According to the Global Humanitarian Assistance report 2023, an estimated 406.6 million people worldwide were in need of humanitarian assistance in 2022 and this need continues to grow. The undergraduate Humanitarian Action Certificate equips students like you to serve the world's most vulnerable people and the global church. HACT offers a multidisciplinary approach aimed to help you engage in humanitarian response, poverty alleviation, anti-trafficking work, refugee care, disaster response, and other related fields.
Through faith integration, research, exploration of best practices, and practical approaches to these topics, you can gain a deeper understanding of humanitarian issues while integrating your faith and fostering humility in your leadership approach.
Who is it for?
Practitioners in the humanitarian field come from various backgrounds and use their degrees from social sciences, communications, business, health science, international relations, law, and more. This certificate can serve as a pathway to help with vocational discernment. For example, if you are interested in coming alongside refugees, you can focus on your major and study for this certificate as a way to both discern and develop knowledge and skills that would prepare you for this work.
What are the requirements?
Certificate Credit Hour1 Requirements: 20
12 - 16 credit hours from HDL core courses. Note that if you are considering the M.A. degree, you will need to apply and be accepted into the accelerated HDL program to take the cross-listed graduate level (500 or 600 level) courses. Please connect with HDL program administrator joy.m.lee@wheaton.edu if you have an interest in the course with an asterisk.
Section A - Foundational with SPHERE Requirement (Select 1 - 2 courses, ranging from 0-6 credits)2
| |
Cross-Listed
Graduate Level |
Course Title |
Credit Hours |
| HDI 404 |
HDI 504 |
Foundations of Humanitarian and Disaster Leadership* |
4 |
| HDI 443 |
HDI 544 |
Organizing Emergency Humanitarian Assistance |
2 |
| HDI 401 |
HDI 501 |
Principles and Practices of Humanitarian Response |
0 |
Section B - Concentration (Select 10-16 credits)1
| |
Cross-Listed
Graduate Level |
Course Title |
Credit Hours |
| HDI 414 |
HDI 614 |
Transformational Development |
4 |
| HDI 424 |
HDI 624 |
Refugee & Forced Migration Issues |
2 |
| HDI 464 |
HDI 564 |
Disaster Management |
2 |
| HDI 474 |
HDI 574 |
NGO Leadership |
4 |
| HDI 484 |
HDI 584 |
Anti-Human Trafficking & Gender-based Violence |
2 |
| HDI 497 |
HDI 594 |
Monitoring, Evaluation, and Program Design |
4 |
Section C - Electives (Select 4-8 credits from any of the following)1
- ANTH 353 - Culture & Difference (4 credits)
- HNGR Certificate selection of 4 credit electives: BITH 478, BIOL 378, CORE 344, ENVR 375, CORE 325, HIST 397, RELI 364, SOC 385, SPAN 343, SPAN 344, IR 375, ECON 365 (see HNGR catalog for more information)
- Other 300- or 400-level courses related to humanitarian action from any department. Approval required by the Certificate in Humanitarian Action Program Director. Request should include rationale for how the course relates to the field of humanitarian action and your own potential integration of humanitarian action in your vocation.
1 The minimum and maximum number of credits for the certificate is 20.
2 HDI 401 should only be selected if neither HDI 404 nor 443 are selected.
The most updated list of requirements can be found in our catalog.