About the Program

The doctoral program embraces the philosophy of SGISD. It promotes transdisciplinary research: crossing disciplinary, academic, and non-academic boundaries, as well as transnational inquiry, crossing borders and hemispheres. The program develops professionals skilled in integrating policies and practices into community training and capacity-building initiatives that invest in inclusion and social development worldwide.

The PhD curriculum focuses on research methodology, research execution, and the translation and application of research to policy and practice, with an even greater emphasis on leadership development. Graduates will be prepared for careers as researchers as well as policy and program analysts. They will be prepared to work in top-level leadership positions in the public and NGO sectors, leading teams of professionals in developing evidence-based policy and program solutions.

Student select a concentration from the following:

• Disability Studies: Prepares students to work with people with disabilities in various capacities and to become leaders and advocates in the field.
• Gerontology: Prepares students to understand aging populations from a social and psychological perspective, and to work in the community or at a policy level to help support today’s vast aging populations.
• Human Rights: Develops leaders for social justice. Readies students to mobilize local and international movements, measure efforts and outcomes, advance human well-being, and promote rights for all.
• Nonprofit Management: Graduates work in mid- or top-level managerial positions in the NGO and non-profit sectors, including poverty reduction programs, advocacy organizations, community service organizations, social welfare, and human service providers.
• Transnational, Cultural, and Community Studies: Introduces students to different forms of exclusion that affect substantial populations both within and outside of the US, also allowing students to explore the linkages between global and local forms of exclusion, and develop solutions to them.
• Individualized Plan of Study: This option is intended for those with specific interests not fully addressed within existing concentrations. Students who wish to pursue this option must take all required core GISD courses, and must provide a detailed outline of the plan of study they wish to pursue and its connection to the School’s mission. This proposal must be reviewed and approved by a faculty advisor, the graduate program director, and the SGISD academic affairs committee, no later than the start of the third academic semester.