Take a roller-coaster journey through the developing world, from the Civil War in Beirut to the Velvet Revolution in Eastern Europe, and most recently, to the chaos and confusion rising out of the Arab Spring. Whether it’s rebuilding trust in the financial system, investing in economic development and infrastructure, funding basic services like water and sanitation, trying to harness the massive influx of people migrating into urban areas, or grappling with gut-wrenching poverty, this course will examine the policies, procedures, major actors, and difficult challenges facing much of the globe. Infused throughout the course will be personal vignettes – some humorous and some not so humorous – of more than 45 years of one man’s trek and his quest to make a difference to remedy these challenges.

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Session 1

Session 2

Purdy

Bruce Purdy

Bruce Purdy is an international development consultant with more than 45 years of experience planning and financing rural and urban infrastructure projects in more than 25 emerging and developing economies. Bruce’s experience includes planning and implementing donor-funded programs within the water and sanitation, education, and transportation sectors, and working directly with national, regional, and municipal officials and civil society institutions to create the conditions for reform and to implement policies to improve service provision to local citizens Purdy holds a B.A. from Ohio Wesleyan University, an M.A. from the University of Maryland, and undertook extensive coursework in strategic and organizational planning at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Currently, Mr. Purdy is developing the Global Urban Leadership Program in the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland.

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