Community Engagement for the Public Good
Office: Community Commons, Suite 1100
Mail Code: 2055 E. Evans Ave. Suite 1100 Denver, CO 80208
Phone: 303-871-3706
Web Site: https://academicaffairs.du.edu/ccesl
The 12-credit undergraduate certificate in Community Engagement for the Public Good offered by the Center for Community Engagement to advance Scholarship and Learning (CCESL) equips students with the skills, knowledge, and commitments necessary to collaborate with communities for the public good. Students will learn the foundations of community-engaged methods and develop their action plan through a series of 2-credit courses, CENG 2510 Denver Urban Issues and Policy, CENG 2520 Community Organizing, and CENG 2590 From Public Good Theory to Action. Then, throughout six credits of independent study (CENG 3890, Pathways to the Public Good) and/or community-engaged coursework, students will receive the mentoring needed to effectively carry out and reflect on their action plan. Specifically, through the sequence of courses in the certificate program, students will: 1) understand critical issues within the Denver metro area and community efforts to address these issues, 2) explore social change strategies and learn skills that will allow them to work toward the public good and social change, 3) develop a personal action plan, grounded in anti-oppression analysis, that they can implement to address a social justice issue of their choosing, 4) carry out community-engaged signature work based on their personal action plan, and 5) reflect on their signature work through an ePortfolio.
To meet these outcomes, students will build a set of knowledge, skills, and commitments through CCESL’s four pathways to authentic, ethical community-engaged work: Think, Connect, Act, Reflect. In Reflect: A Pathway to Commitment, students commit to act for the public good by considering their place within community and their responsibility to others, engaging in civic professionalism, understanding their strengths, and discerning what they can do to work toward the change they seek. During Think: A Pathway to Actionable Knowledge, students learn civic and democratic processes, a variety of potential social change actions, and to contextualize a social justice issue. Through Connect: A Pathway to Skillful Relationships, students learn to develop relationships rooted in reciprocity, mutuality, and collaboration. Finally, in Act: A Pathway to Being a Skillful Agent of Change, students learn skills to inform their action, including how to use an anti-oppression analysis, and then work collaboratively for social change.
Certificate in Community Engagement for the Public Good
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| CENG 2510 | Denver Urban Issues and Policy | 2 |
| CENG 2520 | Community Organizing | 2 |
| CENG 2590 | From Public Good Theory to Action | 2 |
| Independent study and/or community-engaged course work, such as courses with the Service Learning attribute | 6 | |
| Total Credits | 12 | |
CENG 1700 Topics in Community Engagement (1-4 Credits)
CENG 2510 Denver Urban Issues and Policy (1-2 Credits)
This course is part of the Center for Community Engagement to advance Scholarship and Learning (CCESL)’s course series, which equips students with the skills, knowledge, and commitments necessary to collaborate with communities for the public good. As members of the Denver community, we have the responsibility and right to investigate important issues and co-create solutions that center equity and inclusion. There is a wide array of actions that can be taken to create social change, depending on what the issue demands and the strengths, skills, and talents of those working for change. The aim of this course is three-fold. First, you will learn how the history of Denver, including how legacies of violence, displacement, forced migration, and resettlement of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities, have shaped the issues we see today. Second, the course will introduce you to some of the most critical issues facing Denver and local efforts to address those issues. Lastly, the course will provide the space for you to explore the variety of social change actions that can be taken, weighing the pros and cons of each and considering how to assess fit for the issue(s) you care about and your own strengths.
CENG 2520 Community Organizing (2 Credits)
This course is part of the Center for Community Engagement to advance Scholarship and Learning (CCESL)’s course series, which equips students with the skills, knowledge, and commitments necessary to collaborate with communities for the public good. In this course, you will learn about the history of community organizing in the United States, the role of community organizing in contemporary social movements, and the components of the community organizing process. Students will first learn how to critically examine power, privilege, oppression, and white supremacy in the context of working for social change. Then, you will explore various community organizing practices including identifying self-interests; building relationships; defining issues using an anti-oppression analysis; understanding root causes; centering the experience of the communities most impacted by injustice and systemic oppression; and creating a vision, strategies, tactics to support campaigns for social justice.
CENG 2590 From Public Good Theory to Action (2 Credits)
This course is part of the Center for Community Engagement to advance Scholarship and Learning (CCESL)’s course series, which equips students with the skills, knowledge, and commitments necessary to collaborate with communities for the public good. Through this course, you will integrate your personal, professional, and academic goals with a focus on social change. In doing so, you will gain a clear sense of your identity as a public good scholar as well as a personal action plan that you can implement to address a social justice issue of your choosing. You will apply an anti-oppression analysis to your plan including how the I’s of Oppression manifest in your selected topic, ways you center the knowledge/voices of the communities most impacted by the injustice/systemic oppression, and how white supremacy shows up in your issue and how to actively work to address racist and oppressive practices.
CENG 2700 Topics in Community Engagement (1-4 Credits)