The International Development (IDEV) Program provides an interdisciplinary approach to the study of developing countries, with the aim of preparing students for careers in development. Students in the IDEV Program receive rigorous academic training that helps them better conceptualize the development process in its economic, political and social dimensions.
Academic Calendars
Coordinated and led by IDEV students, this events series provides speakers the opportunity to address the challenges of global development assistance and to suggest new initiatives that will improve the field. Learn more about the Development Roundtable.
Executive Director of UN Women, Dr. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. (Photo Credit: Noel St. John)
Internships are an integral part of the learning experience and an entrée to future employment. The IDEV Program encourages students to pursue internships and research opportunities in developing countries during the summer and in Washington, D.C., during the school year. IDEV collaborates with a range of partner agencies, NGOs, think tanks, and government agencies to help students secure substantive summer internships that build on the skills learned during the first year. Providing stipends for unpaid internships offers students the flexibility to accept overseas positions which meet their needs and interests. Please click the links below to read more about sponsored students' internship experiences in the blogs they have written for SAIS Perspectives:
Erin Smith took time during her internship at UN Women’s East and Southern Africa Regional Office to make a new friend.
Kun Zhang interviewed students attending informal primary schools in Nairobi's slums, Kenya.
Each spring IDEV publishes Perspectives, with articles on cutting-edge issues in development, many written by IDEV faculty, students and alumni. Each annual issue focuses on a specific theme of development. The editorial team has launched a new online platform http://www.saisperspectives.com/ in November 2014 to host the IDEV program's perspectives on international development.
You can visit our archive here.
AY 2017-18 Perspectives Launch Event - Recorded October 30th, 2017
https://youtu.be/I794Zpq_1sU
International Development Program Learning Goals and Objectives
Entering Class 2017-2018
MA students must take the equivalent of 16 non-language courses (64 credits) in order to graduate. Those students who are approved for dual degree or advanced standing may only need to take 12 courses (48 credits) or 14 courses (56 credits) as approved by Academic Affairs.
Students concentrating in International Development (IDEV) must take at least 6 courses in the program. In addition, IDEV students must complete a constrained International Economics and Quantitative Reasoning course. Students may not count the constrained International Economics and/or Quantitative Reasoning courses toward their 6 required IDEV concentration courses.
IDEV students must also complete Microeconomics (with a grade B- or above) prior to matriculating at Johns Hopkins SAIS through the school's Summer, Non-Degree, or Pre-Term programs or by passing the waiver exam.
IDEV REQUIREMENTS
IDEV Professional Tracks
Students choose one of the following:
Approved Courses for IDEV Professional Tracks AY17-18
Spring 2018 IDEV Course Schedule
The concentration requirements, along with the other requirements of the school's MA, can be found on the IDEV Requirements Chart.
Students who choose to dual concentrate must choose IDEV as their primary concentration. All dual-concentrations must be approved by IDEV.
Students must complete 16 credits. The four required courses are:
Students may not count the constrained International Economics course toward their 6 required IDEV concentration courses.
If a student passes a waiver exam in one of these areas, the student must take a replacement International Economics program course(s) to fulfill the concentration requirement.
Beyond the requirements, many students choose to pursue an International Economics Specialization in one of four areas of economics. Students may also choose to specialize in Emerging Markets.
Concentration GPA Requirement
Students must achieve a combined GPA of at least 2.67 in the four required International Economics program courses or they must retake the course(s) until a 2.67 concentration GPA is achieved. In the standard case, the concentration GPA will be the average of the grades of Macroeconomics, International Trade Theory, International Monetary Theory and the constrained IDEV economics course.
If one or more of the four standard courses is waived, the school will use the highest grade(s) from any eligible replacement International Economics program course(s) to compute the International Economics concentration GPA.
Students must complete one course from the list below as their constrained IDEV course.
Students may not double-count the same course toward the Quantitative Reasoning requirement and as an International Economics concentration course and vice-versa.
Students may not count the Quantitative Reasoning course toward their 6 required IDEV concentration courses.
If a student passes the statistics waiver exam, the student must take an alternate course from the list above to fulfill the Quantitative Reasoning requirement.
Starting with the entering class of Fall 2017, students who pass Statistical Methods for Business & Economics in Pre-Term will have fulfilled the Quantitative Reasoning requirement. The Pre-Term course is not for credit and is not factored into the GPA.
