tohumanlifespandevelopment,twobiologycourses,twosocialsciencecourses,
oneformalskillscourse,onestatisticscourse,andonecomputerliteracycourse(the
computerliteracywillsoonbereplacedbyacoursethatsatisfiesthecampus
Diversity,EquityandInclusion(DEI)requirement).Oncestudentsareacceptedinto
themajor,requirementsincludetwodevelopmentalmethodscourse,fourupper
divisioncorecoursesinhumandevelopment,sixdevelopmentalelectivecourses
andacapstoneseniorseminar.AlthoughmanyofthecoursesfortheHDPmajorare
taughtinaffiliatedepartments,acoresetofcoursesaretaughtthroughthe
program.
Forprogramadministration,thestaffofHDPincludesaManagementServices
Officer(sharedwiththeDepartmentofLinguistics),togetherwithtwoStudent
AffairsOfficers.HDPhasafulltimeLecturer/AcademicCoordinator,Dr.Clarissa
Reese,whoisdedicatedtoteachingHDP191(oneofthecoreresearchmethods
courses)andrecruitingandmaintainingthefieldresearchsites.SincetheUniversity
ofCaliforniadoesnotpermitfulltimeladder‐rankfacultypositionstobehoused
withinaprogram,mostofthefacultyinvolvementintheprogramcomesfrom
dedicatedfacultyfromotherdepartmentsinterestedintheeducationalmissionof
HDP.Thereare,however,twospeciallyappointedfacultymembersholding50/50
jointappointmentsinHDP(thesefacultyaresharedwithCognitiveScienceand
Psychology,respectively).Acoregroupoffacultyfromabroadrangeofaffiliate
departmentscomprisestheHDPExecutiveCommittee;thecurrentProgram
DirectorisDr.FarrellAckerman(Linguistics).TheExecutiveCommitteeisvery
active,meetingtwotothreetimesamonthtooverseeprogramgoalsandprogress,
developnewinitiativesandcourses,andaddressproblems.
StrengthsoftheHumanDevelopmentProgram:
HumanDevelopmentisanextremelyimportantmajoroncampus.Toquotefrom
thepreviousprogramreview:
TheconceptofaHumanDevelopmentProgramisinspired,timely,andappropriate
for
aninstitutionwiththestrengthsofUCSD.Thereislittledoubtthatdevelopmentisone
ofthekeyareasofintellectualexplorationinthe21
st
Century…Thereisalsoagrowing
recognitionoftheimportanceoftechnologyinhumaneducation,cognition,and
emotion.Moreandmore,thefieldsoflaw,epidemiology,nursing,medicine,andmany
relateddisciplinesarestressinghowhumandevelopmentiscentralforthemissionof
thesemajorprofessionalfields.Clearly,humandevelopmentisanareaofnational
interest,anditisappropriateforauniversityofthequalityofUCSDtospearheada
programpreparingmanyofitsgraduatesforaroleinanareasorelevanttoour
society.
Indeed,HDPisatrulyuniqueandinterdisciplinaryprogramwhosemissionis
supportedbydedicatedcorefaculty,includinglinguists,psychologists,historians,
andcognitivescientists.Theprogramistailoredforasuiteofpre‐professional
students,including,butnotlimitedto,socialworkers,nurses,physiciansassistants,