RUX: Urban Community Change

RUX 110. Introduction to Urban Community Change. 3 Credits.

This course explores the idea that people critically understanding the world and how to act in and for themselves on the world to change it is an essential quality of humanity.
Gen Ed Attribute: Humanities Distributive Requirement.
Typically offered in Fall & Spring.

RUX 199. Transfer Credits. 1-10 Credits.

Transfer Credits.
Repeatable for Credit.

RUX 215. Liberation Psychology: Sustaining Community Change. 3 Credits.

This class will take a Liberation Psychology approach to examining the cross section of societal forces and our individual lives as "community change workers" such that we can sustain ourselves and those we might work with professionally and in the community. Students will be introduced to a toolkit of practices for sustaining their own resilience, well-being, and engagement in community change framed critically to combat oppression and internalized oppression (ranging from Cognitive Behavioral self-help tools to mindfulness, peer support to movement building, and more). Students will gain in-depth practice in using active listening, reflection, and interpersonal communication as one way to process the effects of oppression. Students will also have opportunities to learn presentation skills, including final projects that will allow them to explore in more depth one or more of the strategies studied by formulating a model of sustaining self for the future, a model that aims to be aware of the critical perspectives on psychology and structural injustices studied in this course.
Pre / Co requisites: RUX 215 requires a prerequisite of RUX 110 or YES 250 or PSY 100 or PSY 120.
Gen Ed Attribute: Speaking Emphasis.
Typically offered in Fall & Spring.
Cross listed courses PSY 215, RUX 215.

RUX 377. Community Organizing: Strategies and Practice. 3 Credits.

This is a course that explores strategies and practice of organizing for social change. This course will study and engage social problems and the agencies (NGOs, non-profits, Not-for-profits, religious, and governmental) which deal with social problems through the strategic organizing. The course will examine the way social change occurs and how and why people organize with a focus on social, political, and economic justice and radical democracy. Students will be exposed to a variety of methods and practical strategies for nonviolent community organizing. While time is given to theory, this course will focus on the practice of social change and the development of practical skills for capacity building, strategic design, and organizing logistics.
Pre / Co requisites: RUX 377 requires a prerequisite of PAX 200, RUX 110, or YES 250.
Typically offered in Fall & Spring.
Cross listed courses PAX 377, RUX 377.

RUX 400. Critical Urban Work Practicum Seminar. 6 Credits.

This course is a capstone experience for Urban Community Change students to apply their critical study of the assets and challenges of urban communities; deepen their investments in urban communities; and synthesize practice, theories, and histories of community change with an in-depth field placement with an organization in Philadelphia or another urban location. Students will use knowledge developed in previous courses and fieldwork to focus on how to collaboratively build and sustain change publicly, within groups and institutions, and within themselves. Contemporary topics in urban community change, including research and practice, will be presented each week. Students will integrate their praxis into a model of transformative community building practices within the urban social context. This course may be taken twice for credit.
Pre / Co requisites: RUX 400 requires prerequisites of RUX 110, YES 300, RUX 215/PSY 215, and RUX 377/PAX 377. One may be waived by permission of the instructor or program advisor. Attendance at a meeting the previous semester with the RUCCAS faculty/staff is also required.
Consent: Permission of the Department required to add.
Gen Ed Attribute: Writing Emphasis.
Typically offered in Fall & Spring.
Repeatable for Credit.