Search NYU Steinhardt

faculty in a meeting

MA, Human Development and Social Intervention

Degree Home

We are not accepting applications for Fall 2020 admission. We plan to begin accepting applications for Fall 2021 in early September 2020. Additional information about this timeline will be available in the coming year, so please visit our page and join our mailing list to receive updates. Feel free to reach out to us with other questions at any time.

Request Info
Three students walking on sidewalk

Degree Details

Official Degree Title

MA in Human Development and Social Intervention

Format
Full-time
Credits
42
Start Date
Fall
Application Deadline

Human Development and Social Intervention (HDSI) prepares you to pursue a career as a research project director, research coordinator, grant writer, research scientist, and more. In addition, you’ll be ready to pursue doctoral study in the social sciences, such as human development, public policy, or social and community psychology.

The MA in Human Development and Social Intervention offers a distinct curriculum that emphasizes the practical skills of research design and methods, grant writing, grant management, and program development and evaluation – all from a community psychology perspective. The curriculum is firmly rooted in the traditions of community, social, personality, and developmental psychology.
We teach our students to understand the social, cognitive, emotional, and health development across the lifespan, and socioecological factors that influence the contexts and systems in which people develop.

The program is designed for college graduates with backgrounds in the social sciences, including psychology, social work, sociology, anthropology, and race, gender, or ethnic studies, as well as those who have work or volunteer experience in nonprofit organizations, schools, health facilities, and community centers and seek to further or change the direction of their careers.

As a student in the HDSI program, you will gain the skills to:

  • Describe and analyze how issues such as poverty, race, gender, and culture influence the daily lives of individuals.
  • Identify and analyze the contexts and systems in which people develop (e.g., families, schools, and neighborhoods).
  • Apply evidence-based research to facilitate the initiation, development, management, and evaluation of programs related to psychological, social, educational, and health problems.

In your required courses, you will learn:

  • Theories of human development.
  • Theories and techniques of preventive and promotive interventions.
  • Theories and concepts related to culture and context in various settings.
  • Strategies to conceptualize and analyze individual and social change.
  • Research methodologies for program management and evaluation.
  • Grant preparation and grant management.

Our alumni hold positions such as:

  • Research project directors/coordinators
  • Grant writers
  • Research scientists
  • Program evaluators in university-based research centers, community agencies, hospitals, school systems, and private industry

Upon graduation from our program, about 25% of our alumni pursue doctoral studies in the social sciences, such as human development, public policy, or social and community psychology.

Questions 

If you have any additional questions about our degree, please feel free to contact us at applied.psychology@nyu.edu.