their area of concentration, however, only official concentration designations will appear on academic transcripts and not self-designed concentrations.

Directed Study and Internship


As one of the elective credits, students have the option of undertaking an internship or a directed study under supervision of an IDSC core or affiliate faculty member. Directed studies are an opportunity for students to engage in advanced level work (beyond what they learn in seminars) on issues of special interest to them. Directed studies take different forms (e.g. literature review, annotated bibliography, research paper, thesis preparation, grant proposal development, etc.) depending on the interest and abilities of each student, and the degree of involvement and supervision from the faculty.  Graduate Internships require 210 hours of internship engagement and the development of a substantive academic product, in the form of either a practitioner report or an academic paper.

Methods and Skills Options


IDCE methods and skills courses are grouped into three clusters. The first cluster consists of general methods courses that are appropriate to students across programs (IDSC, CDP, ES&P, and MHS). These courses are foundational and relevant to all concentrations. The second cluster consists of methods and skills courses that pertain more to specific programs, concentrations and/or certificates. Students should review the syllabi posted on Moodle and then consult with their advisors and/or the instructors to determine the relevance of the course materials to her/his plan of study. The third cluster consists of methods and skills courses that are highly specialized and are unlikely to be appropriate to students from other programs, concentrations, and/or certificates.

Second and third cluster courses may require technical skills as pre-requisites. Additionally, some second and third cluster methods and skills courses may be closed to students not enrolled in a specific program.

Cluster 1        General (offered at least annually)

IDCE 310 Intro to Geographic Information Systems  

IDCE 340 Fundamentals of Youth Work  

IDCE 358 Advanced Topics: Policy Analysis  

IDCE 361 Development Program and Project Management  

IDCE 366 Principles of Negotiation and Mediation: An Overview of Conflict Resolution Approaches  

IDCE 30103 Networks and Analytics of Development  

IDCE 30109 Introduction to Epidemiology and Biostastistics  

IDCE 30110 Social Policy: Qualitative methods for design and analysis  

IDCE 30225 Grant Writing for Community Developers  

IDCE 30229 Program Monitoring and Evaluation  

IDCE 30238 Public Communication Seminar  

IDCE 30281 Community Needs and Resource Analysis  

IDCE 30291 Qualitative Research Methods  

IDCE 30296 Nonprofit Management I  

Cluster 2        More Specialized (offered annually or biannually)

IDCE 319 Quantitative Methods And Statistics For Evaluators  

IDCE 332 Sustainable Development Assessment and Planning  

IDCE 333 Development Mgmt in Developing Countries  

IDCE 334 Planning and Zoning for Community Developers  

IDCE 335 Strategies for Community Organizing  

IDCE 30203 Program Evaluation for Youth and Community Development Initiatives  

IDCE 30204 Advanced Community Development Finance and Research  

IDCE 30218 Community Development Decision Making & Negotiations  

IDCE 30274 Computer Programming for GIS  

IDCE 30281 Community Needs and Resource Analysis  

IDCE 30282 Community Based Health Research  

IDCE 30287 Fundamentals of Environmental Science  

IDCE 30289 Community Development Finance  

IDCE 30306 GIS for International Development in Practice  

IDCE 30360 Spatial Analysis for Health  

IDCE 30393 Seminar in Social Applications of GIS  

Cluster 3        Highly Specialized (offered annually, biannually, or as demand requires)

GEOG 392 Remote Sensing of Global Environmental Change  

GEOG 397 Advanced Raster GIS  

IDCE 302 Python Programming  

IDCE 334 Planning and Zoning for Community Developers  

IDCE 342 Dynamic Modeling of Human/Environment Systems  

IDCE 388 Advanced Vector GIS  

IDCE 30102 Case Studies in Environmental Issues and Policy Analysis  

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

IDCE 30262 Web Mapping and Open Source GIS  

Concentrations


Students may select from one of the ten Concentrations within IDCE.

Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation

Reputation: Problem-centered, integrative thinkers who are engaged with the science of climate change and its impacts and/or the social science of adaptation, and can bring this expertise to the identification of climate-related challenges and their potential solutions.

Capabilities:

  • Courses that teach students about the design of climate-resilient development projects and programs
  • Training in the assessment of conflict risks associated with climate change
  • Training in adaptation-related development program monitoring and evaluation
  • Courses focused on the health implications of climate change
  • Earth systems science courses offered by faculty in the Graduate School of Geography
  • Capacity-building in defining and addressing environmentally-related vulnerability and resilience
  • Tremendous capacity for extramural funding and policy impact

GEOG 305 Introduction to Hydrology  

GEOG 333 Terrestrial Ecosystems and Global Change  

GEOG 343 Human Dimensions of Global Change  

GEOG 352 GIS & Land Change Science  

GEOG 360 GIS & Land Change Models  

GEOG 363 The Climate System and Global Environmental Change  

GEOG 378 Emerging Issues in Climate Change Science  

GEOG 392 Remote Sensing of Global Environmental Change  

IDCE 320 Food Production, Environment, and Health  

 IDCE 329 Property and Community  

 IDCE 332 Sustainable Development Assessment and Planning  

IDCE 352 Conflict in Sudan and the Horn of Africa  

IDCE 395 Culture, Environment, and Development  

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

IDCE 30102 Case Studies in Environmental Issues and Policy Analysis  

IDCE 30109 Introduction to Epidemiology and Biostastistics  

IDCE 30205 Climate Change, Energy and Development  

IDCE 30231 Humanitarian Assistances in Complex Emergencies/Disasters  

IDCE 30243 Seeing Like a Humanitarian Agency  

IDCE 30245 Natural Resource Management  

IDCE 30264 Environmental and Social Epidemiology  

IDCE 30272 Environmental Justice in Latin America  

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

IDCE 30399 MDGs and the Post 2015 Development Agenda  

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

Conservation and Development   

Reputation: Practitioners and thinkers who integrate the science of conservation with the critical perspectives of social science that ask what is being conserved, for whom, and why?

Capabilities:

  • Courses on natural resource governance, including the assessment of impacts of extractive projects on the surrounding populations and environment
  • Courses that promote the integration of social science and natural science perspectives into a coherent frame
  • Earth systems science courses offered by faculty in the Graduate School of Geography
  • Opportunities to experience the direct application to the practice of enhanced environmental impact assessment (EIA); conventional EIA is a key policy step for most development projects, and one that requires reform in ways that IDCE can champion and lead
  • Significant potential for extramural funding and policy influence

Courses (Note: the non-IDCE faculty who offer courses mentioned in this concentration have agreed to include their courses in this list):

GEOG 305 Introduction to Hydrology  

GEOG 309 Historical Foundations and Trends in Forest Ecology  

GEOG 323 Forest Ecology and Management Seminar  

GEOG 330 Introduction to Species Distribution Modeling  

GEOG 332 Landscape Ecology  

GEOG 333 Terrestrial Ecosystems and Global Change  

GEOG 336 Wildlife Conservation GIS Research Seminar  

GEOG 360 GIS & Land Change Models  

IDCE 332 Sustainable Development Assessment and Planning  

IDCE 358 Advanced Topics: Policy Analysis  

IDCE 395 Culture, Environment, and Development  

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

IDCE 30111 Urban Development: Process and Change  

IDCE 30209 Research Project Development for Environmental Science and Policy  

IDCE 30235 Trafficking: Globalization and Its Illicit Commodities  

IDCE 30243 Seeing Like a Humanitarian Agency  

IDCE 30245 Natural Resource Management  

IDCE 30264 Environmental and Social Epidemiology  

IDCE 30272 Environmental Justice in Latin America  

IDCE 30287 Fundamentals of Environmental Science  

IDCE 30288 Applied Ecology  

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

IDCE 30399 MDGs and the Post 2015 Development Agenda  

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

Refugees, Forced Migration, and Belonging

Reputation: Unique focus on a deeper understanding of the dynamics and interrelated processes of displacement that connect people on the move to multiple places, looking beyond the national context to understand mobility as constructed through other policy environments, multiple spaces of residence, transit, and belonging, and transnational livelihoods.

