From: Economic and Political Development Concentration
Date: January 18
Subject: EPD Newsletter | January 18, 2024


We are back!

Dear EPD-ers,

Welcome back! We hope you had an amazing winter break and are ready to kick off an exciting semester ahead. This marks the first issue of our spring newsletter, and we can't wait to keep you updated on all the upcoming events, courses, and other opportunities.

Wishing you a fantastic start to the semester and a wonderful year ahead! 

This week’s newsletter includes:

  • EPD Courses with available seats 
  • Important Spring 2024 Registration Reminders 
  • EPD events
  • Society for International Development - Career Fair
  • Other Events Happening
  • EPD Office Hours
EPD Courses with available seats 

We hope everyone's registration is going well. We wanted to share with you an updated list of spring EPD courses with available seats. As a reminder, the last day of online registration is Friday 1/26. 

EPD Core Courses (with openings):
  • INAF U6189 Political Development
Instructor: Olivier Nay
Monday, 4:10 - 6:00 PM
Call #: 14137
The course will provide participants with analytical perspectives and arguments from the social sciences so that they can better understand and analyze political development both as a process of historical transformation and, in the post-colonial world order, as a set of international policies influenced by great powers and international institutions. The course will also explore practical implications for policymaking. Throughout the course, participants will acquire general knowledge regarding concepts, theoretical backgrounds in social sciences, and the main debates guiding international policies. The course will also help participants grasp emerging issues in the field, such as the hybridity of political orders, the question of the resilience of societies, the emergence of new post-colonial political dynamics with the growing influence of the BRICS countries, and the question of environmental politics from a global perspective.
  • INAF U6602 Economic Development for International Affairs
Instructor: Andrew Simons
Section 1: Thursday, 11:00 - 12:50 PM
Call #: 10236
Section 2: Thursday, 2:10 - 4:00 PM
Call #: 10237
The course has two objectives: 1) to explore how economics can be used to understand development and 2) to provide tools and skills useful in policy work. In the course we will describe the basic facts surrounding the development process, and use economic theory to make sense of these facts and to identify gaps in our understanding. We will also learn about the toolkit of development economists that are used to fill in those gaps. These will include analyzing real world data and thinking in terms of causality and its relevance for policy.
  • INAF U8145 Advanced Economic Development for International Affairs
Instructor: Eric Verhoogen (NOTE: Prof. Verhoogen will be on leave in 2024-25 so students who wish to take a class with him should enroll this semester)
Section 1: Thursday, 9:00 - 10:50 AM
Call#: 10245
Section 2: Thursday, 2:10 - 4:00 PM
Call#: 10246
Pre-requisite: SIPA U6400 (students who haven't taken U6400 but are comfortable with higher level math and/or have strong background in economics are encouraged to enroll in this course. Please reach out to Prof. Verhoogen if this applies to you and request a permission to be enrolled by OSA).
This is an advanced course in development economics, designed for SIPA students interested in rigorous, applied training. Coursework includes extensive empirical exercises, requiring programming in Stata. The treatment of theoretical models presumes knowledge of calculus. Topics include: the economics of growth; the relationship between growth and poverty and inequality; rural-urban migration; the interaction between agrarian institutions in land, labor, credit, and insurance markets; prisoner’s dilemmas and the environment; and policy debates around development strategies. Recurrent themes: Are markets efficient, and if not, in what specific ways are they inefficient? What are the forces driving development and underdevelopment? What are the causal links between poverty and inequality and economic performance? What is the role of interventions by states or civil organizations in bringing about development? The course will integrate theoretical ideas and empirical analysis, with an emphasis on questions relevant for economic policy.

EPD Focus Area Courses (with openings):
  • INAF U6163 African Development Strategies: Policies, Institutions and Governance
Instructor: Akbar Noman
Wednesday, 2:10 – 4:00 PM
Call #: 10233
This course focuses on economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa from a political economy perspective. It is divided into three sections. The first section examines the broad economic trends, policies and strategies of the past 50 years. The Washington Consensus and the lost decades are examined in some detail. The focus of this part is on economic growth and structural change, notably the controversies around economic policies and institutions. In the second section the course turns to socioeconomic dimensions and aspects of development including poverty, inequality, employment, health, education, and gender. The final section concludes with an examination of the implications of climate change, debates around foreign aid and an overview of what we have learned.
  • INAF U6658 Politics and Policies in South Asia
Instructor: Rumela Sen
Monday, 2:10 - 4:00 PM
Call #: 10240
This seminar is an advanced introduction to contemporary South Asia, one of the world’s most diverse regions. The course is open to SIPA students interested in the region, even if they do not have any prior background in South Asia. The readings will also cater to those students who know more about the region, but want to deepen their knowledge about predominant social, political, and economic issues in the politics and policymaking of South Asia. In this course we will look into various aspects of interaction of the state, society and market in South Asia with an aim to evaluate (a) how comparative social science illuminates South Asia and (b) how analysis of specific cases in South Asia contributes to general theorizing about politics. The focus of the course is analytical. We will use the South Asian experience to address some of the central questions in politics and policymaking.
  • INAF U6736 Innovations in Development Finance (short course)
Instructor: Radha Kulkarni
Course dates: Fri/Sat, Jan 26 & 27, Feb 2 & 3, Feb 9 &10 (Fridays: 11 - 1:20pm, Saturdays 10:30-12:50pm)
Call #: 14143
The aspirations outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are in jeopardy as the world faces cascading and interrelated global crises and conflicts. It has become increasingly apparent that traditional funding modalities are falling tragically short to meet the financing requirements in addressing the SDGs - currently estimated to be around US$4.2 trillion per year. Hence, there is an urgent need to leverage alternative and innovative sources for financing development initiatives. This course will explore the intersection of development finance, strategy, and policy. It will examine the landscape of traditional development financing, provide an overview of various innovative development financing mechanisms, and reflect on the process for adapting them in particular contexts. The course will be highly interactive, involving six classes taking place over three weekends, with leading experts as guest speakers, and practical activities including an individual opinion piece, a group project and presentation, and a simulation exercise.
  • INAF U6774 Public Policy and Inequality in Developing Countries
Instructor: Marcelo Medeiros Coelho de Souza
Section 2: Thursday, 4:10-6:00 PM
Call #: 14141
A proper development strategy must be inclusive and sustainable. Policies to fight poverty, alleviate all inequalities, and promote social mobility are the focus of this course. It deals with emerging and persistent issues in developing countries: the design of a social safety net, biodiversity and sustainability, education, gender and racial inequalities, public health, labor policies, fiscal and social responsibility, the distributive aspects of fiscal policy, taxation, and government size and efficiency. The course combines problem-based learning and lectures.
  • INAF U6914 Policies and Practices in Human-Centered Digital Development
Instructors: Savita Bailur
Friday, 11:00 – 12:50 PM
Call #: 10719
The course takes a theoretical and critical look at the field from the instructor’s many years of experience working in technology and development, from organizations as diverse as Microsoft Research India to UN Women. ICTs have the power to fundamentally transform the lives of billions. Yet technological solutions are often offered as a “silver bullet”, not grounded in broader socio-economic networks. The course will discuss several case-studies in order to ground theory in practice, and will introduce students to several initiatives which have enabled “development” through ICTs, such as India’s Aadhaar, Kenya’s M-Pesa and others. We will also have participation from invited guest speakers. Through a group assignment, students will apply the principles and good practices explored in the course to develop a concrete digital development proposal. Students who are interested in careers in international development with a focus on technology will find this course a useful foundation.
Important Spring 2024 Registration Reminders 

