BUILD as an Academic Program

As outlined in the Program mission, BUILD students are not simply actors in field; they are also students of theory. The term "sustainable development" is thrown around often by economists, anthropologists, and political scientists, and on a college campus, such a vague term can get shelved as just another piece of rhetoric devoid of meaning. BUILD students are actively engaged in community development projects, so it is if high importance that they nurture an acute understanding of the multifaceted and far-from defined notion of "sustainable development."

Since the Program's inception in 2002, BUILD students have participated in a "BUILD Class" through Tufts' Experimental College (www.excollege.tufts.edu). Each year's course structure and syllabus changes based on the team leaders and the partner country, but for six years now, BUILD students have been honored to hear weekly lectures by members of many of Tufts' departments, including Political Science, Economics, Sociology, Anthropology, Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

2009 is no different. The BUILD Guatemala Coordinators have designed a course for the Spring Semester entitled "The Complexity of Progress: Understanding Sustainable Development and the Case of Rural Guatemala", which has brought together BUILD's students with a number of Tufts faculty with expertise in some aspect of the field of sustainable development to explore issues pertinent to both Guatemala and the larger developing world.

Course Structure

Each week, BUILD students are assigned readings by the upcoming lecturer and are asked to prepare for a discussion on the week's topic. On Tuesday nights the various lecturers share their knowledge and experiences with the team, with the hope that their stories and wisdom will aid the students in the program as they pursue their independent and group projects, as well as their individual research papers.

On Thursday nights the BUILD team recaps the lecturer's main points and then reevaluates the current project in light of the lecture. The majority of the time in the Thursday classes is used to tackle different logistical elements of the current project, which, for 2009, is the BUILD-Santa Anita Community Development Plan (see:2009 CDP). Assignments for the class include: monthly reflections on group progress, narratives of their experiences in Guatemala, grantwriting, logistical planning, setting up meetings with local NGOs, coordinating donations, producing PR materials, preparing budgets, coordinating with the partner community, and preparing a 20-30 page research paper and presentation on a personally selected topic relating to sustainable development in the partner country. For more information on BUILD student research, please refer to the Student Research page of our website.