Georgetown to Host International Human Development Conference in September 2015
Georgetown University has been selected by the Human Development and Capability Association (HDCA) to host its 2015 annual meeting. Launched in 2004 by Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen, the HDCA is a global and multidisciplinary community of over 700 academics and practitioners from over 70 countries to explore the capabilities approach to development. Pioneered by Sen, the capabilities approach towards human development goes beyond increasing access to resources to focus on the development of the individual’s capabilities and providing them the freedom to pursue outcomes that they value.
Building on Georgetown’s Strengths
Georgetown’s successful proposal to host the conference was led by Henry Richardson, professor of philosophy and senior research scholar at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics. Richardson is president-elect of the HDCA and will officially start his term as president in September 2014.
Richardson will serve as chair of Georgetown’s Local Organizing Committee, with strong support from two deputy chairs. Susan Martin, Hertzberg Professor and director of the Institute for the Study of International Migration, will serve as deputy chair for programming. Melissa Bennett, director of presidential events, will serve as deputy chair for logistics and planning. They will be supported by an interdisciplinary faculty committee.
"I'm delighted that Georgetown will be hosting the HDCA meeting,” Richardson said. “It's a natural, given the depth and breadth of Georgetown's interest in a human-centered approach to economic development. With the establishment of three new masters’ programs—in global human development, international development policy, and global health—and the university-wide Global Human Development Initiative, the university clearly has a lot to offer HDCA. We hope that the HDCA meeting will in turn further energize and consolidate our efforts in the area of global human development."
The interdisciplinary theme for the 2015 conference, “Capabilities on the Move: Mobility and Aspirations,” will bring the perspectives of economics, public policy, and development to bear on a critical global issue.