Your journey to make the world a better place starts here

At Global Development, we don’t sit still. Here our students engage with real-world issues at home and abroad to deliver lasting social benefit to all. We connect science to the needs of people to improve lives, reduce inequality, protect the environment, and actually change the world for the better.

Undergraduate Majors and Minors

Leaf in the shade

Global Development

Major

The Global Development major responds to the need for innovative and critical thinking on the concept and practice of development. It prepares students to interpret problems, clarify solutions, develop leadership and foster positive social change. Students receive comprehensive training in the key ideas, issues, and debates central to global development. All 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.

Community Food Systems

Minor

  • In Community Food Systems, you'll learn to engage with critical contemporary issues relating to food security, food sovereignty, and food justice. This minor integrates interdisciplinary course work with community-based learning and research opportunities that together help students contribute to more sustainable and equitable food systems.  
  • Learn more about the Community Food Systems minor.

Education

Minor

  • Prepare for a career in teaching and lifelong learning by taking courses in education while at Cornell. This minor will not only prepare you for the classroom, but also for engaged learning at any stage in life.
  • Learn more about the minor in Education.

Leadership

Minor

  • Identify and grow your strengths with Cornell's Leadership minor, which is available to all students across the university. The minor empowers students to be more actively engaged, reflective and effective citizens with a deeper understanding of the complexities, dynamics and interdependencies of life. 
  • Learn more about the Leadership minor

Development Sociology

Major

  • The Development Sociology major welcomed its final class of first-year students in the Fall of 2021. We accepted sophomore transfers through the Spring of 2022 and will be accepting junior transfers through the Fall of 2022. We encourage students interested in this program to explore the new Global Development major.
  • Development sociology is about understanding how society works in order to better tackle poverty and improve the health, income, education, and well-being of people. It's purpose-driven and community-focused: we like our work to have real world impact, and we like to work with people and communities directly. Our curriculum will provide you the skills and training to diagnose, understand, and contribute to solutions in issue areas like food security, sustainable development, and climate change adaptation. 
  • Learn more about the Development Sociology major.

International Agriculture and Rural Development (IARD)

Major

  • The International Agriculture and Rural Development major welcomed its final class of first-year students in the Fall of 2021. We encourage students interested in this program to explore the new Global Development major.
  • Our IARD major is designed for students who are interested in tackling the unique and interdisciplinary issues associated with food systems and rural development in emerging nations. You’ll have the opportunity to gain meaningful experience, hands-on by participating in projects and research all over the world. Our students prepare to make a real world impact on rural communities across the globe with concentrations in economics and development, agricultural and food systems, or environment and ecosystems.
  • Learn more about the IARD major.

Video spotlight

Meet Eli Newell ‘24, an undergraduate in global development who seeks to boost environmental health by using a key ingredient that is readily available – urine. Under the mentorship of Rebecca Nelson, Eli's work revolves around a growing field of research: circular bionutrient economy. With research partners from New York to Kenya, this work seeks to recycle nutrients from human and agricultural waste into fertilizer, which ultimately reduces pollution, improves sanitation, and promotes food security.

Students in the field

Learn how students in Global Development stepped out of the classroom to engage with communities.

Headshot of Jeff Kang'acha

Field Note

Jeff Kang’acha ‘24: Bridging tech and agriculture for global impact
Meet Jeff Kang’acha ‘24, a global development student with a deep-rooted commitment to making a positive impact on food systems and digital agriculture. As a fourth-generation smallholder farmer from Central Kenya, Jeff's passion lies in...
  • Department of Global Development
  • Digital Agriculture
  • Global Development
Man sits on a truck

Field Note

In the summer of 2023, Logan Bonn '25 ( Global Development ) was a participant in the CALS Global Fellows Program in Maun, Botswana. Logan divided time between 1) grant writing and harvesting at his host organization, a sustainable agriculture...
  • CALS Global Fellows Program
  • Department of Global Development
  • Global Development
Silhouette of fisherman on a boat

News

Central to the Global Development undergraduate major is an eight-week, field-based internship that empowers students to address a global development challenge. Each year, more than 50 students journey to over 19 countries and across the United...
  • CALS Global Fellows Program
  • Department of Global Development
  • Agriculture
Women's dialogue circle

Field Note

Sushmi Majumder ’25 is envisioning new possibilities for community-based empowerment with solutions at the nexus of communication and global development. As a CALS Global Fellow, Sushmi implemented a storytelling initiative that empowered local...
  • CALS Global Fellows Program
  • Department of Communication
  • Department of Global Development
Students and professor hold a trophy

Field Note

Adjusting to Cornell and life as an undergraduate student can be incredibly challenging. To make this transition easier for future students, we invited Aerin Mann ‘25 to reflect on her first two years in the Global Development major. Aerin...
  • Department of Global Development
  • Global Development

Faculty-led study trips

Where are they now?

Learn more about where a Global Development education can take you.

Ben Fields graduation
Ben Fields '20
Hannah Fuller holds produce at the grocery store on campus
Hannah Fuller '19
A headshot of Alexander King
Alexander King '15
A female in a blue shirt and blazer with brown hair and glasses standing in front of a pine tree
Connie Potter '16
Anastashia Alfred at Oracle
A woman in a red jacket smiles as she is photographed in front of water
Keelin Kelly '20

Contact Us

Aubryn Sidle headshot
Aubryn Sidle

Lecturer and Research Associate

Department of Global Development

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Department of Global Development

Aubryn Sidle
  • as286 [at] cornell.edu
Gender & development
International education
Evaluation research
Lynn Morris headshot
Lynn Morris

Undergraduate Program Coordinator

Department of Global Development

Lynn Morris
Heidi Mouillesseaux-Kunzman headshot
Heidi Mouillesseaux-Kunzman

Senior Extension Associate

Department of Global Development

Director, Education Minor

Department of Global Development

Heidi Mouillesseaux-Kunzman
Community development
Civic engagement
Engaged learning and research