Community-Based Leadership and Development
The Certificate in Community-Based Leadership & Development is designed for students who want to be positive change agents and who seek to effectively engage, center, and empower community members when working towards social justice. In order to train students in this vision of leadership, the curricula prioritizes student learning within and across the following three areas:
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Participatory democratic skills, paths of civic engagement and personal empowerment;
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Knowledge and analysis of the operation of power and inequality in politics and policy, across social groups, and within institutions and organizations;
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Applied, engaged, community-based service work and research in our metropolitan community.
A core element of this Certificate is its focus on courses with service-learning projects and/or collaborative research with community organizations, to give you practical experience in current and local efforts, exposure to types of community organizations and processes, and applied understanding of concepts and theories from coursework. The Certificate can complement your major or it can be taken as a stand-alone credential.
As an interdisciplinary Certificate, students will have the opportunity to choose among a variety of electives in different subfields, such as health and the environment, community development, Michigan politics, entrepreneurship, and gender and sexuality.
Certificate Requirements
A minimum of 17 total credits are required for the certificate for Degree-seeking students and Certificate-only (non-degree) students.
Non-degree students are required to take one Foundations course focusing on civic engagement, cultural competency, and/or diversity, including the following (or others by petition):
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| FNDS 1202 | Democratizing Democracy: Expanding, Suppressing, Idealizing, & Ignoring the Right to Vote in Amer | 4 |
| FNDS 1205 | Understanding Global Cultures | 4 |
| FNDS 1301 | Trauma, Text, & the City | 4 |
| FNDS 1309 | Let’s Talk about Talk! | 4 |
| FNDS 1601 | OK Boomer: Gen Z and Civic Engagement | 4 |
| FNDS 1602 | Hope and Joy in Queer and Trans Lives | 4 |
| FNDS 1604 | Biology is Not Destiny: Exploring the Role of Culture on Human Biology | 4 |
| FNDS 1605 | DIY in Detroit | 4 |
| FNDS 3201 | Weeds, Wastelands and the Salvation of the World | 4 |
| FNDS 3301 | Restless Women | 4 |
| FNDS 3403 | American Voices: Exploring Language and Identity | 4 |
| FNDS 3903 | Rules of the Game: How Institutions Work | 4 |
Degree and non-degree students must complete one of the following courses:
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| SOC 200 | Understanding Society | 3 |
| HHS 210 | Intro to Social Work | 3 |
Degree and non-degree students must complete one of the following courses:
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| HHS 350 | Comm Organizing for Health | 4 |
| POL 334 | Organizing and Leadership | 4 |
Degree and non-degree students must complete one of the following courses:
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| AAAS 304 | Detroit History and Culture | 3 |
| BA 320 | Project Management and Leadership Skills | 3 |
| EDA 200 | Social Justice & Community Based Education | 3 |
| ENT 403 | Social Entrepreneurship | 3 |
| ESCI 401 | Sustainable Cities | 4 |
| HHS 250 | Intro to Environmental Health | 4 |
| POL 322 | Michigan Government, Politics, & Public Policy | 4 |
| POL 323 | Urban Politics | 4 |
| POL 484 | Revitalizing Cities | 4 |
| SOC 302 | Social Change | 4 |
| URS 300 | Urban and Regional Studies | 4 |
| WGST 451 | Family Diversity & Power | 4 |
Degree students complete 2 and non-degree students complete 1 of the following courses:
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| AAST 3151 | Public History in Arab Detroit | 4 |
| ANTH 376 | Power & Privilege in Southeast Michigan | 4 |
| COMM 364 | Writing for Civic Literacy | 4 |
| CRJ 417 | Crimmigration: Intersections of Immigration and Criminal Justice | 4 |
| CRJ 483 | Justice, Crime and Environment | 4 |
| HHS 313 | Metro Impact of HHS | 3 |
| JASS 315 | Media Production for Metropolitan Community | 4 |
| POL 495 | Politics, Policy and Law Internship | 4 |
| or CRJ 478 | Criminal Justice Internship | |
| or ESCI 385 | Environmental Internship | |
| or HIST 3085 | History Internship | |
| or PSYC 485 | Psychology Internship | |
| or URS 485 | Urban Regional Stud Internship | |
| SOC 435 | Urban Sociology | 4 |
| SOC 476 | Inside Out Prison Exchange | 4 |
Notes:
- If a course changes to not be designated as PBL Level 3 it will no longer count toward this list, to be determined by the Director of the Urban & Regional Studies Program.
- Students may petition to transfer in 3 of the required credits.
- A minimum 2.5 GPA in the courses within the certificate is required.
- Number of Pass/Fail Classes Allowed: 1