Welcome to the Graduate Program in Development Studies
Source: https://www.yorku.ca/gradstudies/dvst/ Parent: https://www.yorku.ca/gradstudies/program-contacts/
Master of Arts (MA)
The Graduate Program in Development Studies offers students an intellectually rigorous and relevant interdisciplinary curriculum that is uniquely layered when examining theories and practices of development from a critical social science perspective.
Our research-intensive MA is a uniquely focused, but flexible graduate program. Through the program, students pursue a wide range of research interests as they relate to the field of development studies in both the Global South and North, including gender, education, health, urbanization, sports, forced migration, migrant settlement, global environmental crises, indigeneity, extractive industries, precariousness, etc. The MA is structured as a five-term program combining coursework, fieldwork and internship/placement.
Learn about the nexus between theory and practice
Search
Search
Quick Links
- Academic Important Dates
- FGS Forms
- Wellness & Counselling
- Department of Social Science
- Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
Application Period
Domestic:
Oct 8, 2025–Apr 15, 2026
International:
Oct 8, 2025–Feb 15, 2026
What Make Us Different?
Interdisciplinary and grounding on area studies
Critical social science approach to development
Research-intensive focus and emphasis on praxis
Upcoming Events
Featured Faculty
Nga Dao
Research Interests
Southeast Asia, resource governance, political ecology, political economy and livelihood change, gender equality and women’s role in resource governance, agri-business, water and land grabbing, development-induced displacement, civil society, and NGOs.
Miguel Gonzalez
Research Interests
Indigenous Self-governance, Intercultural E-learning Programs, Territorial Autonomous Regimes, and Small-scale (artisanal) Fisheries in Latin America.
Shubhra Gururani
Research Interests
Anthropology , Global/Climate Change, Urban Environments, Agrarian-Urban change, Urban Ethnography, Science and Technology Studies
Nathanael Ojong
Research Interests
Rural & urban livelihoods, Poverty and social networks, Microfinance and microenterprise, Renewable energy, Political economy of social welfare instruments in Sub-Saharan Africa.
[My] research is being used to inform the work of Red Thread (a multiracial women's organization in Georgetown), which supports the advancement of women. It has also had a significant impact on research into the eight United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals.
— Michelle Bobala\ MA student in Development Studies
Learn More
The Graduate Program in Development Studies at York is an exciting environment to pursue innovative, socially engaging, career-ready education. Contact our Graduate Program Assistant to learn more.