About the Minor
The Shepherd Program for the Interdisciplinary Study of Poverty and Human Capability offers a curricular and co-curricular program of study that enriches any major. Sustained and coordinated study in this program enables students to understand how their undergraduate and graduate studies can prepare them as future professionals and citizens to address the problems of poverty and establishing a decent minimum of human development for all people. Students completing designated requirements in this program receive notations on their transcript at graduation. The program director and coordinator of co-curricular education certify students for this notation when they meet the following requirements totaling at least 16 credits.
- Interdepartmental 101, 450
- At least 10 credits chosen from among the following: Interdepartmental 102, English 260, Economics 205, 280, Sociology 202, 228, 264, or independent-study courses of at least three credits each, focused on poverty and human capability, or other course offerings (e.g. Journalism 295, Spanish 204) that devote a segment to poverty and enable students to write a paper that addresses poverty and human capability. These courses must be approved by the director of the Shepherd Program.
- A capstone study that culminates in a major research paper on a topic proposed by the student that focuses on poverty and human capability. This course will typically be Interdepartmental 423. It may be an Independent Study, Senior Thesis, Honors Thesis, or Interdepartmental 396, when the research projects fit the criteria above and are co-advised by Shepherd Program faculty. These substitute courses must be approved in advance by the director of the Shepherd Program and by the participating instructors.
