Courses & Requirements
The CESC concentration will include as many as 15 students annually. Sophomores, juniors, and Ada Comstock Scholars interested in participating in the concentration are encouraged to apply.
Requirements
The concentration is composed of six courses for a minimum of 22 credits, as follows:
- Gateway Course (2 credits)
- Capstone Course (4 credits)
- Electives (four courses for 16 credits)
- Two Practical Experiences
Gateway Course
IDP 120 Community-Based Learning (CBL): Ethics and Practice
This interdisciplinary course explores the practice and ethics of CBL through relevant readings and lectures. Students interact with guest speakers (faculty, community partners and peers) who provide firsthand perspectives on how CBL connects to local, national and global issues. The course provides a point of entry and orientation to students new to CBL, as well as an opportunity for in-depth discussion among students at all levels of familiarity with CBL. IDP 120 serves as the gateway course for the CESC concentration. (Graded S/U only. 2 credits)
Capstone Course
CCX 320 Capstone Seminar for the CESC Concentration
The CCX 320 seminar provides a forum for a cohort of concentrators to develop projects that analyze, evaluate and synthesize their prior academic work and practical experiences for the CESC concentration. Students are provided with readings, discussions, mentoring and other support that they need to complete the capstone projects. (4 credits)
Electives
In consultation with her concentration adviser, the participating student will choose four courses that support your area of interest and deepen your knowledge in relevant core content, including social justice, systems analysis, diversity, community development and community-based learning/research. Course offerings on this content are available in multiple departments at Smith and in the Five Colleges. Examples of areas of interest for students include immigration and citizenship, public health, education, law and policy, community organizing, community narratives, environmental justice, social movements, and art and activism.
Electives must be derived from multiple disciplines, and at least three must be 4-credit courses at or above the 200 level. Two of the electives must be Community-Based Learning courses (CBL courses have a community-based service-learning and/ or community participatory research component).
Community-Based Learning (CBL) Courses
CBL courses integrate significant community partnerships to meet actual community goals and advance academic learning. Below is a partial list of CBL course offerings; please check course catalogues for the most up-to-date information
Smith College
| ARS 281/LSS 280 | Landscape and Narrative |
| ARS 389/LSS 389 | Broad-scale Design and Planning Studio |
| EDC 210 | Literacy in Cross-Cultural Perspective |
| EDC 200 | Urban Education |
| EDC 232 | The American Middle School and High School |
| EDC 343 | Multicultural Education |
| EDC 342 | Growing up American |
| EDC 338 | Children Learning to Read |
| EDC 336 | Seminar in American Education: Urban Educational Reform, Policy, and Practice |
| EGR 410 | Engineering Design Clinic |
| GEO 309/EGR 319 | Groundwater Geology |
| GOV 217 | The Politics of Wealth and Poverty in the U.S. |
| IDP 320 | Seminar on Global Learning: Women's Health of Tibetan Refugees in India |
| IDP 120 | Community-Based Learning: Ethics and Practice |
| LSS 255 | Art and Ecology |
| LSS 220 | Activism by Design |
| LSS 200 | Socialized Landscapes: Private Squalor and Public Affluence |
| LSS 300 | Rethinking Landscape |
| MTH 245 | Introduction to the Practice of Statistics |
| PRS 312 | Weaker Vessels: Women and Violence Inside and Out |
| PSY 325 | Seminar in Mind-Body Medicine |
| SOC 214 | Sociology of Hispanic Caribbean Communities |
| SOC 308/9 | Practicum in Community-Based Research |
| SWG 230 | Feminisms and the Fate of the Planet |
| SWG 238 | Women, Money & Transnational Social Movements |
| THE 312 | Topic: Theatre for Young Audiences |
Amherst College
| ANTH 230 | Ethnographic Methods |
| AMST 221 | Building Community |
| ARHA 310 | Collaborative Art: Practice and Theory of Working with a Community |
| ASLC 325 | Beyond Shangri-La: Narratives of Tibet, East and West |
| ENGL 120 | Reading/Writing/Teaching |
| ENGL 490 | Historical Perspectives on Criminal Justice and the U.S. Economy |
| GEOL 450 | Seminar in Biogeochemistry |
| HIST 457 | The Immigrant City |
| KENA 424 | Giving |
| MUSI 238 | Pioneer Valley Soundscapes |
| THDA 353 | Performance Studio |
| THDA 250 | Video Production: Bodies in Motion |
| THDA 250 | Scripts and Scores |
Hampshire College
| CSI/IA 242 | Critical Pedagogy in Action |
| CSI 231 | The American School |
| CS 240 | Designing Curriculum for Learning in Formal and Nonformal Settings |
| CSI 266 | Making Space: The Role of Built Environments in Social Change |
| CS 240 | How People Learn |
| IA 288 | Appropriate Technology in the World |
| IA 149 | Arts Integration: Theater as a Dynamic Teaching Tool |
| NS 0239 | Agriculture, Food and Health |
Mount Holyoke College
| ARCH 280 | Topics in Architectural Studies: Issues in Sustainability—Adaptive Reuse |
| EDUC 205 | Racism and Inequality in Schools and Society |
| ENGL 202 | Introduction to Journalism |
| ENGL 301 | Studies in Journalism Health and Science Journalism |
| ENVST 390 | Senior Seminar in Environmental Studies |
| GNDST 390 | Field Placement |
| PHIl 280 | Philosophy for Children |
| PSYCH 339 | Adult Development and Aging |
| POLIT 391 | Topics: Citizenship and the Foreigner— Political Violence |
| SPAN 340 | Visual Cultures: An Introduction to the Other (in the) Media—New Media and Otherness in the Americas |
| SPAN 350 | Advanced Studies in Concepts and Practices of Power Community Narratives |
| HIST 214 | History of Global Inequality |
University of Massachusetts
| AFROAM 236 | History of the Civil Rights Movement |
| ANTHRO 397MM | Memory, Narrative and Community |
| ANTHRO 397H | Grassroots Community Development |
| ANTHRO 297H | The Good Society |
| ANTHRO 397L | Leadership and Activism |
| ANTRHO 497H | Community Development in Holyoke |
| COMM 497BH | Media Literacy and Community Media |
| ENVIRDES 296R | The Boltwood Project |
| ENVIRSCI 465 | Principles of Environment Assessment |
| ENVIRDES 577 | Urban Policies |
| EDUC 497 IST | Tutoring in Schools |
| JOURNAL 394C | Community Journalism Project |
| LATINAM 398A | Practicum: Holyoke Tutorial |
| PUBHLTH 160 | My Body, My Health |
| PSYCH 365 | Psychology of Aging |
| SPRTMGT 397H | Community Relations |
