Many IDCE alums are involved in displaced persons and refugee relief in such places as Liberia, Zaire, Macedonia, Bosnia, Serbia, and Sierra Leone. Catholic Relief Services has placed IDCE graduates in its programs in Haiti, Macedonia, Kenya, and Peru. The program encourages research and fieldwork in a North American setting. Graduate students in the Community Planning Program are involved in research projects that involve Urban Community Action Planning and work in the Worcester School system. The purpose of this course is to engage students in the various theories, debates and strategies regarding the development of urban communities.
Students lead weekly discussions on course readings.
Local and community development and planning practitioners are invited throughout the semester to present a field perspective as well as to engage students in debates around course themes. Through class presentations and written papers, students will analyze and critique traditional and emerging community development frameworks, strategies and tools. Required for the Community Planning Track. ID 345 Action Research Urban Practicum Students work on the very real and very important Carnegie Corporation-sponsored Worcester Education Partnership. Core values of this process include transforming schools into centers of the community and deepening the community s commitment to youth and education.