Cornell offers graduate training in social demography through the graduate field of Development Sociology. At Cornell, graduate fields are independent of traditional department units, giving fields such as Development Sociology the flexibility to draw their graduate faculty from different departments. Presently, five of the twenty members of the Field of Development Sociology are based in departments other than Development Sociology.
M.S. and Ph.D. degrees are awarded in the field of Development Sociology, with a concentration in Population and Development. In addition, the Master of Professional Studies (M.P.S.) is offered through the Field of International Development and allows students to take a concentration in population. Graduate training in specialized areas of social and economic demography, such as the life cycle, family and labor force, is offered by other graduate fields -- Policy Analysis and Management, Human Development and Family Studies, or Industrial and Labor Relations. Nutritional Sciences provides graduate training in health and survival issues. Students seeking specialized training in population links to environment and/or development may elect to major in fields such as Natural Resources or Applied Economics and Management, among others, while taking a minor in population studies.
All Ph.D. candidates must complete minors in two areas, at least one outside the field of Development Sociology. Minors can be taken in almost any graduate field. However, typical minor areas of concentration from within the field of Development Sociology are community and regional sociology; rural and environmental sociology; state, economy and society; or research methods. Minor areas outside the field are often elected in other social science disciplines, in area studies, in statistics and epidemiology, or in the physical and natural sciences.
The graduate training program in Development Sociology focuses on theoretical, methodological, and applied aspects of population and development in both developing countries and the United States, and prepares students for research and teaching positions. In addition to required courses in Population and Development, students also have required courses in sociological theory, statistics, and methods.
The M.P.S. program in International Development trains experienced practitioners employed by governments, international agencies, foundations, applied research institutions, and other action agencies concerned with problems of population and development.
