Global Development (BS)

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Program Website

Program Description

The Global Development (GDEV) undergraduate major responds to the need for innovative and critical thinking on the concept and practice of development. It prepares students to analyze problems, clarify solutions, develop leadership and foster positive social change. Students receive comprehensive training in the key skills, issues, and debates central to global development. All GDEV students take a breadth of interdisciplinary coursework in development scholarship and practice and gain depth in a concentration of their choice, selecting from social and economic development, agriculture and food systems or environment and development.

As a Global Development major, students are required to spend at least eight weeks in an international or domestic field-based internship. Throughout their field experience, students work with and learn from innovative development and community leaders, crafting cutting-edge strategies to address some of the world's most significant challenges and advance the well-being of people and the planet.

Declaring the Major

Current Cornell students who are interested in transferring to the Global Development major must meet the following requirements:

  • Minimum cumulative Cornell GPA of 3.0
  • Completion of GDEV 1102 Introduction to Global DevelopmentGDEV 1300 Just Food: Exploring the Modern Food System, and GDEV 1105 Global Development Cornerstone completed before transfer with an average grade of a B+ or better in 1102 and 1300, and a "S" in the Cornerstone (note: the three courses are only offered in the fall semester).

To apply to join the major and be assigned a major advisor, students should contact the Undergraduate Program Coordinator, Lynn Morris (lm747@cornell.edu).