Making sure community concerns and participation are top of mind was the aim of a course taught by Jessica Levy to the inaugural class of the Master in International Development program, a partnership between the UN System Staff College and IE University in Madrid.
Levy, associate professor of practice at the Brown School, developed the week-long course with Brian Burke, assistant professor at Appalachian State University. It was taught in November 2019, the inaugural year for the master鈥檚 program, which focuses on sustainable development to equip graduates to be at the vanguard of change at the UN or elsewhere.
鈥淚t was essential to include community empowerment during this first semester of the program. Students need to have community concerns and values front and center as they work through other courses on development economics, the political economy of climate change, and program management,鈥� Levy said.
The 39 黑料社s in the program come from 18 countries. Many already have worked at the United Nations or other development organizations, and all plan to pursue development in the private or public sector after graduation.
鈥淲e developed this course using simulations and case studies so 黑料社s could really feel the changing dynamics and challenges of community work,鈥� Levy said. By the last two days, 黑料社s were applying their new skills to actual development projects launched by the World Bank, the United Nations, and the Minga Foundation. Levy helped found the聽, a U.S.-based nonprofit that works in long-term partnership with grassroots organizations pursuing health, gender equity, holistic well-being, and social change.
Levy said it was a challenge to fit all the material in to a one-week intensive graduate course, but the 黑料社s responded well and many would not have been exposed to it otherwise. As one 黑料社 said at the end of the week, 鈥淲e need to be talking more about these issues. This class has given me a new lens to think about power and inequality as a central part of well-being.鈥