Undergraduate Minor in Global Development
The Georgia Tech minor in Global Development prepares students to be catalysts for improving the lives of the world’s vulnerable communities in a sustainable manner. It combines engineering, technology, and design with the social sciences and humanities to solve practical problems in the developing world.
Students learn and apply analytical skills and practical problem-solving techniques, gain technical competence, become conscious of variations in local cultures and social conditions, and master the ability to collaborate across disciplines to solve problems in Global Development. Students also learn to define problems, facilitate and contribute to their solutions, and, in the process, become more objective, nonlinear thinkers with the capacity to synthesize data and seek and value perspectives other than their own.
The minor will cover topics and foster skills that are essential for all scientists, engineers, businesspersons, and policymakers who get involved with projects in impoverished countries. A civil engineer sent by Bechtel to work on a bridge in Vietnam; an environmental impact analyst sent to study a dam in Brazil; a Goldman Sachs analyst who seeks to grasp the investment opportunities for telecommunications in Zaire – all of these workers need to understand how politics, economics, culture, and engineering interact to affect the outcome of different types of S&T projects in the developing world.
The Global Development minor teaches the concepts, theories, applications, and tools necessary for graduates to enter into such projects and work constructively with others in the Global Development community.
The Georgia Tech minor in Global Development requires 15 credit hours:
- One Cornerstone course (INTA 2050 – Introduction to Global Development), which will survey the current state of global development scholarship and practice (3 credit hours)
- Three elective courses (9 credit hours)
- One required Capstone course (INTA/ME 4744 – Global Development Capstone) in which students work in interdisciplinary teams on a global development project, guided by faculty with experience in the field (3 credit hours)
Students must earn at least a “C” in each course. Courses that overlap between a student’s major and minor can count towards either the major or the minor, but not both.
| Prefix | Number | Title |
|---|---|---|
| CEE | 4803 | Special Topics: Environmental Technology in the Developing World |
| CP | 4020 | Introduction to Urban and Regional Planning |
| CP | 4190 | Introduction to Climate Change Planning |
| CP | 4210 | Environmental Planning and Impact Assessment |
| CP | 4310 | Urban Transportation |
| CS | 4911 | Computing for Good |
| ECON | 2101 | The Global Economy |
| ECON | 3300 | International Energy Markets |
| ECON | 4311 | Global Enterprise |
| ECON | 4350 | International Economics |
| ECON | 4351 | International Financial Economics |
| ECON | 4355 | Global Financial Economics |
| ECON | 4411 | Economic Development |
| ECON | 4415 | Conflict and Security in Developing Countries |
| HTS | 3055 | Globalization Modern Era |
| HTS | 3064 | Sociology of Development |
| INTA | 3773 | Global Issues and Leadership |
| INTA | 3031 | Human Rights |
| INTA | 3240 | Government and Politics – Africa |
| INTA | 3241 | Latin American Politics |
| INTA | 3301 | International Political Economy |
| INTA | 3303 | Political Economy Development |
| INTA | 4803 | Computers, Communication, and International Development |
| INTA | 4803 | Evaluating International Development Projects |
| INTA | 4803 | Modernization and Development |
| ME | 2803 | Engineering and Global Development |
| MGT | 4194 | Social Entrepreneurship |
| PUBP | 4260 | Economic Development Policy and Planning |
Capstone
The Global Development Capstone offers Georgia Tech students an opportunity to engage in a community project centered around the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals over the course of a semester.
Students gain practical experience and develop their professional networks by working closely with a partner organization based in Atlanta or beyond. Throughout the course, students also discuss and are informed by key concepts from historic and contemporary discussions on development.
The class is open to students from all departments at Georgia Tech and is designed to be interdisciplinary. Student projects in the past have included, but are not limited to, topics of affordable and clean energy, clean water and sanitation, health and wellbeing, gender equality, education, climate action, forests and food production, peace and justice, sustainable cities and transportation, and wildlife and animal welfare.
Students present their final projects at the annual Ideas to Serve competition and showcase at the Scheller College of Business, where faculty and community leaders across Georgia Tech and the Atlanta area are invited to engage and offer feedback.
Study Abroad
Study Abroad Programs with courses accepted by the minor are:
- Argentina - Uruguay Summer Program in International Affairs and Business
- ISYE Summer Program in Europe
- Valenica, Spain, and Lisbon, Portugal Summer Program in International Affairs and Management
Enroll Now!
- Speak to the advisor of the prospective minor.
- Find and complete the Add a Minor form.
- Have your Major Advisor sign the form.
- Email the form to chris.mcdermott@gatech.edu.
- Set up an advising appointment to review DegreeWorks and get questions answered. After that appointment, Chris McDermott will sign and submit the form.