Cornell Global Development

04/11/2025

Welcome to the first-ever Global Development gala! 💐 Join the department-wide celebration for social hour, dinner, and a short, informal ceremony to close out the academic year.

⭐️ RSVP by April 20 to reserve your spot! ⭐️

All members of the Global Development department—students, fellows, faculty and staff—are invited.

This event is hosted by the Global Development Student Advisory Board.

06/08/2023

The Polson Institute for Global Development is pleased to announce its new Spring 2023 grants, which will support research at the intersection of Global Development’s signature strengths in wellbeing and inclusion; environmental sustainability; and food and nutritional security:

🔺 Fostering Faculty-Student Collaboration in Global Development Signature Strengths (Rachel Bezner Kerr, Jarvis Fisher, Jenny Elaine Goldstein, Matias Flores Gonzales, Carolina Osorio Gil, Scott Peters, Emily Baker, Mengzheng Yao, John Aloysius Zinda)
🔺 Harnessing the Humphrey Fellows Alumni Network for Global Engagement (Ed Mabaya, Polly Endreny Holmberg)
🔺 Reciprocal Short-Term Student Exchanges as Ethical Engaged Pedagogy in Global Development (Julie Ficarra, Ph.D.)
🔺 The Department of Global Development and the National Extension Climate Initiative (David Kay)
🔺 Amanda Labarca and bell hooks in Berea College: South-South Intercultural Translations (Matias Flores Gonzales, Carolina Osorio Gil, Scott Peters)
🔺 Household Livelihood Strategies in Rural Hungary: 30 Years After Socialism (David Brown)
🔺 Critical Development Studies Research Working Group (Kathryn Foster, Timothy Ravis, Tamar Law, Duke Mwedzi)

The Polson Institute for Global Development announced its new Spring 2023 grants to support research at the intersection of Global Development’s signature strengths in wellbeing and inclusion; environmental sustainability; and food and nutritional security.

05/17/2023

Can big tech serve small farms? It must through multidisciplinary partnerships that empower smallholder farmers, says Edward Mabaya, a research professor in ...

05/17/2023

12/14/2022

The Polson Institute for Global Development announced its fall 2022 grants to support research at the intersection of systemic inequality and social-environmental justice.

10/17/2022

Congratulations to Sarah Giroux '03, MS '06, Ph.D. '11 who has selected to receive a Stephen H. Weiss Award honoring excellence in undergraduate teaching and mentoring at Cornell University. https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2022/10/weiss-teaching-award-honors-eight-exceptional-faculty

10/09/2022

Professor Mario Herrero has been named to the EAT Foundation EAT-Lancet 2.0 leadership team to spearhead the modeling workstream for a new report on healthy diets within safe planetary boundaries.

Mario Herrero, a professor in the Department of Global Development and a Cornell Atkinson Scholar, has been appointed to the EAT-Lancet 2.0 leadership team to spearhead the modeling workstream.

09/16/2022

What remains after a natural disaster?
What was there before?
What does a community look like when it’s all over?

A new essay series produced in Professor Zinda's Environmental Sociology course look at an environment, its people and the traditional natural environment to examine the disaster’s connection to the sociological framework.

By juxtaposing real experiences and theory, they use a sociological perspective to illuminate the full impact of a disaster.

A Different Angle connects real stories with sociological theory to bring awareness to environmental disaters. The young writers featured in this publication are the next generation of climate activists, researchers, politicians, teachers, and everyday citizens.

09/15/2022

We are pleased to announce our Global Development Master of Professional Studies (MPS) class of 2023!

This year’s program will provide in-depth training to early and mid-career development professionals from 8 countries across Africa, Asia and the Americas. Each student brings a unique combination of prior academic preparation and practical experience ranging from agriculture and rural development to women's entrepreneurship.

Cornell Global Development is pleased to announce its Master of Professional Studies (MPS) class of 2023. This year’s program will provide in-depth training to early and mid-career development professionals from Africa, Asia and the Americas.

09/12/2022

"There are many benefits for communities and for households in making this transition (to a fossil fuel-free future). In the short-term, there will be costs," says Professor Rachel Bezner Kerr, speaking with CNBC about the impacts of climate change on food security.

Rachel Bezner Kerr of Cornell University says there will be more "food supply difficulties" if reductions in greenhouse gases are not made.

09/08/2022

The new Global Hubs initiative builds on mutual interests and exchange rather than on physical centers abroad. “The hubs are, in a sense, the institutionalization of strong relationships in strategic places,” said Wendy Wolford, vice provost for international affairs and the Robert A. and Ruth E. Polson Professor in the Department of Global Development at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. “In some cases, the hubs are doorways into a region.”

An ambitious and innovative new initiative expands opportunities for faculty, alumni and students across the university to engage with 20 partner universities in 11 locations, while also welcoming international students here.

09/08/2022

Eric Yirenkyi Danquah, visiting scientist of global development and founding director of West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana, Legon, earned the 2022 Africa Food Prize for his efforts to change the reality of farming in Africa.

Eric Yirenkyi Danquah, a Ghanaian plant geneticist and scientific leader who established a thriving model for agricultural education, earned the 2022 Africa Food Prize for his achievements training African agricultural scientists in Africa and for Africa.