This course is for students interested in writing a masters' dissertation in development economics. The first session will present the development faculty, to give you an idea about what topics each person works on - you can find a list of faculty working on development economics here. Slides from the first sessions are here.
Links to useful advice on choosing (and pursuing) a dissertation topic:
(NB: Some of these articles are discussed in the frame of doing a PhD, but almost all of the same ideas apply - a good master's dissertation would make a good PhD chapter)
Advice by Don Davis (Columbia) on starting a thesis
Presentation by Amy Finkelstein on how she does empirical research
Advice from Steve Pischke – two first pages are most relevant
Advice from Darren Lubotsky – first page is most relevant (page 1)
Article on choosing a PhD topic