2024-2025 Binghamton University Academic Guide
Department of Human Development
|
|
 Return to: College of Community and Public Affairs
The human development department’s programs allows students to explore individual, social and structural aspects of human development as a basis of understanding principles that benefit themselves and others by (a) achieving a solid foundation in the theories and research defining the field of human development; (b) engaging in a critical exploration of social, cultural, economic, historical and political frameworks and the ways in which individuals, families and communities are situated within them; (c) developing the understanding and skills needed to enhance and promote diversity, equity and social justice; and (d) fostering a complex understanding of human conditions.
Our courses stress collaborative education and a multicultural curriculum, and our faculty strive to build supportive relationships with and among our students.
Learning objectives woven throughout our flexible curriculum encourage students to:
- think critically;
- analyze social issues;
- effectively express ideas verbally and in writing;
- apply knowledge by linking theory and practice;
- understand and use technology;
- develop an understanding of self and others as situated in history and community;
- develop an understanding for global-local issues and relations of power;
- develop a human-rights based perspective to the empowerment of individuals and communities;
- demonstrate an understanding of how oppression affects the process of development;
- demonstrate knowledge, sensitivity and skill in working with diverse populations;
- and engage in a critical analysis of the concept of human service in the social and institutional context of politics, history and economics.
Courses are situated in the social sciences, but also cross these and other disciplinary boundaries, applying what students learn to a variety of human services settings, including social services, schools, child-care organizations, the criminal justice system, healthcare agencies, mental health programs, community development organizations and many others for which a human development understanding provides a useful grounding.
Programs
Return to: College of Community and Public Affairs
|