New International Development minor proposed

The College Dean's Advisory Board believes Penn students can change the world and is creating a new international development minor to help.

Last spring, DAB conducted a survey asking students about their academic experiences. Feedback showed significant interest in international development.

In response, this spring DAB is preparing a proposal for the advancement of the minor to present to administration.

The study of international development works to promote economic and political progress in developing countries, Georgios Drossinos, College senior and DAB member, explained. This progress can range from helping restructure political establishments to improving infrastructures.

The goal of the minor, College junior, DAB co-chairman and former Daily Pennsylvanian credit manager Joshua Kay said, is to establish an academic program on the topic.

"At this point, we're looking at about six to seven courses that would span a couple different areas: politics and economics, health and societies, environmental sustainability and regional historical focus," Kay said.

He mentioned a partnership with the Student Council on Undergraduate Education, adding that DAB is hoping to use a class that SCUE is creating as a potential introductory core course.

"The class, which is still in its planning stages, will be an Introduction to International Development," Alex Berger, chairwoman of SCUE and College junior, wrote in an e-mail. "We hope that the course will be extremely interdisciplinary."

"But the minor is going to happen whether or not the course happens," Kay said.

However, there have been certain difficulties finding a "home" department, he added.

According to Kay, the Health and Societies department declined to house the minor.

As a result, Drossinos said, "the next step for us is to find a department to host us because the program can't exist by itself."

Nevertheless, Kay said he and Drossinos believe there is "support across the board."

The topic's popularity is apparent in the international development studies already present.

"There is a freshman seminar in international development that has a really long wait-list," Kay added. SCUE's two-week-old Penn International Development Coalition, an umbrella organization for student groups focused on the topic, is another testament to student interest.

With PIDC, Berger wrote, "SCUE hopes to build . a body of individuals who will be interested in participating in this new minor."

And the interest does exist, according to Drossinos.

"The world is becoming flat, with an interchanging of cultures and technology," he said. "This is creating more of an urgency to try to lessen the inequalities between countries."

DAB and SCUE hope to make the minor and introductory course available by Spring 2010.

"The foundations are there, the desire is there, the time is right to study this topic," said Drossinos, "so I think we'll have some results."

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