IDRC supports new MA focusing on Indigenous development
09/11/2011
In August 2011, the University of Winnipeg launched a two-year Master’s in Development Practice (MDP) program focusing on Indigenous development. The university is one of 22 worldwide invited by the John and Catherine MacArthur Foundation and the Earth Institute at Columbia University to offer this degree, which was developed by the International Commission on Education for Sustainable Development Practice with the foundation’s support. The University of Winnipeg alone will focus on Indigenous development and will become a hub for the study, research, and practice relating to the development of Indigenous communities.
The MDP program consists of two years of academic training in four core competency areas – health; social sciences; natural sciences; and management, program evaluation and design – along with rigorous, hands-on field experience in both Canadian and international settings. It will offer online “global classrooms” that will connect students to an international network of MDP students, as well as with local, rural, and remote communities around the world.
To support the launch of the program, IDRC will fund scholarships for MDP students’ Canadian and international field placements. Ten students in each of the first and second year of the MDP will receive a grant of $7,500 each.
Visit the University of Winnipeg website for more information on the MDP program and the awards.