The Community Change Studies program combines academic course work and experiential learning to prepare students for careers in community development and related efforts to impact the quality of life in low-income communities and communities of color. The program is designed to equip students with the foundational knowledge and practical skills they will need to take on increasing levels of responsibility in careers in community organizing, development, and other efforts to involve residents, parents, youth and other stakeholders as leaders and practitioners in improving education, public health, housing, jobs creation and other conditions in their communities. Students will engage in academic classroom work with a community engagement component as well as 120 hours of on-site learning (paid internship) at a local community organizing or community development organization.<br>Program Learning Outcomes<br>Describe the history of different types of organized efforts to bring about people-driven social change: social movements, community organizing, electoral work, identity organizing, issue organizing and/or constituency-driven policy work.<br>Execute key values and concepts of community change work, such as developing participatory, democratic organizations, enhancing human dignity and justice, and developing people's civic participation and voice.<br>Apply critical thinking, strategy development and reflective practice to better access, evaluate, and interpret ideas, to communicate effectively, reach informed conclusions, and solve problems as a responsible global citizen in public service, community leadership, or community development.<br>Analyze how community organizing and development approaches may differ by culture and tradition, how race, ethnicity, class, gender and other factors influence organizing, the use of cultural expression in organizing, and strategies for working within a single culture and multiculturally. Less<br>Describe the community, where they are working and its broader context, including the political/economic/social trends, structures and actors that affect the community and its regional, state, national and global contexts.<br>Appraise their own social identity and how social class, race, ethnicity, gender, bias, power and privilege play out in their contexts and for the community residents with whom they are working.