About
the Major in Development Planning and Environmental
Sustainability
Every
day, current events are teaching us more about the
scope and impact of development and environmental
policymaking across several fronts. Students in the
development planning and environmental sustainability
major learn to become informed, responsible leaders
whose decisions will affect future generations.
By
its very definition, this is a forward-thinking major,
and the successful student is something of a visionary.
The program builds a sound knowledge base in the fundamentals
of the discipline: economics, project planning, and
the balance of environmental preservation and financial
feasibility. But it also covers the many complex spin-off
issues that are inherent to development.
Students
learn how to understand the political and economic
context of markets; the role of foreign aid, policy,
and
international environmental law; and strategic thinking
for developing countries. If they choose, our students
may take courses in Washington , D.C. , or specialize
in a specific geographic region, such as Latin America,
Africa, or Eastern Europe areas in which our faculty
members excel. Cross-enrollment with other programs
also allows students to customize their degrees or
create joint majors with such programs as law, public
health, or information sciences.
Our
alumni change the world overseas, but they also work
in the United States creating a better constituency
for policies that are compatible with good development.
Our graduates might study the impact of American consumption
patterns, for example, in the creation of opportunities
or low-wage job traps in developing countries. An
articulate, well-trained graduate will go far in explaining
how U.S. agriculture policies, such as price subsidies,
will impact farmers in other nations.
The
program's students also include people from developing
countries. These graduates take what they learn at
GSPIA and apply it to their homelands to achieve success
in such projects as finding and protecting safe water
sources or pursuing international finance for development.
Pittsburgh
offers our students
the opportunity to explore global solutions at a depth
not often experienced in the internships of larger
cities. For example, our alumni work in such organizations
as the Brother's Brother Foundation, which does relief
and community work.
Increasingly,
the business of international development and sustainability
is moving out of the traditional corridors of the
East Coast, and our students are able to leverage
meaningful experiences into careers that will shape
the future. We invite you to contact us for more information
about what our program can offer.
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