Capabilities:

  • Courses that train students to work across policy categories that come together in particular mobility situations
  • Courses that improve students’ ability to work with mobile, hidden, and vulnerable populations
  • Training in the elicitation of the experiences, challenges, needs, and capabilities of people on the move
  • Training in the elicitation of receiving communities’ concerns and perspectives
  • Courses that enhance student ability to understand mobile populations and their experiences through simultaneous and shifting connections to multiple places (i.e. sending areas, places of transit, places of resettlement)
  • Training on the monitoring and evaluation of refugee/displaced population outcomes

IDCE 332 Sustainable Development Assessment and Planning  

IDCE 352 Conflict in Sudan and the Horn of Africa  

IDCE 383 Cultures in Exile  

IDCE 30103 Networks and Analytics of Development  

IDCE 30107 Development, Urban Refugees and Forced Migrants  

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

IDCE 30111 Urban Development: Process and Change  

IDCE 30231 Humanitarian Assistances in Complex Emergencies/Disasters  

IDCE 30235 Trafficking: Globalization and Its Illicit Commodities  

IDCE 30243 Seeing Like a Humanitarian Agency  

IDCE 30248 Gender and Health  

IDCE 30297 Displacement and Development in the Contemporary World  

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

IDCE 30327 Ideologies of Race in Development  

IDCE 30397 People on the Move Research Studio  

Education and Development

Reputation: Transformational thinkers and practitioners seeking to shape education as a tool to bring about a more just, sustainable world.  We advocate critical education that prepares practitioners for reflexive practice in especially challenging domestic and international contexts.

Capabilities:

  • Innovative education programs for international development
  • Experience in urban education, especially in medium-sized cities
  • Courses on education for social movements
  • Courses at the intersection of gender, education, social change, and justice in its various forms
  • Courses in education studies, research and scholarship at the intersect/nexus of theory and practice

EDUC 308 Literacy Across the Curriculum  

EDUC 327 Culture, Language and Education  

EDUC 361 Human Development and Learning  

EDUC 381 Critical Pedagogies  

IDCE 332 Sustainable Development Assessment and Planning  

IDCE 333 Development Mgmt in Developing Countries  

IDCE 364 Educational Policy Issues in “Developing” Countries: Governance, Management, and Financing  

IDCE 30221 Education and Development  

IDCE 30365 Global Issues in Education  

Youth Development

Reputation: Professional and applied expertise working in small and mid-size cities (gateway cities). Track record collaborating with, and supporting public, private, and non-profit organizations involved in funding, creating, implementing, and evaluating projects and public policies relevant to youth and community engagement, violence prevention, models of youth work and practice.

Capabilities:

  • Courses promoting the direct engagement with youth work and practice professionals and organizations
  • Courses taught by scholar-practitioners with academic and applied experience
  • Youth Work Certificate Program
  • Capacity to attract extramural funding
  • Interdisciplinary faculty able to integrate insight form multiple fields relevant to youth development practice: non-profit management, juvenile justice, public policy, youth work, community organizing, research methods and evaluation

EDUC 381 Critical Pedagogies  

IDCE 303 Youth Work: Practice and Social Justice  

IDCE 332 Sustainable Development Assessment and Planning  

IDCE 335 Strategies for Community Organizing  

IDCE 340 Fundamentals of Youth Work  

IDCE 345 CDP Practice: Reflection and Deliberate Practice  

IDCE 387 Workforce Development and Urban/Regional Employment  

IDCE 30111 Urban Development: Process and Change  

IDCE 30203 Program Evaluation for Youth and Community Development Initiatives  

IDCE 30225 Grant Writing for Community Developers  

IDCE 30281 Community Needs and Resource Analysis  

IDCE 30296 Nonprofit Management I  

IDCE 30298 Nonprofit Management II  

Urban Regeneration: Economic and Workforce Development

Reputation: Professional and applied expertise working in cities ranging from small and mid-size gateway cities to major metropolitan areas like Boston. Track record collaborating with, and supporting public, private, and non-profit organizations involved in funding, creating, implementing, and evaluating projects and public policies relevant to workforce development.

