This course provides an overview of the history of community development as a field, current debates over strategies and practice, and significant policy initiatives.
Students learn current approaches to the revitalizing of distressed communities.
Students can work with local community organizations through class projects. This course examines current programmatic attempts by government to influence private sector location and development decisions to strengthen local economies, generate and upgrade job opportunities, and improve the viability of cities. The class analyzes the rationales of a variety of development strategies and assesses their effectiveness. Emphasis is placed on activities that can be undertaken by government at the state and local levels. This course will examine the implications this federal legislation is having on practice in the field and the impact new policy and service delivery methods are having on evolving workforce development strategies.