SPIA 4784: Community Systems Capstone

This course engages students in collaborative community problem solving in team environments. Students will learn how data collection, interpretation, and presentation augment community-based, iterative design and planning processes. They will also consider how ethical engagement and community goals relate to social justice, resilience, and sustainability. The course culminates in a discourse-based presentation of intervention proposals to stakeholders.

Why take it?

This course brings together theory and concepts from multiple disciplines and traditions in an applied setting. The community-based problem(s) presented to students during the course provide complex environments that cross traditional academic disciplines and challenge students to consider both technical and contextual elements of problems and interventions. Through this process, they will acquire and practice skills that will benefit them long after they graduate, such as interpersonal communication, innovation, and working collaboratively with a team.

Requirements

Prerequisites: (SOC 2034 or SPIA 1024), SPIA 2024, and at least one course designated as meeting the Foundational Discourse Pathways requirement.

This course fulfills Pathways requirements in Advanced Discourse, Ethical Reasoning, and Intercultural and Global Awareness.