Earn your Urban Community Change Degree and Improve the World
If you're interested in a career working toward racial, social, and environmental justice, the Bachelor of Arts in Urban Community Change at West Chester University is for you!
Our interdisciplinary program in urban and community change studies is designed to provide a foundation in community organizing and give you the skills to understand the assets and challenges of urban resilience, well-being, and engagement.
You will study inspiring activists such as Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Bayard Rustin, a national hero with local roots. Often referred to as the "architect of the 1963 March on Washington," Rustin was a gay, Black pacifist, artist and organizer from West Chester, PA.
Our program is housed in the Rustin Urban Community Change Axis (RUCCAS), in the College of Arts and Humanities, in his honor and our urban and community change program is proudly modeled after his legacy.
Benefits of Earning Your Urban Community Change Degree at West Chester University
Mentors with Firsthand Experience
Your faculty will share their personal expertise in how authentic community change happens. Some of your professors are current practitioners, bringing contemporary lessons in social change directly to small classes, where you have the benefit of intimate discussions with real world implications.
Real-World Advocacy
Our urban community change major connects you with affiliated campus, regional, and national networks, giving you expansive resources and contacts to further the social change you want to see in the world. These organizations include:
- Antiracist Liberation and Learning Union
- Aspiring to Educate with the Pennsylvania Department of Education
- Community Learning Partnership
- United to End Racism (a project of Re-Evaluation Counseling)
Significant Hands-on Work
To conclude your urban community change program, you will put all your classroom knowledge into practice to collaboratively build and sustain change during an in-depth practicum placement with an organization in Philadelphia or other urban area.
While continuing to learn about current research and practices within the community through weekly presentations on urban and community studies, you'll work to positively impact an urban community with one of our partners committed to social change.
What Can You Do with a Degree in Urban Community Change?
Many jobs in urban community change require a bachelor's degree in community development with no further study, setting you up for a successful career immediately upon graduating.
You may also choose to further specialize by pursuing graduate education in law, social work, health or another area. Our alumni report being consistently asked about their unique academic experience at WCU, which stands out to recruiters on their graduate applications and resumes.
Our alumni are thriving in a broad array of jobs, including:
- Community organizing and empowerment groups, such as Pennsylvanians Organizing to Witness Empower and Rebuild (POWER) and YouthBuild.
- Government agencies, such as Philadelphia District Attorney's office and the Veterans' Administration.
- Well-established national nonprofits, such as the YMCA.
- Youth development and school programs, such as the Dream Program and Breakthrough.
- Urban, rural, and suburban school districts and institutions of higher education.
What Will You Study as an Urban Community Change Student?
Our interdisciplinary urban community change program effectively prepares our students to be change makers across industries.
With flexible electives, you'll be empowered to specialize in the areas you feel most passionate about, including:
- Urban Contexts and Communities: Focus on local housing conditions and study Housing and Planning in America or follow an international track and choose Global Cities.
- Critical Consciousness and Grassroots Democracy: Study social movements and their impact on the consciousness of the nation and democracy as whole, including the civil rights movement, marriage equality, and sustainability.
- Race and Social Class: Delve into the impact race and social class have on the experiences of individuals and groups and learn more about expression through unique language variations.
- Methods of Research and Assessment: Develop your skillset in areas like community engagement techniques, sociological research, and digital research methods.
- Communication Skills for Justice Workers: Hone your skills in a variety of business and nonprofit related areas like grant and proposal writing, digital journalism, and activism and advocacy.
- Public Administration: Explore courses to help you move into local, regional, and even national government. You'll study topics like social welfare, labor economics, public service, and urban and regional planning.