Capabilities:

  • Direct engagement with workforce development professionals and organizations
  • Courses taught by scholar-practitioners with academic and applied experience
  • Capacity to attract extramural funding
  • Interdisciplinary faculty able to integrate insight from multiple fields relevant to workforce development: education, youth development, workforce development, research methods and evaluation

IDCE 303 Youth Work: Practice and Social Justice  

IDCE 308 Health (in)equity: social determinants and policy solutions  

IDCE 320 Food Production, Environment, and Health  

IDCE 332 Sustainable Development Assessment and Planning  

IDCE 334 Planning and Zoning for Community Developers  

IDCE 344 Going Local: Community Development and Planning  

IDCE 387 Workforce Development and Urban/Regional Employment  

IDCE 390 CDP Research Seminar  

IDCE 395 Culture, Environment, and Development  

IDCE 30107 Development, Urban Refugees and Forced Migrants  

IDCE 30111 Urban Development: Process and Change  

IDCE 30203 Program Evaluation for Youth and Community Development Initiatives  

IDCE 30204 Advanced Community Development Finance and Research  

IDCE 30205 Climate Change, Energy and Development  

IDCE 30218 Community Development Decision Making & Negotiations  

IDCE 30225 Grant Writing for Community Developers  

IDCE 30231 Humanitarian Assistances in Complex Emergencies/Disasters  

IDCE 30245 Natural Resource Management  

IDCE 30261 Immigration and Knowledge-Driven Industries  

IDCE 30281 Community Needs and Resource Analysis  

IDCE 30287 Fundamentals of Environmental Science  

IDCE 30289 Community Development Finance  

IDCE 30291 Qualitative Research Methods  

IDCE 30296 Nonprofit Management I  

IDCE 30298 Nonprofit Management II  

IDCE 30393 Seminar in Social Applications of GIS  

Monitoring Evaluation, and Learning

Reputation: Experienced practitioners in M&E, across international and domestic contexts, and with experience in both social and environmental programs.

Capabilities:

  • Courses in domestic and international project monitoring and evaluation
  • Courses on both qualitative and quantitative approaches to monitoring and evaluation
  • Program foci across the department which raise unique challenges for M&E (such as the evaluation of adaptation programs within a five-year project cycle, when adaptation cannot be measured on less than thirty-year timeframes), providing opportunities for projects and research
  • The monitoring and evaluation certificate program

IDCE 319 Quantitative Methods And Statistics For Evaluators  

IDCE 332 Sustainable Development Assessment and Planning  

IDCE 30103 Networks and Analytics of Development  

IDCE 30203 Program Evaluation for Youth and Community Development Initiatives  

IDCE 30225 Grant Writing for Community Developers  

IDCE 30229 Program Monitoring and Evaluation  

IDCE 30245 Natural Resource Management  

IDCE 30275 Gender in Development Planning  

IDCE 30281 Community Needs and Resource Analysis  

IDCE 30282 Community Based Health Research  

IDCE 30306 GIS for International Development in Practice  

IDCE 30360 Spatial Analysis for Health  

Gender and Identity

Reputation: A uniquely strong and deep faculty interest in this broad area, thought leadership in this area with regard to climate change, extractive industries, monitoring and evaluation, and health.

