UPCD 725 - Contemporary Community Development

3 Credit(s)

Description:
This course is designed to explore and examine the challenges and opportunities confronting community developers today. It will examine how the field has evolved since its birth in the 1960s and the 1970s and how it is different today from the past. We will learn how the field is currently organized, including the role of different players such as community based organizations, community development financial institutions, local, state and federal government agencies, banks, and other stakeholders. We will explore core community development issues and strategies, including community planning, community organizing, real estate development and business, development, while also looking at some of the emerging innovations in the field. We will look at the connections being developed between the CD field and other sectors such as health, environment, public safety and education. By the end of the course, students should have a broad understanding of the key issues in the field and be better prepared to enter a professional opportunity in the community development sector. Students will gain a nuanced understanding of the many debates that currently exist within the field and begin to develop their own views on these tough questions. Students will gain experience communicating about community development issues in ways that are effective for different audiences, including practitioners, policy makers and non-professional community leaders. Finally, students will gain a deeper understanding of the particularly exciting community development found here in Boston through guest presentations, readings, and hopefully some touring of nearby neighborhoods.

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