The Department of Geography offers a graduate certificate in development studies. Development studies is a well-established, interdisciplinary field of research with institutional centers at a number of major universities and several scholarly journals dedicated to its study. The certificate provides training in development studies to graduate students through a structured yet flexible program built around courses taught by CU faculty in a number of social science departments.

Because development issues such as agrarian change, labor migration, new social movements, industrial growth, urban planning and natural resource use cut across disciplinary divides, the study of development demands interdisciplinary approaches.

For more information, visit the department's Graduate Certificate in Development Studies webpage.

Requirements

Admission Requirements

Currently enrolled graduate students at CU and nondegree ACCESS students with bachelor's degrees may pursue the development studies certificate by completing the four required courses with a grade of B or higher.

For more information, please contact the certificate director, Jennifer Fluri or visit the department website.

Required Courses and Credits

The certificate requires the completion of 12 credits (four courses), at least two but not more than three of which should be taken in the Department of Geography. 

Core Requirement
All students must take the core Geography class in development:
GEOG 5632Development Geography3
Geography Seminar Requirement3
All students must take one additional Geography seminar from among the following:
Seminar: Topics in Economic Geography
Seminar: Political Ecology
Population Geography
Migration, Immigrant Adaptation, and Development
Additional Seminar Requirements6
In addition, students should complete 2 additional seminars from the following list, at least one of which should be outside of Geography:
Seminar: Topics in Economic Geography
Seminar: Political Ecology
Population Geography
Migration, Immigrant Adaptation, and Development
Special Topics: Geography (with approval from the certificate program director)
Readings in World History
Modern China: Collapse of Imperial Brilliance, 1644-1949
Colloquium in Modern Asian History
Seminar: Current Research Topics in Cultural Anthropology 1
Human Ecology: Cultural Aspects
Explorations in Anthropology (Conservation and Indigenous Peoples)
Cross-Cultural Aspects of Socioeconomic Development
Communication and International Development
Topics in Sex and Gender (Gender in Globalization)
Foundations of Environmental Sociology
Inequality, Democracy, and the Environment
Population and Environment
Population Issues, Problems, and Policies
Reducing the Environmental Impact of Food Systems: Evidence-Based Solutions
Introduction to Food Systems Internationally
Comparative Political Economy
Seminar: Global Political Economy
Seminar: Latin American Politics
Seminar in Political and Economic Development
Public Policy and the Governance of Natural Resources
Feminist Theories
Feminist Methodology
Special Topics in Gender and Sexuality Studies (only certain topics apply) 2
Total Credit Hours12

Plan(s) of Study

For more information, visit the department's Graduate Certificate in Development Studies webpage.