Capabilities:

  • Gender/identity-focused courses across all IDCE degree programs and concentrations
  • Faculty engaged in gender- and identity-related research and projects with donors and implementing organizations

IDCE 329 Property and Community  

IDCE 332 Sustainable Development Assessment and Planning  

IDCE 354 Beyond Victims and Guardian Angels: Third World Women, Gender and Development  

IDCE 357 Sex and development: the intersection of sexuality, morality, and modernity  

IDCE 358 Advanced Topics: Policy Analysis  

IDCE 395 Culture, Environment, and Development  

IDCE 30221 Education and Development  

IDCE 30103 Networks and Analytics of Development  

IDCE 30184 Gender Analysis of Power and Conflict  

IDCE 30235 Trafficking: Globalization and Its Illicit Commodities  

IDCE 30248 Gender and Health  

IDCE 30275 Gender in Development Planning  

IDCE 30360 Spatial Analysis for Health  

IDCE 30365 Global Issues in Education  

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

Health Equity

Reputation: Faculty with experience in transdisciplinary research and practice involving community stakeholders in the US and internationally.  Faculty strengths include water and sanitation, youth violence, sexual and reproductive health, communicable and non-communicable diseases, and addiction.  Longstanding collaborations with government and non-profit partners in central Massachusetts, Senegal, Kenya, Mexico, etc.

Capabilities:

  • Courses taught by scholar-practitioners with academic and applied experience
  • Capacity to attract extramural funding
  • Leir grant seeding faculty Impact projects
  • Soon to be launched Urban Healthscapes Collaboratory

IDCE 308 Health (in)equity: social determinants and policy solutions  

IDCE 320 Food Production, Environment, and Health  

IDCE 332 Sustainable Development Assessment and Planning  

IDCE 357 Sex and development: the intersection of sexuality, morality, and modernity  

IDCE 377 Approaches to Global Health  

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

IDCE 30103 Networks and Analytics of Development  

IDCE 30248 Gender and Health  

IDCE 30264 Environmental and Social Epidemiology  

IDCE 30282 Community Based Health Research  

IDCE 30306 GIS for International Development in Practice  

IDCE 30360 Spatial Analysis for Health  

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

Healthy People, Healthy Planet

Reputation: Engaged scholars who work at the intersection of health and environment and who bring multiple disciplines to bear on crucial contemporary challenges to health and sustainability (climate change, rapid and unplanned urbanization, rural/urban livelihoods, extractive industries, changing food systems).

Capabilities:

  • Courses that explore the environment and human-environment interactions as key determinants of human health
  • Courses on natural resource governance, including the assessment of impacts of extractive projects on the surrounding populations and environment
  • Courses that promote the integration of social science and natural science perspectives into a coherent frame.
  • Active faculty research portfolios in environmental health in central Massachusetts and abroad (Senegal, Ghana, Mali, Cote d’Ivoire) with potential for development of field courses and integrative projects
  • Significant potential for extramural funding and policy influence, including the potential to grow Clark’s reputation at the leading edge of the emerging field of planetary health

GEOG 343 Human Dimensions of Global Change  

IDCE 308 Health (in)equity: social determinants and policy solutions  

IDCE 320 Food Production, Environment, and Health  

IDCE 332 Sustainable Development Assessment and Planning  

IDCE 377 Approaches to Global Health  

IDCE 395 Culture, Environment, and Development  

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

IDCE 30205 Climate Change, Energy and Development  

IDCE 30231 Humanitarian Assistances in Complex Emergencies/Disasters  

 IDCE 30330 Approaches to Community Health  

 IDCE 30245 Natural Resource Management  

IDCE 30360 Spatial Analysis for Health  

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

Program Faculty


David Bell, Ed.D.
Nigel Brissett, Ed.D.
Cynthia Caron, Ph.D.
Anita Häusermann Fábos, Ph.D.
Jude Fernando, Ph.D.
Ellen Foley, Ph.D.
Ken MacLean, Ph.D.

Adjunct Faculty


Jacqueline Geoghegan, Ph.D.
Amy Ickowitz, Ph.D.
James T. Murphy, Ph.D.
Paul W. Posner, Ph.D.
Srinivasan Sitaraman, Ph.D.
Valerie Sperling, Ph.D.
Kristen Williams, Ph.D.

Research Faculty


Cynthia Enloe, Ph.D.
Denise Hunphreys Bebbington, Ph.D.

Visiting Faculty


Marianne Sarkis, Ph.D.
 

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