Dr. Stacy J. Kosko is an Associate 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.
Areas of Interest
- human rights
- global development
- development ethics
- global justice
- vulnerability and marginalization
- participatory action research
- experiential learning
Degrees
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Degree TypePhDDegree DetailsPublic Policy, University of Maryland School of Public Policy (concentration: international development), 2012
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Degree TypeMSDegree DetailsForeign Service, Georgetown University (concentration: international conflict management; Certificate in Refugee and Humanitarian Emergencies), 2005
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Degree TypeBSDegree DetailsTelevision, Radio, and Film, Syracuse University (concentration: Screenwriting), 2000
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Degree TypeBADegree DetailsEnglish and Textual Studies; French Language, Literature, and Culture, Syracuse University, 2000
I have been a classroom teacher for most of the last 18 years. My work has ranged from teaching “at risk” students and former drop-outs in an urban night school, to guiding college students as they came to terms with the challenges and realities of project design for international development, to advising undergraduate Individual Studies Program students in designing their own majors and completing their theses. As a high school teacher, 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, please see my Teaching Statement on my website, here. For additional, unsolicited comments from students, scroll down. A sampling of university-level courses I have taught, with linked syllabi, follow here.
Teaching Positions & Experience
Director
The College Park Scholars International Studies program is a living-learning program that explores global justice, including international development ethics, and the intricacies of how culture and society feed sociopolitical issues (and our understanding of them).
- Global Citizenship Spring 2022-present
- Freshmen Colloquium Fall & Spring 2021-present
- Advanced Practicum—Internships Spring 2021
- Advanced Practicum—Original Research Spring 2021
Associate Director
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.
- Introduction to International Development and Conflict Management: Fall, 2012-present
- Capstone in International Development: Fall & Spring, 2012-present
- Ethno-cultural Minorities, Cultural Freedom, and Development Ethics (research seminar): Spring, 2016
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.
- Doing Development (a blended format pilot course jointly taught with Leiden University College, The Netherlands): Spring ’17, 19
- International Development and Conflict Management (a blended format pilot course jointly taught with Tel Aviv University, Israel): Spring ’14
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.
- Innovation and Design for Entrepreneurship and Action in Peace and Development (“IDEAS in Peace andDevelopment”): Spring ’15-present
Visiting Professor
Dept. of International Relations and PoliticalScience (FRISPA), Moldova State University, Moldova
Taught in Master of International Relations program while performing research on a Fulbright fellowship
· Multiculturalism and Globalization in the European Context Fall ’17
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
- Faculty Mentor recognition, Philip Merrill Presidential Scholars program (2019)
- Excellence in Teaching, College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, UMD (2019)
- Global Classroom Fellow, UMD Office of International Affairs, (2017-2020)
- Distinguished Fellow, UMD Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (AIE), (2014-2017)
- 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.
Service Leadership
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Co-founder, Co-Chair, Experiential Learning Working Group (UMD) Vice Chair, Board of Directors; Executive Committee, Center for Values in International Development |
2021-present 2020-present |
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Advisory Council, Foundation for Inclusion |
2018-2021 |
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Officer at Large, Executive Council, Human Development and Capability Association |
2018-2021 |
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Executive Board, International Development Ethics Association
· Conceived, organized, emceed conference, “Agency and Democracy in Development Ethics,” University of Maryland School of Public Policy, College Park (May 2019); raised $5,022
· Conceived, organized conference, “Marginalized Peoples, Human Rights, and Development Ethics,” Moldova State University, Chişinău, Moldova (May 2018); raised €24,000
· Conceived, organized workshop, “What is Development Ethics?”, Center for International Development and Conflict Management, University of Maryland, College Park, MD (May 2017) |
2009-present |
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Board of Directors, Mark Stuart Dance Theatre, New York, NY |
2009-2020 |
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Board of Directors, Foundation for Inclusion |
2016-2018 |
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Co-Coordinator, HDCA Human Rights Thematic Group
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2010-2017 |
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PhD Representative, International Development Council, MSPP |
2010-2011 |
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2008-2011 |
SERVICE to the Profession
Professional Track Faculty appointment, evaluation, and promotion (AEP) committee 2022
Undergraduate Studies Committee, Department of Government and Politics 2021-2022
Co-founder, Experiential Learning Working Group, a faculty learning community, UMD 2021
Pilot course for new UGST course evaluation system 2021
Mentor, OIA Global Classroom Fellows (for Isabella Alcañiz) 2020
Pilot course for GVPT Undergraduate Teaching Assistant Program 2020
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee, Dept of Government and Politics, UMD 2020
Roundtable Convener, Moderator, “The Future of HDCA,” Human Development and Capability Association (HDCA) annual conference, University College London 2019
Panel Chair, “Basic Needs and Human Rights,” Human Development and Capability Association (HDCA) annual conference, University College London 2019
Conference Chair, Convener, Organizing Committee, “Agency and Democracy in Development Ethics,” University of Maryland School of Public Policy 2019
Panel Chair, Moral and Political Philosophy on the Border conference, University of TX El Paso 2019
Chair, Nomination Committee, Human Development and Capability Association (HDCA) 2019
Faculty Advisor, One for the World UMD student organization 2019-present
Panel moderator, annual conference of the Human Development and Capability Assoc. 2018
Conference Chair, Convener, Organizing Committee, IDEA conference: "Marginalized Peoples, Human Rights, and Development Ethics" 2018
Organizing Committee, “Empowerment for Social Justice: Human Rights and Education”
conference, Moldova State University, Moldova 2017
Panel Convener & Chair, annual conference of the Human Development and Capability Assoc. 2017
Chair & Organizer, “The Role of Philosophy in International Development,” CIDCM-IDEA 2017
Faculty Advisor, Do Good Challenge Seed Grant Awardee 2017
Faculty Advisor, Minor in Int’l Development & Conflict Mgmt Student Association 2016-2018
Supervisor, 7 undergraduate independent study and thesis students in Gov. & Politics 2016-2017
Faculty Advisor, 8 UMD Individual Studies Program majors in Int’l Dev. & Conflict 2010-present
Faculty Advisor, FairTrade UMD, UMD student organization 2013-2016
Faculty Advisor, Pro-Dev, UMD student development organization 2012-2016
Moderator, “Indigenous Rights, Indigenous Oppression,” Maryland School of Public Policy 2016
Panelist, oral examination panels, Georgetown University MS in Foreign Service program 2011, 2016
Panel Chair, annual conference of the Human Development and Capability Association 2015
Moderator, “Female Perspectives on the Nile,” Maryland School of Public Policy 2015
Faculty Advisor, UMD Spreading Nutritional Awareness to Kids club 2011-2012
Faculty Advisor, DaCadence UMD A Cappella club 2010-2012
Faculty Advisor, UMD Cricket Club 2009-2012
Panel Chair, annual conference of the International Development Ethics Association 2011
Panel Chair, annual conference of the Human Development and Capability Association 2011
Student Representative, MSPP international development faculty search committee 2010