All students must pass 2 core courses and/or exams from the subjects below. If the core courses/exams are not completed by the start of the final semester, the student no longer has the option of completing the exam and must enroll in the core course(s) for credit. IDEV students are strongly encouraged to take Comparative Politics.
MA candidates must pass exams to demonstrate proficiency in a second language. This language must be offered at the school. Students whose native language is not English may use English as their proficiency language. All non-native English speakers are required to pass an English placement exam upon entering the school, even if not using English for proficiency.
IDEV concentrators must complete ONE of the following capstones:
Entering Class 2016-2017
Entering Class 2015-2016
Entering Class 2014-2015
Entering Class 2013-2014
Entering Class 2012-2013
Entering Class 2011-2012
Entering Class 2010-2011
Entering Class 2009-2010
IDEV Professional Tracks AY16-17
IDEV Professional Tracks AY15-16
International Development Minor Requirements:
General Minor Requirements:
To add or change a minor, please click HERE.
Specializations
IDEV students can opt for a specialization in Development Economics or International Finance, offered through the International Economics Program, or a specialization in Emerging Markets. IDEV students are encouraged to combine functional approaches with the school's rich offerings in the development experience of specific regions such as Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
International Development Practicum
In order to expand the opportunities to work directly with public, private and non-governmental organizations, IDEV offers a two-semester Practicum class to second year students for credit. Successful completion of the Practicum also serves as a Capstone for graduating students. In academic year 2017-18, 24 students were enrolled in the Practicum.
What is a Practicum?
A practicum is a course designed to provide students the tools and opportunity to work with an external client on a development problem or opportunity. It allows students the opportunity to apply their research, analysis and practical skills to an issue that is of direct relevance to a client. The team of students works closely with the client to produce a high quality output in the form of a publishable report, policy or program that may be implemented by the client. In addition to allowing students to translate their knowledge into practice, the practicum experience also allows students to make valuable contacts with potential employers.
How is the Practicum implemented?
Approximately 20 second year IDEV students are eligible for taking the practicum as a course for credit, over two semesters. They are selected in the Fall semester based on their coursework, prior experience and demonstrated interest. Students form teams and work with a professor throughout the Fall semester to conduct research and design a proposal collaboratively with previously identified clients. They meet once a week to discuss research methods, their proposals, and progress with the professor assigned to lead their team. Teams undertake field research during winter break and complete a report to the client upon their return. Students are required to meet with the professor at an assigned class time each week. Every member of the team is held responsible for the timely completion of assignments. The practicum requires that student teams meet outside of class both with each other as well as with the client. The entire team is held responsible for coordinating logistics with the client. Students are evaluated both individually and on the basis of the final product that they deliver to the client. Professor Deborah Brautigam, Director of the International Development Program, has been quoted in Foreign Policy magazine saying that the practicum "gives students an invaluable, hands-on experience to work with an international development organization and address an important development challenge. Participants often say their practicum work was one of the most important experiences they had in graduate school. These are not research projects. Practicum students address practical problems that the client needs to solve.” To read more about the the Practicum program in the Foreign Policy Guide article, click here.
In AY 2017-18, 24 students were selected for the IDEV Practicum. Six teams will travel to India, Cambodia, Vietnam, and the Philippines to support their clients.
Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), New Delhi, India - The GAIN team will investigate the sanitation and nutrition environment of street vendors serving perishable, freshly-cooked food and will identify challenges and opportunities in serving the urban poor in New Delhi and Jaipur. The research will focus on perceptions of an enabling/disabling environment for street vending, the urban supply chain, and demand and will create an assessment tool to measure the street vending sanitation and nutrition environment which GAIN can use for determining areas for future programmatic interventions.
International Finance Corporation (IFC), Manila, Philippines - The IFC team will conduct global stocktaking of successful models for financing young entrepreneurs. They will compile a set of case studies to identify best practices and lessons learned to inform concrete policy recommendations for the G20's Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion.
International Development Enterprises (iDE), Hue, Vietnam - iDE is an international non-profit organization dedicated to creating income and livelihood opportunities for the rural poor, in Vietnam. The goal of this team's project is to develop a business case on the replicability of Hydrologic, a viable social enterprise started by iDE in Cambodia, in the Vietnam context. Hydrologic manufactures, distributes, and sells water filters in rural Cambodia and has to date successfully sold over 500,000 filters to households at the base of the pyramid.
