The MDP Degree is administered jointly by the Center for African Studies and the Center for Latin American Studies. These Title VI Centers attract faculty from numerous academic units and departments who cover a wide array of disciplines, and share a passion and commitment to development and conservation work with communities in regions throughout Africa, Latin America and other parts of the world. Core and affiliate faculty of the program work within several departments and centers at the UF, lending their development expertise, teaching and advisement with invaluable impacts on the success of the MDP Program. Click to read more about the MDP Program mission and learn more about the expertise of core and affiliate faculty.
The degree curriculum builds solid disciplinary competencies but also emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach that integrates theory, practice and skills training, providing disciplinary competencies in natural sciences, health sciences, social sciences and management skills. The two-year MDP curriculum combines discipline-specific foundational core courses with specialization courses. All degree students complete a field-based practicum project, applying skills outside the classroom in international contexts addressing important development challenges.
Select from the menu on the left to learn more about program steps, the interdisciplinary curriculum, the formative field practicum experience, learning competencies and the cohort model. Prospective students can explore admission requirements here.
