A Learning Community Committed to International Understanding,
Academic Excellence, and Public Service
Global Development & Peace Chair: Dr. Thomas J. Ward (intlcoll@bridgeport.edu)
Phone: 203-576-4966
The International College is pleased to announce the creation of its Master of Arts in Global Development and Peace program. The program is developed as a 36 semester hours graduate course of study.
- This Master's degree is designed to prepare future civil servants and business professionals for careers in global development and human security.
- Students can focus on one of the three areas of study:
- 1) Political Economy and Development
- 2) Culture and Conflict Resolution for students interested in a career in government or a non-governmental organization.
- 3) Global Management for students with an interest in international business.
- Students will be expected to have or to develop a working knowledge of one foreign language.
- Students will spend a minimum of two months in an overseas internship.
- The program can be completed in less than two years.
- For more info please see the Master's Program fact sheet.
Internship Opportunities
The Masters of Arts in Global Development and Peace includes an overseas internship for a minimum of two months. Ideally the student will intern in a country where she can practice the foregin language that she has studied. Students will normally work with an international organization, a governmental agency or an international non-governmental organization.
Career Opportunities
International College graduates have gone on to work for the United Nations, for international agencies, for International Non-Governmental Organizations. Many have also gone on to work in the corporate world in venues such as General Electric, UBS Warburg, Goldman Sachs, BNY-Mellon, Pitney-Bowes. We anticipate students with the Masters of Arts in Global Development will integrate well into both International organizations and into corporations which have a significant overseas presence.
Sample Semester-by-Semester Curriculum
Sample Curriculum (International Political Economy and Devleopment Track)
| Semester I |
| Core (9 semester hours) |
| GDP 501 Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods and International Development |
3 semester hours |
| GDP 511 Issues in Economic Development |
3 semester hours |
| GDP 527 Culture and International Development |
3 semester hours |
| GDP 523 Peace and Development |
3 semester hours |
| Semester II |
| Core (6 semester hours) |
| GDP 527 Culture and International Development |
3 semester hours |
| MGMT 522/GDP 522 Conflict and Negotiation |
3 semester hours |
| GDP 524 Political and Economic Integration |
3 semester hours |
| GDP 528 Global Economy and Terrorism |
3 semester hours |
| Semester III (Summer Internship) |
| Core (3 semester hours) |
| GDP 611 Overseas Internship |
3 semester hours |
| Semester IV |
| Core (3 semester hours) |
| GDP 614 Thesis |
3 semester hours |
| GDP 532 Corruption |
3 semester hours |
| or |
| GSB 541/MKTG 550Global Market Management |
3 semester hours |
Dr. Zhiqun Zhu (Ph.D. University of South Carolina) chairs the Global Development and Peace program. Dr. Zhu received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of South Carolina. He is the author of
US-China Relations in the 21st Century: Power Transition and Peace (Routledge 2006) and many articles on East Asian political economy and US-East Asian relations. He was named a POSCO fellow by the East-West Center in Hawaii in 2006. He was also a recipient of a Korea Foundation/Freeman Foundation research grant in 2007.
Dr. Stephen Healey (Ph.D. Boston College) chair of the World Religions Program, has also been centrally involved in the elaboration of the program since its inception. Dr. Healey has conducted research and has published in the fields of Religion and Human Rights, the Phenomenology of Conversion, Globalization in Religion, and Public Theology.
Dr. Yanmin Yu (Ph.D. Syracuse University Newhouse School) chairs the Mass Communications program. She received her Ph.D. at S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. She is a two-time Fulbright Scholar, a Freeman Fellow and a Rolan D. Melton Fellow of the American Press Institute. She served as the President of the Association of Chinese Professors of Social Sciences from 2001 to 2003. Her research interests include media and society, media and foreign policy, media and international relations, and intercultural communication.
Dr. Dave O. Benjamin (Ph.D. University of Cambridge) has participated in the elaboration of the program since its inception. Dr. Benjamin earned his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, UK and has authored numerous articles on governance and international politics, including the resurgence of the extreme Right in Europe, implications of mass terrorism for the Caribbean Community, and the Reagan-Thatcher “Special Relationship.”
Dr. Beth P. Skott (Ph.D. University of Connecticut) received her Ph.D. at the University of Connecticut. After receiving her degree she served as faculty in the Pediatrics Department at the University of Connecticut Medical School, where she managed a grant examining Connecticut’s Behavioral Health System. She also served as the director of research at the Gesell Institute for Human Development. In addition, she has taught a wide range of Sociology courses at the University of Connecticut, Eastern Connecticut State University and Central Connecticut State University.
Dr. Thomas J. Ward (D. Ed. De La Salle University) is Dean of the International College and Vice President for International Programs at the University of Bridgeport. Dr. Ward lectures and writes on issues relating to comparative education, religion and society, and regional political economy. Most recently he edited
Development, Social Justice and Civil Society—An Introduction to the Political Economy of NGOs (Paragon House 2005).
Career Tracks:
Students in this program may choose from one of three tracks:
- International Political Economy and Development (For those interested in working with governmental and intergovernmental agencies focusing on development-related issues).
- Peace, Culture and Development (For those interested in culture and conflict resolution).
- Global Management (For those interested in pursuing a career in international business or risk management)
