The scientific study of human development focuses on issues of growth, development, and behavioral change across the lifespan. The Human Developmental Sciences Program (HDS) is interdisciplinary, incorporating courses from the Departments of Anthropology, Biology, Cognitive Science, Communication, Education Studies, Ethnic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature, Psychology, Sociology, and Urban Studies and Planning Program. The HDS curriculum is designed to emphasize the idea of development as an essential perspective from which to understand human behavior. The courses cover a broad spectrum of issues in human development: from brain and perceptual development, to reasoning and problem solving, to social interaction and the evolution of cultural systems. HDS unifies and coordinates the excellent research and teaching resources currently available on campus in this area and profiles the factors that influence the ways in which humans develop and change. The study of human development has become increasingly central to a wide range of important issues affecting infants, young children, adolescents, and adults, as well as the changing structure of the American family and public policy on children, health, and education. An understanding of the processes that underlie human development is crucial to our evaluation of these issues and to our ability to offer avenues for remediation of the attendant problems. There are three major areas of study within HDS: biological development, cognitive and language development, and sociocultural development. These areas consider issues that pertain to development of specific neural and cognitive processes and development within a larger social and cultural context. This area of specialization is intended to equip students with the knowledge to work specifically with the aging population in medicine, research, and industry, with families, and within our communities.