LV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India - This project aims to assess the cost effectiveness of LVPEI, a network of ophthalmologic clinics in India serving over 2.5 million mostly-low-income patients in India. Additionally, it will perform an operational analysis of a select sample of primary care centers. Altogether, the results should help the organization improve its allocation of resources while getting a better understanding of its impact to the communities it serves.
Water.org, Phnom Penh, Cambodia - This team is working with Water.org in Cambodia to design a business model for scaling-up access to Water and Sanitation Services (WSS) for financially excluded people through Digital Financial Services (DFS).
Athena Infonomics, Chennai, India - The Athena team is working to identify a social infrastructure project in India that is a viable candidate for a Social Impact Bond (SIB) funding and partnership structure. They will then propose a primer for such SIB structure for the selected project based on consultations with potential investors, implementing partners, government officials, and other relevant actors.
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In AY 2016-17, 23 students were selected for the IDEV Practicum. Six teams travelled to India, China, Kenya, and Uganda to support their clients. The field work conducted by each team in January 2017 is summarized below:
IDEV AY2016-17 Practicum Client Presentation on 4/26/2017 with Presentation Video and PowerPoint Presentation, as well as a Storify.
In AY 2015-16, 23 students were selected for the IDEV Practicum. Six teams traveled to Kenya, Nigeria, India, Egypt, and Sri Lanka, in order to support clients by working on projects ranging from decision-making tools for sanitation decision makers to evaluating business models for training and vocational education. The field work conducted by the teams in January 2016 is summarized below:
IDEV AY2015-16 Practicum Client Presentation on 4/27/2016 with Presentation Video and PowerPoint Presentation.
2016 IDEV practicum team (Photo Credit: Jacquelyn Kasuya, Johns Hopkins SAIS)
In AY 2014-15, the Practicum grew to include 22 students who traveled with their teams to Cambodia, the Philippines, China, India and Mexico, based on the location of the client and the project. Consulting teams once again negotiated a demanding terms of reference with their clients and produced an array of high quality outputs, described below.
IDEV AY2014-15 Practicum Client Presentation on 4/29/2015 with Presentation Video and PowerPoint Presentation.
In AY2013-14, 16 second year students successfully completed the first IDEV Practicum. Four teams delivered high quality, valuable products to a diversity of clients from the World Bank to large and small NGOs in India. Deliverables included surveys in rural Indian villages and large cities such as Bangalore, primary data collection through phone interviews in the US, stakeholder and sector analysis based on secondary sources. Students completed business plans, monitoring and evaluation guides, new research guides and methodologies for their final deliverables with the following clients:
IDEV Practicum Client Presentations 2013-14 on 4/29/2014 with 2013-14 Student Final Deliverables
September 29, 2017 in BOB 736 - Michael Woolcock, Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School and Lead Social Development Specialist, World Bank
Building State Capability
October 6, 2017 - Brian Levy, Professor of the Practice of International Development, Johns Hopkins SAIS
Hierarchical vs Horizontal Governance: Using 'Political Settlements' and Institutional Approaches to Assess 'Good Fit’ in South African Schools
October 20, 2017 in BOB 416 - Robert Blair, Assistant Professor of Political Science and International and Public Affairs, Brown University
Building Trust in a Reformed Security Sector: Evidence from Liberia
November 3, 2017 in BOB 416 - Mai Hassan, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Michigan
Governing Under Autocratic Regimes
November 17, 2017 in BOB 736 - Neeraj Mittal, Senior Adviser to Executive Director (EDS12), World Bank, Anit Mukherjee, Center for Global Development, Alan Gelb, Center for Global Development.
The Reform of India’s LPG Cooking Gas Subsidy: The Largest Direct Benefit Transfer System in the World
December 1, 2017 in BOB 736 - Shelby Grossman, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Memphis
The Politics of Order in Informal Markets: Evidence from Lagos
These are typical International Development Courses:
This course critically examining China's rapidly growing economic, political and social ties with African countries. What drives these ties? How do they reflect China's "Going Global" thrust? What impact is Chinese engagement having on development prospects in other countries? What is myth, and what is reality? How is this engagement changing? Comparisons with Chinese engagement in Asia and the Americas. All students will write an original research paper.
