Kosko, Stacy J.

Bio

Dr. Stacy J. Kosko is the Joel  J. Feller Research Professor in the Department of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland (USA), Director of the College Park Scholars International Studies program, and a faculty affiliate of the Center for International Development and Conflict Management.  A development ethicist, Dr. Kosko holds a PhD in Public Policy and international development from the University of Maryland and an MS in Foreign Service and international conflict management from Georgetown University, with a certificate in Refugee and Humanitarian Emergencies.  She spent the 2017-2018 academic year as a Fulbright Scholar in Moldova.  Her research focuses on development ethics, human rights, and severely marginalized populations and she has expertise in human-centered development, project design, and the ethics of innovation.  She serves on the Executive Board of the International Development Ethics Association and is a Fellow and recent Officer of the Human Development and Capabilities Association.  She is also the Vice Chair of the Board and Director of Research and Strategy at the Center for Values in International Development and co-founder and co-chair of UMD’s Experiential Learning Working Group.  Prior to her post with Scholars, she served for nine years as the Associate Director of the Minor in International Development and Conflict Management.  She has consulted for the World Bank, global charitable foundations, and non-profit human rights organizations in the Czech Republic and Romania.  With Lori Keleher, she is the editor of Agency and Democracy in Development Ethics (Cambridge 2019).  Her personal website is here.

Degrees

  • PhD | Public Policy, University of Maryland School of Public Policy (concentration: international development), 2012

  • MS | Foreign Service, Georgetown University (concentration: international conflict management; Certificate in Refugee and Humanitarian Emergencies), 2005

  • BS | Television, Radio, and Film, Syracuse University (concentration: Screenwriting), 2000

  • BA | English and Textual Studies; French Language, Literature, and Culture, Syracuse University, 2000

Research Topics

  • Political Theory
  • International Relations

I have been a classroom teacher for most of the last 15 years.  My work has ranged from helping students in an urban night school complete enough English credits for a diploma, to guiding graduate students as they came to terms with the relationships between democracy, human rights, and Islam in the Kingdom of Morocco.  I cut my teaching teeth against the backdrop of learning disabilities, significant social and economic hardship, substance abuse and apathy.  Rising to meet these challenges drove me to invest in offering the most intellectually stimulating, practically relevant, and personally engaging courses that I could, an experience that has shaped the way I teach university students today.  

For more on my personal teaching philosophy and approach, and on what my students have thought of it, please see my Teaching Statement here.  For additional, unsolicited comments from students and other faculty, see my teaching page on my personal website.  The university-level courses I have taught, with linked syllabi, follow here.

Associate Director, Faculty
The Minor in International Development and Conflict Management (MIDCM) is a 16-credit, undergraduate program of instruction for students aspiring to a profession in the fields of international development, humanitarian relief, or conflict resolution.  It is offered by the Department of Government and Politics and the Center for International Development and Conflict Management at the University of Maryland, College Park.

With the Office of International Affairs:  Global Classroom's innovative, project-based courses bring together UMD students and students from partner universities around the world through digital technologies, providing students with international experiences that are cross-cultural, project-based and virtual.

With the Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship:  Fearless Ideas experiential pilot courses provide students with the innovation and entrepreneurship skills and mindset to develop and launch their fearless ideas.

 Instructor

As the Associate Director of the College Park Scholars Public Leadership program, I developed and taught two courses.  "PL" is a living-learning program that focuses on the theory and practice of leadership and citizenship in civic and political spheres from the local to the global.  Please click on the title of the course for a sample syllabus.

Public Leadership: Fall 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 
 

  • Developed Curriculum, taught 12 sections in 4 years
  • Includes Community-Based Learning project module
  • Successfully nominated course for university's "Cultural Competence" designation
  • Pending nomination for university's "Scholarship in Practice" designation

Applied Leadership: Spring 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
 

  • Developed Curriculum, taught 12 sections in 4 years
  • Includes Community-Based Learning project module
  • Secured 2010 Civic Engagement Stimulus Grant for further development of course
  • Successfully nominated course for university's "Cultural Competence" designation
  • Pending nomination for university's "Scholarship in Practice" designation

Assistant Director & Teaching Assistant
UMD Education Abroad provides international, academically-based experiences in support of students’ personal, professional and intellectual development. 

Culture and Human Rights in Morocco:  Winter 2010

Teaching Assistant
The Maryland Leadership Institute at the University of Maryland prepares culturally diverse students for graduate study and professional careers in public policy and international affairs.

International Development:  Summer 2008 
International Security:  Summer 2008

 

Teaching and Service Awards
  • Faculty Mentor recognition, Philip Merrill Presidential Scholars program (2015)
  • Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (AIE) Distinguished Fellow (2014)
  • Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Honor Society, Sigma Circle (inducted 2013)
  • Faculty Mentor recognition, Philip Merrill Presidential Scholars program (2013)
  • Undergraduate Education Recognition Award for exemplary teaching and service to the University, graduate student category (2010) 
  • Distinguished Teaching Assistant Award, given by the Center for Teaching Excellence, the Office of Undergraduate Studies, and the Graduate School (2011 and 2012)
  • Most Dedicated to Students Award, student-nominated Faculty and Staff Recognition Award, College Park Scholars program (2011)

With an emphasis on development ethics, my research asks questions central to the international development and human rights agendas.  My focus includes, but is not limited to, state multiculturalism, citizenship, minority and group rights, and individual and collective agency, in particular the intersection of these areas of inquiry.  My populations of interest include severely marginalized groups and indigenous peoples and I have particular expertise in Roma and Traveller populations.  My most recent works include a co-edited volume entitled Agency and Democracy in Development Ethics (Cambridge University Press 2019) and a number of articles and chapters on topics of minority rights, culture and education, and participatory action research.  I am the founder of the Global Development and Design stream of UMD's FIRE program, twhich aims to create an interactive, open-access, online toolkit that activists and professionals around the world can use to design social impact projects, where each stage of the design process will be infused with the imperatives of ethical, inclusive development.