Our degrees & programs
Whether you're embarking on your first educational journey or you're a young or mid-career professional looking for training opportunities, you've come to the right place. Join us in our mission to make a direct social impact.
Major in Global Development
Interpret problems, clarify solutions, develop leadership and foster positive social change in social and economic development, agriculture and food systems or environment and development
- Learn more about undergraduate studies in Global Development
- Major requirements
- Engaged learning requirements
- Apply to the major
Undergraduate minors
- Community Food Systems: Engage with critical contemporary issues relating to food security, food sovereignty and food justice.
- Education: Prepare for a career in teaching and lifelong learning.
- Global Development: Prepare for impactful careers in global development by enhancing your global perspective and ability to contribute to equitable solutions
- Leadership: Develop the skills necessary to become a true leader and engage with diverse communities.
MPS in Global Development
Ph.D. in Development Studies
Professional training
- Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program: Professional enrichment in leadership and management for experienced mid-career professionals from developing countries in the fields of agriculture, environmental and natural resource management, biotechnology and city and regional planning.
- Lead New York: Leadership training for professionals in the food, agriculture and natural resource sectors in New York state and the Northeast through seminars, workshops and field travel.
Legacy majors
- Development Sociology: Gain understanding on societal development to better tackle poverty and improve the health, income, education and well-being of people in local and global environments. The Development Sociology major welcomed its final class of first-year students in the Fall of 2021.
- International Agriculture & Rural Development (IARD): Address poverty and food security in developing countries through innovations in agriculture, science and policy. The IARD major welcomed its final class of first-year students in the Fall of 2021.
Our experts
Got questions? Contact a member of our undergraduate studies and graduate studies teams.
Professor
Department of Global Development
Director of Graduate Studies, Graduate Field of Development Studies
Department of Global Development
Director, Institute for African Development
Global Cornell
- (607) 255-3213
- rbeznerkerr [at] cornell.edu
Research Professor
Department of Global Development
Director, Humphrey Fellowship Program
Department of Global Development
Director, Graduate Field of Global Development
Department of Global Development
- (607) 280-0264
- em37 [at] cornell.edu
- (607) 255-3092
- lm747 [at] cornell.edu
Professor
Department of Global Development
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Global Development
- (607) 255-3005
- jws28 [at] cornell.edu
Engaged learning
Not every classroom has four walls.
The quest for deeper fundamental understanding takes our students far outside the classroom. Students in Global Development confront today’s greatest challenges daily through:
- Hands-on research.
- Community engagement initiatives.
- In-class case studies.
- Global internships.
Our students take their experiences to every corner of the globe.
Funding opportunities
RANA Prize
The R-Adhikarya “Niche” Award (RANA) provides financial assistance to either a Ph.D. or professional master's (MPS) student in the Department of Global Development who is interested in studying and solving important contemporary problems and/or futuristic societal needs/wants not currently being considered or significantly addressed by others. Strong preference will be given to applicants with a focus on Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia, and those who demonstrate vision, interests or experiences in pursuing a “niche” area(s) of study and professional career.
- Eligibility: Matriculated MPS students in Global Development, Ph.D. students in the Graduate Field of Development Studies
- Funding: $10,000 prize
Cornell Assistantship for Horticulture in Africa (CAHA)
The Cornell Assistantship for Horticulture in Africa (CAHA) invests in individuals who are committed to advancing the fields of horticulture, plant breeding, crop science, soil science, or global development in Africa. CAHA will support one year of study in the Master of Professional Studies (MPS) program in Global Development. At the conclusion of that program, interested students may apply to pursue a Ph.D. program at Cornell.
- Eligibility: An applicant to the MPS program in Global Development
- Funding: One year of study in the MPS program in Global Development
Glock Fellowship
The Cornell Glock Fellowship provides financial support for doctoral student research focused on education within the broader field of development. The fellowship supports the principle that education is a central part of development, whether formally within public or state-run educational institutions, or informally through community, family and/or religious organizations and social movements. Funded research can be related to a student's own doctoral work, or students can propose to collaborate with a professor who conducts education-related research/outreach to which you would be interested in contributing.
- Eligibility: Current Ph.D. students in the Graduate Field of Development Studies
- Funding: Full or partial summer stipend (funding must be used for the summer stipend or approved in absentia expenses)
Butterworth Fellowship
The Cornell Butterworth Fellowship for Undergraduate Engaged Learning and Research in Education provides financial support for undergraduate engaged learning in the broad areas of education and education policy. By “engaged” we mean learning through practice or research related to an issue of importance to, and pursued in collaboration with, community-based stakeholders, such as: educators, learners, families of school-age children, researchers, policy makers, and/or educational organizations.
- Eligibility: Undergraduates minoring in Education
- Funding: Summer fellowship; academic year stipend