McGill University’s Board of Governors formally created the Institute for the Study of International Development in December 2008, and it rapidly became a leader in cutting-edge research and teaching related to international development. With Philip Oxhorn as the Founding Director, ISID made its first joint hire in 2011, and by 2023 ISID reached a faculty complement of 6 jointly appointed faculty members. Such rapid success in part reflects McGill’s long history of commitment to promoting development studies, dating back to the creation of the Centre for Developing-Area Studies in 1963, under the leadership of Irving Brecher.
In 2021, the Institute launched a comprehensive reform of its undergraduate International Development Studies program, tightening methods requirements and creating a broader number of 300 level INTD courses.
