Minor in Civic Education and Community Leadership

The Civic Education and Community Leadership minor consists of 21 credit hours of course work designed to: (1) provide students with an interdisciplinary curriculum that promotes leadership and community service; (2) build on the college's service learning mission; and, (3) broaden campus efforts to build partnerships with local and state community organizations. The learning objectives associated with the minor include developing students' knowledge and understanding of civic leadership and community engagement, communication and advocacy, management and organizational behavior, local and regional affairs, economic development, politics and governance, and social justice and social change.

Because interdisciplinary perspectives are necessary to solve most public policy problems, 12 different disciplines across the campus - anthropology, communication studies, economics, English, geography, history, management, philosophy, psychology, political science, social work, and sociology - offer courses in the program.  Students completing this minor will be assigned a faculty adviser from one of these departments.  In addition to the requirements listed below, a grade of C or above is required in all courses applied toward the minor.  For further information, interested students should contact the coordinator of the minor, Dr. George Serra, Director of the Political Science Department's Center for Legislative Studies.

Course Requirements

Foundation Course (3 credit hours)

It is recommended that students complete the foundation course before completing the other components of the minor.

POLI 201

Foundations of Citizenship and Community Leadership

Experiential and Service Learning Course (3 credit hours)

Any of the following courses will satisfy this requirement if: (1) a substantial portion of course content is related to issues pertaining to civic education and community leadership and, (2) the student has gained written approval from the chairperson of the department offering the course and the coordinator of the minor.  Students should gain written approval prior to completing an experiential or service learning course to ensure that it will satisfy this requirement of the minor.

POLI 498, COMM 498, ECON 498, ENGL 498, GEOG 498, HIST 498, MGMT 498, PSYC 498, SCWK 498, SOCI 498

OR

Any course other than POLI 201 that contains a substantial service learning component.  Students should consult with their faculty advisor for the minor to identify such courses. 

Area Requirements (15 credit hours)

Students must take 1 course from each of the following areas.  A special topics course or an independent study offered by any of the departments listed below will satisfy a distribution area if: (1) a significant portion of course content is related to the distribution area and, (2) the student has gained prior approval from the chairperson of the department offering the course and the coordinator of the minor.  Students must gain written approval prior to completing a special topics course or an independent study to ensure that it will satisfy this requirement of the minor.

In fulfilling the distribution area requirements, students may not take more than 2 courses from the same department, and at least 3 of the courses must be at the 300-400 level.  No course can count toward satisfying one of the distribution area requirements and the experiential and service learning requirement listed above; students must choose whether they want a course to satisfy a distribution area requirement or the experiential and service learning requirement.

Communication and Advocacy

COMM	226	Introduction to Public Relations
COMM	360	Argumentation and Advocacy
COMM	365	Introduction to Intercultural Communication
ENGL	200	Personal and Public Writing
ENGL	201	Business Communication
ENGL	202	Technical Writing
ENGL	302	Technical Writing II
ENGL	396	Rhetoric and Style

Leadership, Management, and Organizations

ECON	375	Labor Economics
ECON	430	Managerial Economics
HIST	462	American Labor History
MGMT	130	Principles of Management
MGMT	140	Human Resources Management
MGMT	303	Organizational Behavior
MGMT	340	Labor Relations
MGMT	375	Personnel Development
POLI	279	Introduction to Public Administration
POLI	399	Collective Bargaining in the Public Sector
POLI	495	Administrative Law and Regulation
PSYC	313	Industrial and Organizational Psychology
SOCI	332	Sociology of Organizations

Local and Regional Affairs

ANTH	426	Seminar: New England Ethnic and Regional Communities
ECON	350	Urban Economic Problems and Policies
GEOG	353	Urban Geography
GEOG	462	Principles of Urban and Regional Planning
GEOG	463	Applications in Urban Planning
HIST	464	New England Textile Communities: Social and Economic History
POLI	277	American Government: State and Local
POLI	376	Urban Politics
SOCI	206	Cities and People: Urban Sociology
SOCI	426	Seminar: New England Ethnic and Regional Communities

Politics, Economics, and Governance

ANTH	331	Political Anthropology
ECON	101	Principles of Microeconomics
ECON	102	Principles of Macroeconomics
ECON	340	Law & Politics  (cross listed with POLI 340)
GEOG	350	Economic Geography
GEOG	355	Political Geography
GEOG	431	Environmental Regulations
HIST	443	United States History: The Early National Period
PHIL	222	Philosophy of Law
POLI	340	Law and Economics (cross listed with ECON 340)
POLI	341	Constitutional Law and Politics: The Powers of Government
POLI	372	Legislative Process and Procedure
POLI	375	American Political Parties and Interest Groups
POLI	380	Public Opinion ad Mass Political Behavior
POLI	390	Public Finance
POLI	391	The American Presidency
POLI	479	Public Policy
POLI	495	Administrative Law and Regulation

Social Justice and Social Change

ANTH	115	Anthropology of Race, Class, and Gender
ANTH	204	Global Human Issues
ANTH	208	Anthropology of Women
ANTH	305	Cultural Change
ANTH	319	Contemporary Native Americans
ANTH	435	Seminar: Global Feminism
GEOG	333	Environmental Justice
HIST	453	United States History: Progressive Era
HIST	465	African-American History
HIST	466	Women in American History
HIST	473	Asian-American History
INTD	240	Critical Perspectives in Women’s Studies
PHIL	235	Human Rights and Human Liberties
POLI	342	Constitutional Law and Politics: The First Amendment
POLI	343	Constitutional Law and Politics: Liberty and Equality
POLI	389	Racial Politics in the United States
POLI	476	Women and Politics
PSYC	310	Social Psychology
SCWK	250	Introduction to Social Welfare
SCWK	270	Social Work Issues of Diversity and Oppression
SCWK	333	Social Work with the Aged and Their Families
SCWK	350	Social Welfare Policy
SCWK	415	Social Services in Alcohol and Substance Abuse
SCWK	432	Social Work Practice with Communities and Individuals
SOCI	103	Social Problems
SOCI	104	Global Human Issues
SOCI	207	Social Inequality
SOCI	312	Discrimination and Prejudice
SOCI	315	Race and Ethnicity in America
SOCI	316	Collective Behavior and Social Movements

Curriculum Advisory Council

Name	Title	Department/Division
Dr. Diana Fox	Associate Professor	Anthropology
Dr. Nancy Street	Professor	Communication Studies
Dr. Soma Ghosh	Assistant Professor	Economics
Dr. Anne Doyle	Assistant Professor	English
Dr. Robert Amey	Assistant Professor	Geography
Professor Jean Stonehouse	Professor	History
Dr. Dorothy Mulcahy	Professor	Management Science
Dr. Aeon Skoble	Associate Professor and Chair	Philosophy
Dr. Ruth Hannon	Professor	Psychology
Dr. Deniz Leuenberger	Assistant Professor	Political Science
Dr. Arnaa Alcon	Assistant Professor	Social Work
Dr. Michele Wakin	Assistant Professor	Sociology
Dr. Andrew Harris (ex officio)	Associate Provost	Academic Affairs
Dr. Jonathan White (ex officio) -Chair	Faculty Associate	Academic Service Learning
Dr. George Serra (ex officio)	Director	Center for Legislative Studies
Dr. Mark Kemper (ex officio)	Assistant Director	Center for Legislative Studies
Ms. Diane Bell (ex officio)	Coordinator	Community Service Center
Ms. Nancy McFadden (ex officio)	Field Coordinator	Social Work

Last Modified: February 8, 2010