Program Philosophy

The International Development (ID) Program is designed for students concerned with analyzing and participating in economic, environmental, social, and political change, with particular emphasis on improving opportunities for the poor and disenfranchised of the Third World.
The program recognizes that in our new globalized environment, the "Third World" is as much a set of relationships and conditions as it is a place, and may just as easily include parts of Washington, D.C. and rural America as it does the Sahel and Cairo. The Washington locale of the program helps students understand how international development has become a world-wide process, intimately linking North and South, rich and poor, macro and micro activities, international development agencies and grass-roots organizations.

Concern for the poor and disenfranchised underscores a distinguishing feature of the ID Program - the recognition among students and faculty that development brings important costs as well as benefits, and that these are not equally shared. Given this perspective, development becomes an ethical and political as well as a technical undertaking. The ID Program is dedicated to ensuring that development is a "community" exercise that respects the preferences and interests of all those affected, regardless of class, race, or gender. With this community focus, equity becomes a central objective, in decision-making as well as the distribution of benefits.

This sense of community also characterizes the ID Program itself. Since its founding, the ID Program has focused on building a sense of mutual commitment and respect. Through both formal and informal activities, the faculty and students work together both academically and socially to create projects and research plans, discuss ideas, and evaluate and improve the program. The students themselves play an important role in the ID Program. In addition to taking part in all SIS policy-making bodies, ID students have their own organization, the International Development Program Student Association (IDPSA), which is actively involved in academic and program policy, community and professional programs, and social affairs. With support from the Society for International Development the IDPSA sponsors a weekly speaker series, The Friday Forum, which brings academics and practitioners to campus to discuss current issues facing the international development community.

Goals and Approach:

The approach of the ID Program is multidisciplinary, combining both micro and macro-level analysis to link theory with practical skills, and research with action to provide training in implementation skills as well as critical analysis. Students are able to craft a concentration, based on a core program that emphasizes the following:

a.) General understanding of the major contending theories and approaches to international development, their basic assumptions, and their relationship to present development-related policies in both rich and poor nations.

b.) Analysis of the major development related institutions at the international, national, and local levels, the impact of this institutional environment upon development policy choices, and ways in which individuals can become effectively involved both at home and abroad.

c.) Development of skills of critical analysis, active listening, and effective monitoring and implementation to enable students to dissect and evaluate present theories, policies and programs, as well as prepare and carry out alternative approaches.

d.) Critical evaluation of current international development issues and problems, such as debt, sustainability, women in development, hunger, and conflict, with particular attention to the implications and dilemmas for the politically and economically disenfranchised.

Special Opportunities:

The ID Program is actively involved in professional training, both on and off-campus. For the past ten years, it has offered a series of international development Skill Institutes that provide both degree students and those from other disciplines intensive short-term training in particular development techniques. Topics include: Cost-Benefit Analysis; Cultural Dynamics of Management; Gender Analysis; International Resource Development; Small Business Development; Organizational Development; Project & Program Evaluation; Rapid/Participatory Rural Appraisal; and Strategic Planning.

The ID Program offers the Tinker Walker Travel Fellowship for travel in the Spring, Summer and Fall for the purpose of assisting students involved in SRP or Thesis Research, Practicum, or Internship. This Fellowship is named in honor of Drs. Irene Tinker and Millidge Walker, former members of the International Development Faculty whose generous support has helped make this program possible.

Named after the founder and first director of the International Development Porgram, the Steve Arnold Innovative Small Grants fund innovative development ideas that may be useful to communities, organizations, and/or the ID Program, or may serve as catalyts or provide leverage for other undertakings.

The ID Program has also worked in the past with the Organization of American States to provide management training for Caribbean managers in the public sector, with the World Bank to train development managers from Oman, and with USAID to train mid-career officials in cutting edge development techniques.

The program makes extensive use of Washington, D.C. as one of the world's key centers of international development activity. Not only is Washington the central source of key documents and data, but it also serves as the home base for thousands of international development professionals working in both large and small organizations. The ID Program relies on Washington for most of its adjunct faculty, and its intern program helps students learn about the policymaking process and network with Washington-based organizations. The wide variety of libraries, as well as policy-makers and development experts available in the area serve as important sources of information. In addition, the ID Program practicum focuses on communities in the Washington area, permitting students to test and refine their management skills in dealing with local development problems.