Students will only be considered for the Development Studies Option (DSO) once they have been accepted into a master's program in one of the six participating departments (Anthropology, Economics, Geography, History, Political Science, and Sociology) at McGill.
ISID is a interdisciplinary institute in the Faculty of Arts with over 40 members from various faculties. It also works with an international community of scholars, development groups, and the public. Interdisciplinary research sponsored by ISID revolves around three themes: poverty and inequality; governance and society; and environment and sustainability. It organizes seminars and conferences on development issues related to these themes.
Graduate students can register in the Development Studies Option (DSO), a cross-disciplinary M.A. program in which six departments participate:
Anthropology
Economics
Geography
History and Classical Studies
Political Science
Sociology
一旦进入到麦吉尔大学硕士项目的六个中任意一个部门（人类学、经济学、地理学、历史学、政治学、和社会学）中就会被认为是发展研究部的学生。
国际发展研究是一个艺术跨学科研究所学院，拥有超过40名来自不同院系的成员。它还与国际学者、发展团体和公众合作。国际发展研究的跨学科的研究围绕三个主题：贫困和不平等；治理和社会、环境和可持续发展。该项目举办关于这些主题发展问题的研讨会和会议。
毕业生可在发展研究部注册，这是一个跨学科硕士项目，包括以下六个部门：
人类学
经济学
地理学
历史学和古典研究
政治科学
社会学