Check out our upcoming courses below. If you have questions about a particular course, you can reach out to the faculty member or email registrar@wciu.edu and someone from our enrollment team will gladly help you!

This course provides learners with general knowledge of how national and global economics impact people’s well-being and their development. It equips them to better understand economic theories and models, draw on different strands of economics for their own work and challenge economic thinking more fruitfully when necessary. The learners will also be equipped to engage better with economists and policymakers on economic matters.

This course explores God’s activity in history during the Old Testament era from a global perspective, with a chronological and interdisciplinary approach. This course has a strong emphasis on theology and the culture of the ancient Mediterranean world within the big picture of God’s activity and purposes in history.

This course introduces women leaders who have contributed to the holistic transformation of the world. Students will survey women leaders, from the first century through the present. They will consider the impact of marriage and singleness and analyze case studies focusing on the interplay of culture, politics, and religion on gender equity. Finally, they will critique the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development and potential effects on the next generation of girls.

Students in this course design qualitative/participatory research projects related to significant issues on behalf of an urban movement or community organization. Students apply analytic frameworks and practical skills to an investigation of a specific issue on behalf of a church movement or community organization that involves local residents in specific transformation efforts. Research methods are taught and used to gather and organize pertinent information, culminating in the writing and oral presentation of a Professional Report.

This course focuses on the major developments in China in the past four decades as they relate to international development, including China’s economic growth and its global impact, the Belt and Road Initiatives, trade war with the US, United Nations Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals vs China’s development efforts. Students will be able to read from primary sources concerning these areas and research in depth a specific area of development.

In this course, students read and research on significant historical and contemporary religious movements, particularly the dynamics and expressions of faith of Christian movements in modern China. Special attention will be given to the relevance of such religious movements to the revitalization of society and insights gleaned from these movements.

This course aims to enhance the effectiveness of scholar-practitioners in their development work. Our students need to grow not only in scholarship but even more in their ability to translate what they learn into improved performance in the field.

The Applied Learning course requires students to evaluate their current level of practice, and then to work with a mentor/supervisor in the field to craft and implement a Professional Improvement Plan to enhance their development practice. Program Director’s approval is required to determine if the placement aligns with the program of study.

Course Outcomes: Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

• Use self-evaluation and mentor-evaluation to determine an improvement plan for their practice, considering their individual interests, agency involvement, and needs in the field.

• Implement their improvement plan and demonstrate improvement in their development practice.

• Identify and document ways that they have integrated their studies into their practice. Applied Learning Assessment of Program Outcomes.

The capstone project (CP) is the final assignment of the MA curriculum. It integrates relevant elements of the curriculum in order to clearly state and analyze a human problem and propose a feasible, integrative solution in the context of a ministry/NGO setting.

All of Development Studies curriculum is intended to help the student learn how to recognize, diagnose, and propose solutions to problems in International Development. The capstone project gives the student practice in doing just that. As such, the CP is the fulfillment of the course learning outcome that the student can “integrate multiple disciplines for the purpose of solving human problems, and “Program Goal B: Students will integrate biblical perspectives into their principles and practices.”

• Integrate multiple disciplines for the purpose of solving human problems.

• Articulate the implications of the meta-narrative of God’s constant work to extend his blessing and heal the world in a practical, concrete way for a specific ministry and/or NGO context.

• Analyze the roots of problems within a specific society that need to be addressed from a biblical perspective.

This course organizes an interdisciplinary dialogue between urban theology and urban analysis, drawing upon studies in urban economics, urban planning, community development, urban anthropology, sociology, and the history of cities. It generates Christian perspectives on social science tools for transformative urban development.  

This course relates biblical and theological perspectives to the theory and practice of community wealth building. Special emphasis is given to cooperatives, micro-enterprises and entrepreneurship as a basis for asset building and ownership.

Course Outcomes: Upon completion of this course, students will:

• Understand a comprehensive theology of economics (including creativity, production, stewardship; redistribution, work and rest, ownership and other Biblical principles).

• Apply ten Biblical themes at some of the following levels and methods and strategies to alleviate different levels of poverty.

• Have developed a passion and concern for the families among the marginalized with a desire to serve them through MFI and MED projects.

• Be introduced to the basic business building principles and use of standard tools in strategic micro-enterprise development and management.

• Be able to read financial statements, understand simple bookkeeping and banking concepts and evaluate the viability of small business ventures.

• Be familiar with how to write a basic strategic, sustainable and transformational business plan.

• Have worked with an experienced practitioner to facilitate adoption of a small savings scheme, microfinance or cooperative economic process in a particular marginalized community.

Textbooks and reading

• Kishtainy, N. (2012). The economics book: Big ideas simply explained. DK Publishers.

• Grigg, V. 2016. Kiwinomics. Urban Leadership Foundation.

• Yunus, M. (2003). Banker to the poor: Micro-lending and the battle against world poverty. Perseus Books.

•  Greer, P., & Smith, P. (2009). The poor will be glad: joining the revolution to lift the world out of poverty. Zondervan.

• US Based Students

• Abrahamns, J. (2008). Companies we keep: Employee ownership and the business of community and place. White River Junction.

•  Rhodes, M., Holt, R. E., & Fikkert, B. (2018). Practicing the King's economy: Honoring Jesus in how we work, earn, spend, save, and give. Baker Books.

Readings are provided for information, selections are subject to change, some material may be available from the library or course site.  Consult your instructor prior to making any purchase.

In this course, students conduct the qualitative/participatory research projects they designed in TUL670. This culminates in the writing and oral presentation of a report that involves local residents in transformation.

Prerequisite: TUL 670.