Emory University
AC-4: Graduate Program

The Master's in Development Practice (MDP) program at Emory University is designed to meet the challenge of achieving sustainable development in the face of global poverty, political and ethnic conflict, a degrading natural resource base, and climate change by combining hands-on learning and field experience with rigorous training in a broad range of academic disciplines. Emory's MDP program capitalizes on its partnership with established international development and research organizations like CARE, the Carter Center and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These partners' global reach, and the grassroots experience of collaborating organizations in the global South, provides students with invaluable exposure to the way development practitioners operate in the real world and with a perspective on the different institutional contexts in which they will serve after completion of their degrees.
There are five main components of the MDP program: 1) Introductory seminar: In the month before their first semester, students take an intensive introductory course that addresses MDP core concepts, history of development efforts, practical and ethical issues in development work. This course includes field visits to local community-based organizations and development projects; 2) The "Global Classroom: Foundations of Sustainable Development Practice," is an information technology-based interactive course that fosters cross-border and cross-disciplinary dialogue between MDP students and faculty in programs around the world. The course allows students and teachers to participate in collective assignments and co-learning processes; 3) Core courses: Students take core courses in the health sciences, natural sciences, social sciences, and management. In each semester, at least one core course provides opportunities for integration among academic disciplines and across academic learning and practical training; 4) Concentration electives: After their first semester, students select a concentration that combines courses on specific sectors or themes of interest. The concentration that a student pursues depends on the individual's past training, experience and career goals and is decided in consultation with MDP faculty; 5) Field training: Students participate in intensive, "hands-on" field practicum abroad for two successive summers (10 weeks each) after their first and their second academic year. The field practicum provides students the opportunity to gain experience with innovative sustainable development approaches and practice in real-world settings. In addition to the international field practicum, students engage in service learning with community-based organizations that work with underserved populations in the Atlanta area during their first academic year at Emory.

The Master's of Public Health in Environmental Health (EH) program seeks to train students in a trans-disciplinary way so that they can better tackle the environmental health threats of the future. Environmental Health courses rigorously examine health issues, scientific understanding of causes, and possible future strategies to control major environmental health problems in both industrialized and developing countries. Environmental, social, and economic topics are addressed in EH courses, ranging from the molecular to the global, and tackle such issues as pesticides (and their link with neurological disease), air pollution (and its link with cardiopulmonary disease), water pollution, heavy metals, solvents, persistent organic pollutants, urban sprawl, global climate change, and emerging global environmental health problems. Ciannat Howett, Director of Sustainability at Emory University, is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Environmental Health.

The Masters of Public Health in Global Environmental Health program focuses on alleviating poverty and enhancing environmental protection while promoting sustainable development. Students in the GEH program will develop skills to address complex Global Environmental Health problems, drawing examples and experiences from: the interactions between population, demographics and environment; principles of ecology and environmental processes; natural resource use and sustainability science; agricultural, industrial, and economic development; globalization, global commerce and health; international environmental health policy; and, a household and community dynamics from a social science, historical, and economic perspective.

Graduates of the MPH program in Global Environmental Health will be trained in the broad contextual issues that frame global environmental health problems, while developing skills in the statistical, epidemiological and laboratory methods necessary to understand the sources, pathways, exposures and health effects of microbial and chemical pollutants, as well as policies and interventions to reduce risk at household, community and global levels.

Emory's Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program provides students a comprehensive educational experience in which to study a wide array of environmental law issues. http://www.law.emory.edu/academics/academic-programs/environmental-and-natural-resources-law.html

Anthropology (PhD): http://anthropology.emory.edu/home/graduate/index.html
Graduate students studying anthropology have the option of taking classes on the anthropology of food and nutrition. The curriculum addresses nutritional anthropology and international nutrition, growth and development, contemporary and comparative food systems, and sustainability studies. The anthropology department features several professors who are very knowledgeable about sustainable food practices. Students also benefit from interactions with leaders in the field of nutrition at the Rollins School of Public Health.

Environmental Health Sciences (PhD): http://www.sph.emory.edu/departments_centers/eh/phd/
This graduate program seeks to improve human health by better understanding the impact of environmental factors in the development of disease. Students learn to experiment ethically and receive comprehensive training to become fluent in population and laboratory-based research in environmental health science.

Master in Development Practice / Master of Divinity (Dual Degree):
MDP is on the above list of graduate programs with a focus in sustainability, but this dual-degree program is technically a different degree program. The dual degree program prepares individuals to work within religious communities addressing issues such as poverty, environmental degradation, health access, human rights, and political marginalization. http://web.gs.emory.edu/mdp/academics/dualdegrees.html

The Certificate in Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) at the Rollins School of Public Health (RSPH) is offered through the Center for Global Safe Water at Emory University (CGSW) and aims to train graduate students to be competitive for WASH-related careers. Students in the program learn to describe the multidisciplinary nature of WASH-related issues; practice WASH-related laboratory methods; examine potential solutions for WASH-related challenges at the household and community level; recognize the role of policy in shaping the WASH landscape; and identify entities working in the WASH sphere. Students must complete a WASH-related practicum.

Human rights are inherently interdisciplinary. The Emory Graduate Certificate in Human Rights is an integrated, innovative, and cooperative approach to human rights scholarship and training. The certificate combines the teaching and research strength of Emory University with the applied programs of our professional partners, including CARE USA, The Carter Center, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention among others. The Certificate is open to students in all of Emory’s professional schools: the School of Medicine, the Rollins School of Public Health, the School of Law, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, the Goizueta Business School, the Candler School of Theology and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

The Rollins School of Public Health in partnership with CDC's Emergency Response and Recovery Branch offers a Graduate Certificate in Humanitarian Emergencies.

Humanitarian issues encompass most of the concerns facing global health and international development plus some security factors that are unique to emergencies. These include:

Water and sanitation
Control of diarrheal diseases
Measles control/immunization programs
Control of acute respiratory infections
Malaria control
Public health surveillance
Reproductive health
War-related injury
Mental health

Certificate of Socio-Contextual Determinants of Health

The socio-contextual determinants of health certificate is designed to create an intellectual and professional home for Rollins master's students who have a strong scholarly commitment to studying and intervening in the socio-contextual determinants of health. This certificate provides a range of academic, research, and professional development opportunities to strengthen students' ability to advance the public's health by developing and implementing studies of, and interventions into, the socio-contextual determinants of population health and well-being.

(https://www.sph.emory.edu/academics/certificates/socio-contextual-determinants-health/index.html)