B.A. in Urban Community Change
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS | ||
Academic Foundations | ||
First Year Experience requirement | 4 | |
English Composition requirement | 6-7 | |
Mathematics requirement | 3-4 | |
Interdisciplinary requirement | 3 | |
Diverse Communities requirement | 3 | |
Ethics requirement | 3 | |
Distributed Disciplinary Foundations | ||
Science requirement | 6-8 | |
Behavioral & Social Science requirement | 6 | |
Humanities requirement | 6 | |
Arts requirement | 3 | |
ADDITIONAL BACCALAUREATE REQUIREMENTS | ||
University Requirements | ||
Writing Emphasis requirement | 9 | |
Speaking Emphasis requirement | 9 | |
Degree Requirements | ||
Language/Culture requirement | 0-15 | |
Demonstrating language proficiency through the intermediate level (202) or demonstrating language proficiency through the elementary II (102) level of a language and further acquiring a cultural foundation. | ||
Capstone requirement | 1-15 | |
MAJOR REQUIREMENTS | ||
Required Courses | ||
RUX 110 | Introduction to Urban Community Change | 3 |
YES 250 | Intro to Youth and Urban Community Work: Urban Prof Workshop | 3 |
RUX/PSY 215 | Liberation Psychology: Sustaining Community Change | 3 |
YES 300 | Youth Empowerment and the Urban Context | 3 |
RUX/PAX 377 | Community Organizing: Strategies and Practice | 3 |
Cognate Courses | ||
Students select one class from each of the six areas below: | 18 | |
Urban Contexts and Communities | ||
Select one of the following: | 3 | |
GEO 204 | Introduction to Urban Studies | |
GEO 333 | Sustainable Cities | |
GEO 200 | Global Cities | |
GEO 312 | Urban Geography | |
GEO/PLN 354 | Housing and Planning in America | |
ECO 350 | Urban Economics 1 | |
ANT 347 | The Cultures of Cities | |
SOC 342 | Urban Sociology 1 | |
PSC 304 | Urban Politics | |
HIS 364 | U.S. Urban History | |
LIT 370 | Urbanism and the Modern Imagination | |
Critical Consciousness and Grassroots Democracy | ||
Select one of the following: | 3 | |
PAX 200 | Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies | |
WOS 310 | Feminist Activism | |
SOC 369 | Social Movements 1 | |
PHI 481 | Philosophy of Human Rights 1 | |
LNC 110 | Global Human Rights in Cultural Production | |
SUS 100 | Introduction to Sustainability and Resilience | |
LIT 207 | Life and Times of Frederick Douglass | |
LIT 309 | Thoughts/Writings of Martin Luther King | |
ESP 317 | Utopia and Apocalypse in the Americas | |
WOS 260 | Globalization and the Ethics of Sustainability | |
WOS/PHI 407 | Queer Theory 1 | |
Race and Social Class | ||
Select one of the following: | 3 | |
CLS 333 | Latina Writing | |
CLS 255 | 20TH Century Native American Literature | |
CLS 365 | African American Film | |
LIT 213 | Asian American Literature | |
LIT 202 | African American Literature I | |
LIT 203 | African American Literature II | |
LIT 204 | New Black Women Writers in America | |
WRH 301 | The Rhetorics of Black Americans | |
ESP 324 | Latinos in the U.S. | |
SWO 225 | Race Relations | |
SOC 335 | Racial and Cultural Minorities 1 | |
PSY 120 | Multicultural Psychology | |
SOC 341 | Social Stratification 1 | |
PSY 448 | Field Experience in Psychology III 1 | |
PSC 353 | Latinx Politics | |
PSC 323 | Racial/Ethnic Politics | |
THA 250 | Race and Gender in American Theatre | |
CRJ 360 | Race, Ethnicity and Criminal Justice 1 | |
WOS 227 | Let's Talk About Race | |
Methods of Research and Assessment | ||
Select one of the following: | 3 | |
HIS 480 | Digital History | |
SOC 322 | Methods of Sociological Research 1 | |
PLN 302 | Community Engagement Techniques | |
SOC 225 | Digital Social Research 1 | |
DHM 325 | Digital Research Methods 1 | |
WOS 240 | How to Do Things with Feminism | |
Communication Skills for Justice Workers | ||
Select one of the following: | 3 | |
YES 301 | Seminar in Youth-Led Media and Inquiry | |
ENG 368 | Business and Organizational Writing | |
JRN 212 | Digital Journalism | |
WRH 335 | Activism and Advocacy Writing | |
WRH 315 | Propaganda, Power, and Politics | |
WRH 342 | Document Design | |
WRH 350 | Grant and Proposal Writing | |
MDC 252 | Media Writing | |
Public Administration | ||
Select one of the following: | 3 | |
PLN 214 | Introduction to Planning | |
PSC 202 | Elements of Public Administration | |
SWO 200 | Introduction to Social Welfare | |
ECO 334 | Labor Economics 1 | |
PPA 500 | Foundations of Public Service 2 | |
Capstone Requirement | ||
RUX 400 | Critical Urban Work Practicum Seminar 3 | 6 |
Electives | ||
RUX majors are strongly encouraged to double major, take one or more minors, or to create a directed concentration in courses that will provide them expertise in a particular issue area, such as, but not limited to: Women's and Gender Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, African American Studies, Latin American Studies, Ethnic Studies, Digital Humanities, Journalism, Arts, Sustainability, Psychology, Health, Political Science, Planning, Education, Globalization, Nutrition, Foreign Languages, etc. | ||
Total Minimum Credits Required | 120 |
- 1
This course requires a prerequisite.
- 2
Students must obtain approval from the Dean of the Graduate School.
- 3
This course fulfills the Capstone requirement.
Get Started on YourCommunity Development
Charge ahead on your path to creating transformative social change for our communities. Submit your application to West Chester University today.
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