Master’s Program

The Global Human Development Program curriculum combines core courses in economics, political economy, quantitative analysis, and project design and management, with the content designed to prepare students to work in any phase of the development process and in a variety of environments. The curriculum aims to give students a strong foundation in these topics, along with the flexibility to focus their electives in the areas in which they are particularly interested through Specializations and Certificates. All of our courses are practitioner-oriented, and are complemented by our Capstone Project, overseas summer internship, Washington DC internship, Ethics Retreat, skills workshops, and language courses, which together give students the academic and practical skills they need for a successful development career.

Core Courses

  • GHDP-501: Economics of Development: Growth
  • GHDP-502: Political Economy of International Development
  • GHDP-503: Quantitative Methods for Research and Evaluation in Development
  • GHDP-504: Strategy, Design and Implementation
  • GHDP-505: Economics of Development: Poverty
  • GHDP-506: Evaluation for Development
  • GHDP-507: Development Finance
  • GHDP-598: Management Analysis & Practice I
  • GHDP-599: Management Analysis & Practice II

As students complete their foundational courses, they have the opportunity to deepen their understanding of topics that are of interest to them, through the pursuit of specializations and/or certificates. Students may choose from 7 specializations and 10 certificates.

Specializations

One of the strengths of the Global Human Development Program is the access to graduate-level courses across a wide range of disciplines within Georgetown University. We provide the opportunity for students to use some of their elective courses to acquire a specialization while pursuing their degree, which requires the completion of 9 credits on a focused topic such as Global Health or Education and Human Capital.

The most popular specializations are listed below. There are also a variety of course offerings related to gender, humanitarian assistance, conflict, science and technology, and regional studies.

  • Education and Human Capital
  • Food, Agriculture, and Rural Livelihoods
  • Environment and Climate
  • Quantitative Analysis and Evaluation
  • Global Health
  • Humanitarian Crises and Displacement
  • Self-Designed (Must be approved by the Associate Director of Academic Programs)

Certificates

Georgetown University offers a wide variety of formal Certificate Programs that students can obtain along with their Master in Global Human Development. Certificate requirements differ across programs, but typically require completion of 5-6 courses plus other requirements. Completion of a Certificate Program will appear on a student’s transcripts and other formal records at Georgetown.

Capstone Project 

The Capstone Project is the culmination of the student’s two years of course work and experiences at Georgetown. Working in pairs, the Project is designed to provide students with the opportunity to bring together the knowledge and skills they have acquired throughout the program and apply them to a real-world challenge identified jointly with an client organization working in the development field.