Objectives

The International Policy and Development (IPD) Specialization focuses on two broad kinds of questions:

1. How to achieve economic and political development? These courses focus on why some people and societies are poor, unequal, unstable, or unfree, and what circumstances and policies promote wealth, equality, stability, and freedoms.

2. How to design and implement public policy globally? The courses focus on public policy issues in an international setting across a range of subjects, including: education, health, children, criminal justice, public finance, labor markets, elections, and so forth.

The IPD specialization is designed to prepare students for careers in government, non-governmental organizations, international organizations, or multinational corporations.

Students who complete this specialization will be able to:

  • Assess key arguments advanced historically and currently in the arena of development
  • Understand whether and why an intervention is successful or not, whether an intervention is scalable and how to meaningfully measure outcomes
  • Seek data-driven solutions to development issues across multiple sectors, including economy, education, governance, energy, security, gender, health, and the environment

The specialization’s curated list of electives is designed to allow students to explore multiple academic approaches to understanding development, including from economics, political science, statistics, and psychology. 

Harris specializations function as areas of specialization within the degree. Specializations assume knowledge of the 6-course Harris Core and build upon that foundation with coursework in specific policy areas or technical skills.

Application Process

The specialization is open to Harris Public Policy graduate students only. Please indicate your intent to pursue this specialization using the Harris Specialization Declaration Form.

For specialization registration questions, please reach out to harrisregistration@uchicago.edu.

Planning for the Specialization

For information on which quarter(s) each course will be offered see the Harris Courses page and filter by specialization. 

Specialization Requirements

The specialization requires completion of three specialization courses. Students must achieve at least a B- grade in each course. No specialization course may be taken on a pass/fail grading basis. The courses do not need to be taken in a particular order.

Required course

Students must complete the following course to fulfill the requirement:

  • PPHA 35550 Economic Development and Policy

Elective courses

The specialization will be awarded to students who complete any two of the qualifying electives; however, the following course is recommended as a fundamental sequence of the specialization:

  • PPHA 35556 Power and Development

The following courses also fulfill the requirement for the International Development and Policy specialization:

  • PPHA 32740 Order and Violence
  • PPHA 34610 Advanced Program Evaluation
  • PPHA 35240 Education, Inequality, and Economic Development
  • PPHA 35310 International Trade, Banking, and Capital Markets
  • PPHA 35540 How to Change the World: Science of Policymaking in International Policy and Development
  • PPHA 35560 Translating Evidence for Policy and Program Design
  • PPHA 35575 Behavioral Experiments in International Development: From Theory to Practice
  • PPHA 35577 Big Data and Development
  • PPHA 35578 Qualitative Methods for International Policy and Development
  • PPHA 35585 The Chinese Economy
  • PPHA 35588 China and the World
  • PPHA 37040 Economic Growth and Development
  • PPHA 39930 International Climate Policy
  • PPHA 41350 Global Risk Policy
  • PPHA 44302 Labor Markets: A Global Perspective
  • PPHA 47400 Women, Development and Politics
  • PPHA 60000 Policy Lab (International Development sections only)
  • BUSN 42711 Global Social Entrepreneurship Lab
  • PLSC 33502 Models of International Political Economy
  • LAWS 53507 Law and Economic Development
  • Not offered in 24-25
    • PPHA 32736 Economics, Politics and African Societies
    • PPHA 35565 Infrastructure and Development 

Specialization Contacts

Rebecca Wolfe, Faculty Administrative Director

Christopher Blattman, Specialization Director

Faculty Spotlight

 

Chris Blattman

Ramalee E. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict Studies

Christopher Blattman

A faculty member in The Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts, Chris Blattman focuses on why some people and societies are poor, unequal and violent, and how to tackle these issues.