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

RUX 199. Urban Community Change 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 agents" such that we can sustain ourselves and those we might work with professionally and in the community. The course is grounded in understanding of the three pillars of sustainability: environmental, social, and economic, and consideration of how community change will need to address all three. Students will be introduced to a toolkit of practices for sustaining their own wellbeing (e.g., Cognitive Behavioral self-help, mindfulness, attention restoration, activism), and will practice using active listening and interpersonal communication to process effects of oppression and work toward liberation, as well as present about liberation psychology topics and a final model for sustaining community change.

RUX 215 Prerequisite: Successful completion of RUX 110, YES 250, PSY 100, or PSY 120.

Gen Ed Attribute: Speaking Emphasis, Sustainability Pathway

Equivalent courses: PSY 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.

RUX 377 Prerequisite: Successful completion of PAX 200, RUX 110, or YES 250, with minimum grades of D-.

Equivalent courses: PAX 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.

RUX 400 Prerequisite: Successful completion of RUX 110; PAX 377 or RUX 377 or YES 250; and PSY 215 or RUX 215, all with minimum grades of D-; or permission of the instructor. Attendance at a meeting the previous semester with the RUCCAS faculty and staff is also required.

Gen Ed Attribute: Writing Emphasis

Repeatable for credit.