Basic services such as drinking water, sanitation, solid waste disposal and public transport are essential to development, yet in many countries their provision remains extremely problematic. While crowded cities with potholed roads, overflowing garbage heaps, and waterways clogged with untreated sewage are the images that come to mind when one thinks about missing services, rural areas are often even worse off. In this course we will review the main challenges to effective and reliable service delivery, the roles of key players, how these roles have been changing over time and how they may change in the future. We begin by discussing the theory of the state’s role in service provision, why some services are harder to provide, or some populations more difficult to serve. Next we focus on four sectors—drinking water, sanitation, solid waste and public transport. Problems specific to each sector, policies and programs used to address these challenges, to what extent they have been successful and why, and what approaches may work in the future, will be discussed. The course will pay special attention to innovations in service delivery—clearer incentives for regular service provision, strengthening municipal financing, integrating the private sector and communities into service provision. Students will study the costs associated with service delivery; service delivery planning; tools used for benchmarking utilities; and innovations in financing services.
Study of development reveals a wide range of proposals for economic and political reform, and an equally wide range of political and economic constraints to reform. But the challenge confronting development practitioners is neither to decide which measures are optimal (the optimal is rarely implementable), nor to explain why action is infeasible. The aim is to find a tractable and promising way forward, given country-specific realities.
This course will explore our evolving understanding of the tension between a normative vision of ‘good’ economic policy and ‘good governance’, and the practical challenge of identifying a feasible set of ‘next steps’ in a concrete setting – that is, of strategic sequencing. The focus will be on feasible ways forward in countries with low-incomes, and politics and institutions that are not supportive of development. Half of the classes will comprise lecture-style presentation and discussion of emerging concepts, approaches and tools that help us better think about the development constraints and options in institutionally challenging settings. The other half will be discussion-based; these classes will each focus on a country case study, and will explore alternative options for addressing a specific difficult development policy challenge in that country, in a way that highlights the intersection between economics and politics.
Money management is a fundamental part of everyday life, yet low-income families are typically excluded from the formal financial sector. The delivery of quality financial services (loans, savings, insurance, money transfers, etc.) at affordable costs to all segments of society is an important policy goal in closing the income gap and improving quality of life. This course is designed to give the student an overview of the history and key issues involved in “Financial Inclusion,” which has evolved as an industry from “Microfinance.” The course assignments are intended to teach practical technical skills and critical thinking about financial systems and the unbanked, assessing the financial needs of and designing products for the poor, operational aspects of managing a microfinance institution, and major debates about impact, socially-responsible investing, and future trends. This course is complementary to SA.400.724 Impact Investing: Financial Inclusion and Creating Value at the Base of the Pyramid, offered in Spring 2016.
The Practicum is a course designed to provide students with the opportunity to apply their research, analysis and practical skills to an issue that is of direct relevance to a client in the international development space. Through the practicum, students not only refine the skills that they have gained but also make a tangible contribution to the practice of international development. Working in teams, and responding to client demands gives students a glimpse of working life upon graduation. Students are expected to meet all deadlines outlined in the Terms of Reference provided by the client. The IDEV Practicum is only open to second year IDEV students. For these students it also serves as a culminating educational experience and capstone, taking the place of an oral examination. The exception will be those students who quality for Johns Hopkins SAIS honors orals. Such students may wish to take the orals in addition to completing the Practicum.
Development is a complex, multifaceted phenomenon that must be studied from a number of disciplinary approaches. Much of development theory focuses on economic growth, and students will have the opportunity to learn about the economic aspects of development in other classes. Economic growth is necessary to development, but not sufficient. Societies also change politically and socially, and politics, culture, and social structure are important in determining the quality of their institutions and the opportunities they offer their citizens. This course provides a general interdisciplinary foundation for the study of international development that includes history, theory, analytical tools, and institutions, and that will enable our students to be better prepared to analyze and address current issues.
This is a required course for first year IDEV concentrators, and all IDEV affiliated students (MIPP/Minor).