The start of classes this week is the beginning of the add/drop (change of program) period. During this time students can “shop” courses and continue to adjust their course schedule. The last day to add/drop full semester SIPA courses via SSOL is Friday, January 26th. Please ensure that your schedule is finalized by this date. Below is an overview of important information to ensure a smooth start to your classes:

  • Cross Registration: Please consult the SIPA cross-registration page for detailed information on how to register at other Columbia University schools/departments. If the school/department in which you are interested is not included on the site, you will need to contact them directly to confirm their cross-registration process. Note that other schools may have different add/drop deadlines. You must adhere to the academic deadlines and policies of the school/department to which a course belongs. Some schools which require an application AND/OR have specific deadlines are listed below:
  • Waitlists: The last day for students to be approved for registration from a waitlist is Friday, January 26th. Waitlists will be deactivated at 9:30 p.m. on that date.
  • Course Evaluations & Courseworks: We advise you to review both the course syllabi and course evaluations when choosing your courses and finalizing your schedule. The courseworks pages for Spring 2024 courses, will be accessible to all students until the end of the change of program period on January 26th. After this date, a course’s courseworks page will be restricted to students who are officially registered for the specific course.
  • Changing a Concentration/Specialization: Students can submit a request to change their concentration/specialization via the concentration/specialization change form. There is a limit of one submission per semester. The form will close on Wednesday, January 24th at 11pm.
  • Grading Options: Students can opt to take courses for letter grade or pass/fail or request to audit (R-credit) a course. Courses that will be used to meet core, concentration, or specialization requirements must be taken for a letter grade. Courses taken as an audit (R-credit), will count toward your 18-credit maximum but do not count toward your graduation credits. An overview of grading options is located here.
  • Maximum Credit: Ensure that your registration does not exceed the maximum credits allowed by your program. Registering for credits beyond the maximum requires advisor permission and will result in additional tuition charges on a per-point basis. Information about these charges can be found on the Student Financial Services page.
  • Short Courses: You have the flexibility to add/drop short courses any time before the course's start date, including if the date falls after the change of program deadline of January 26th.
  • Proficiency Exam: A reminder that the proficiency exams are scheduled for Friday, January 19th for those who registered. 
  • Academic Advising: The Office of Student Affairs has walk-in office hours through the end of the change of program period (add/drop). The walk-in hours are 9am-12:30pm and 1:30-5pm Monday – Friday (January 16-26).
EPD Events
  • EPD Course Advising Session 
Date & Time: Monday, Jan 22, 2024 | 1 PM – 2 PM EST
Location: IAB, Room 1302

Join our EPD Program Assistants for an informal discussion about their thoughts and ideas about different courses, receive tips for navigating the semester and managing the course load.

Register here!
Society for International Development - Career Fair



Next month, an exciting opportunity awaits as we invite you to explore your next career move in international development at our virtual Career Fair on February 15. Join us to connect with industry professionals, gain valuable insights, and equip yourself with the tools for career growth and success. Discover more details about the event here and don't miss the chance to secure your spot.
Other Events Happening
  • "Queer Data" - A talk by Kevin Guyan

Data has never mattered more. Our lives are increasingly shaped by it and how it is defined, collected and used. But who counts in the collection, analysis and application of data? Join Kevin Guyan to discuss themes from his book Queer Data: Using Gender, Sex and Sexuality Data for Action (Bloomsbury Academic) including the relationship between data and visibility, the politics of who and how to count, and the intersection of queer lives and everyday data practices and systems.

Kevin Guyan will touch on these and other questions in his lunchtime talk "Queer Data: Who Counts?". This is the first speaker in the Computational Journalism Class taught this spring by Mark Hansen and Gina Chua. (We will occasionally open our talks to the whole school.) The Office of the CJS Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is co-sponsoring this event.

Please register here to attend and reserve a lunch.

EPD Office Hours

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