Welcome

sjoy — Thu, 03 May 2012 20:51:17 +0000

NOTICE

THE PAYSON GRADUATE PROGRAM IN GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT HAS SUSPENDED ADMISSIONS TO ALL GRADUATE ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

The Payson Graduate Program in Global Development (formerly known as the Payson Center for International Development) of Tulane University's Law School combines academic degree programs with internships and project-related employment in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Faculty and students are working to improve the quality of life of the world's most vulnerable populations in less economically developed countries.

Our academic offerings include a coordinate undergraduate major in International Development as well as Master’s, Joint Juris Doctor and Master's, Master of Laws (LLM) in Development and Ph.D. degrees with a focus on sustainable human development (SHD). Our academic program is problem-oriented, interdisciplinary and uses technology to facilitate learning and problem-solving.

Our focus on sustainable human development requires that our faculty come from a variety of disciplines including: law, economics, public health, political science, history and computer science. This helps students to learn to think in more holistic and comprehensive ways about international development.

But it is not enough to study development issues. Learning and problem-solving occurs in the field, so many of our students work with faculty on grants and projects. Currently, graduate students are working on projects such as measuring the "worst forms of child labor" in the cocoa fields of West Africa, evaluating humanitarian aid initiatives in Haiti, tracking the impact of the BP Oil Spill, and numerous other projects, including HIV/AIDS projects in Rwanda and reconstruction in Northern Uganda.

Our programs are exciting, cutting-edge and important.

About Us

cavrard — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:12:08 +0000

The Payson Graduate Program in Global Development (formerly known as the Payson Center for International Development) is an interdisciplinary center at Tulane University’s Law School offering Master of Science, Joint Juris Doctor and Master of Science, and Doctorate degrees. Since its inception in 1997, the Payson Center has generated one of the fastest growing academic programs at Tulane University. The Payson Program delivers to students a solid foundation of interdisciplinary theories and practices to improve the quality of life for populations in the developing world. The program’s focus is deeply rooted in sustainable human development, which leads to societies that are environmentally sustainable, economically viable, and socially just.

Sustainable human development, defined by the Brundtland Commission as "development that meets the needs of this generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs," is inherently interdisciplinary. The Payson Graduate Program in Global Development was initiated on the belief that sustainable human development involves improving the quality of people’s lives by expanding their ability to shape their own futures. While this generally calls for higher per-capita income via economic growth and development, it requires much more. Achieving sustainable human development often requires more equitable education and job opportunities, greater gender equality, better health and nutrition, a cleaner and more sustainable natural environment, more impartial judicial and legal systems, and broader civil and political freedoms.

Understanding and ensuring sustainable human development requires that our faculty come from a variety of disciplines. Our current faculty working in the Payson Graduate Program comes from disciplines such as:

Further, we are an applied program where students and faculty alike learn not only in the classroom but in the world. Many of our students gain additional international development experience by working closely with our faculty on a variety of development projects.

Since its inception, Payson has administered 59 projects in 25 countries, with a combined budget of over $83 million. Our student body is as diverse (if not more so) as our interdisciplinary approach to development and students hail from all parts of the world. In order to meet their needs, several of our classes are offered online. It is not uncommon for our students to be distance-based during a portion of their coursework engaged in the practice of sustainable development while simultaneously working toward their degree.

Our graduates are working for international organizations, managing non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and are professors and practitioners around the world.