Bologna Faculty: William Hynes
This course will help students develop critical skills in applying methodologies and strategies for the evaluation of international development projects. It will provide the conceptual and theoretical framework to help students navigate decisions about the most appropriate tools for assessing project achievements and evaluating their impact through formative, process, and summative approaches. Students will learn to identify sound evaluation questions, develop logic models to assess their utility for project monitoring and evaluation (M&E), and select performance and evaluation indicators and apply these in qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods designs. The course will provide insight into how methodological choices influence research design, data interpretation, and the strength of evaluation results. Students will learn to critique reported program results against standards of validity, reliability, efficiency, and effectiveness and will gain skills relevant for research uptake, instructing students how to present findings in appropriate formats for diverse audiences. Students will also be challenged to navigate ethical dilemmas of evaluation in the context of international development programming and reflect on appropriate alternative designs. The course will include brief lectures, in-class exercises, plenary discussions, and small group sessions. Case studies will be used to review and compare the M&E practices of major donors (multi-laterals, bi-laterals, and private foundations) and to critically assess examples of good and bad practice. The final project will showcase students’ skills in designing a rigorous and appropriate evaluation to answer a real world development question.
Social Entrepreneurship: Driving Innovation in Development is focused on understanding social entrepreneurship and the challenges of building sustainable, impactful businesses that address critical underserved needs in emerging global marketplaces.
The course aims to create in each student an appreciation of the qualities, values and skills of social entrepreneurs and also entrepreneurial opportunities in critical sectors of human need in complex, resource-constrained markets that are plagued by fragmented infrastructure, inadequate institutions and other governance challenges. Students will learn first-hand how businesses serving the needs of the poor contribute to community development and “do well by doing good”. The capstone project in the course is a group presentation based on a partnership with an existing social enterprise, or a newly conceptualized social enterprise based on student ideas.
In addition to making a decisive impact on the field of international development, IDEV graduates have established an active alumni network and maintain a close relationship with the program. They also give back to the program in many ways - delivering presentations at brown bag lunches, assisting in the school's Admissions Office and on career development panels, offering job and internship advice to current students, and serving as the best possible advocates for recruiting new students.
If you would like to stay connected, check us out on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
We appreciate the responses from all of you who have contacted us regarding your current endeavors. We hope to establish a complete list of IDEV student alumni updates.
If you are interested in contacting our alumni or have additional questions regarding IDEV alumni affairs please contact the International Development Program at saisidev@jhu.edu.
To refer a prospective student to Johns Hopkins SAIS, please click here.
We've launched our Alumni Newsletter in AY2015-16 to keep you updated with the latest news, research and events from IDEV, and to provide an opportunity for you to connect with your fellow alumni. Within the newsletters, you will find: alumni updates and contact information, news from the China Africa Research Initiative (CARI), information on how to contribute to SAIS Perspectives, updates on this year's IDEV Practicum Projects, upcoming IDEV events, information on new courses, professors, and more!
Below are links to our previous newsletters:
SAIS Perspectives is an annual publication of the International Development program at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, DC. The publication provides a forum for discussion of critical, cutting-edge topics with the goal of proposing innovative ways of thinking about the practice and policy of international development.
Professor Cinnamon Dornsife, Faculty Advisor prior to 2014, promoting SAIS Perspectives.
2017-2018 Perspectives Editorial Team
Professor Tanvi Nagpal, Editorial Advisor (tnagpal1@jhu.edu)
Ammar Khalid, Editor-in-Chief (akhalid6@jhu.edu)
Grace Cramer, Senior Editor (gcramer2@jhu.edu)
Adam Weber, Senior Editor (aweber23@jhu.edu)
Maya Gainer, DC-based Editor (mgainer1@jhu.edu)
Alison Decker, DC-based Editor (adecke16@jhu.edu)
Deboleena Rakshit, Bologna-based Editor (drakshi1@jhu.edu)
For Professors Brautigam, Nagpal, Dornsife, and Honig, please sign up at Sign Up Genius http://www.signupgenius.com/
You will need your e-mail address for making or changing an appointment online. If you need to meet with Professor Brautigam outside of office hours, please contact Nicole Kazi at nkazi1@jhu.edu to schedule an appointment.
According to "The Red Book: Johns Hopkins SAIS Student and Academic Handbook", enrollment at the school obligates each student to conduct all activities in accordance with the rules and spirit of the school’s Honor Code. The Honor Code governs student conduct. It covers all activities in which students present information as their own, including written papers, examinations, oral presentations and materials submitted to potential employers or other educational institutions. It requires that students be truthful and exercise integrity and honesty in their dealings with others, both inside the school and in the larger community. For more details, please see The Red Book.
An online course is available to students to help learn about JHU academic standards, and how to avoid plagiarism during your studies. This course covers important topics on how to cite, quote, paraphrase, and summarize. To access this online course, please have your JHED and password ready and login here.