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HCD 535 Community development
4 hours (seminar)
Spring Semesters
Course objectives
This course aims to expose students to the important theories and practice of community development. This will be done through reading the scholarly and some practical literature about the context, process, and implementation of development at the community level. In most cases, the conceptual framework for this class will be communities of place, though some attention will be given to new conceptions of community interaction through telecommunications and other factors. Community is an interdisciplinary concept—combining research from the disciplines of sociology, psychology, geography, political science, and economics, among others (though we are dealing with human, rather than non-human communities). Communities and thus community development happen throughout the world, so our readings will draw from international and domestic cases and sources. The goal of this course will be to help students develop a conceptual framework into which thinking and literature from these diverse fields may fit. Additionally, the course aims to help students tie community development scholarship to real world questions and initiatives through readings and projects.
Assigned texts and other readings
Green, Gary and Anna Haines. 2002. Asset Building and Community Development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Ha Joon Chang. 2002. Kicking Away the Ladder: Development Strategy in Historical Perspective. London: Anthem Press
Illahiane, Hsain. 2004. Ethnicities, Community Making, and Agrarian Change. Lanham: University Press of America.
additional readings as assigned
Topics
- Community development theory and practice
- Community economic change and its discontents
- Coping with community change
- Natural resources and community sustainability
- Asset-based analysis and community indicators
- Mobilization and leadership
Graded activities
Opinion article
Research paper