Program Outcomes and Courses of Study

Students interested in careers in public policy, social work, government, psychology, language and literacy, education/teaching, sociology, criminal justice and more will benefit from the connections (it's who you know, right?), the real-life experience, and the additional skills and knowledge you will have, verified by having these programs on your transcript. Non-profits are looking for creative and critical thinkers who have had real-life leadership experience. Educational institutions want staff who are experienced and understand diversity and local context. Businesses want to hire employees who can work with members of the community. RUX and YES will make your graduate school application - whether in social work, education, criminal justice, business, law, medicine, psychology, history or any other discipline or professional program - stand out.

Our Program Goals

I. Understand urban contexts. 

RUX students know how addressing systemic injustices (racism, socioeconomic inequality, etc.) at the communal, institutional and individual levels is critical to justice in urban communities. 

II. Invest in urban communities.  

RUX students demonstrate a commitment to enhance their own and others' capacities for further effective struggle regardless of objective conditions, possible current limitations, or short-term strategic outcomes. 

III. Create change.  

RUX students apply the principles and craft of doing strategic “public work” to specific social change endeavors, particularly in urban areas.

Student Learning Outcomes

Students completing our programs will gain the following knowledge, dispositions and skills:

KNOWLEDGE to understand justice in the urban context 

  • Describe the urban context 
  • Distinguish strength-based from deficit-based approaches to understanding urban communities and families 
  • Describe the political and social-psychological systems and institutional relationships at work on urban youth and communities, including power analysis of specific issues 
  • Identify principles of empowerment and positive action for urban communities and youth, including hope, voice and collective agency

DISPOSITIONS that cultivate courage for struggle

  • Demonstrate empathy across and within populations particular with regard to age, race and socioeconomic status 
  • Demonstrate willingness to take creative intellectual and constructive social risks, including envisioning and strategizing for the “the long game” versus short-term, easy wins 
  • Demonstrate complex attitudes and beliefs about urban populations, embedded in historical context 

SKILLS to do urban public work 

  • Communicate effectively across different contexts, including specific skills essential to community change work (such as running meetings, taking notes, conducting one-on-ones, and traditional and multimedia written products) 
  • Extend principles and strategies of democratic organizing work to help solve community problems 

 
Community Change Studies Certificate

NEW!  RUCCAS is developing* a new, 15-credit Certificate in Community Change Studies, ideally suited for returning students, those interested in a distance education option, and traditional students who want to grow in their capacity as agents for community change.  This program is being developed and offered in partnership with our sister institution, Cheyney University.

Courses

Course Core questions Timing for low-residency option Hybrid modality description

RUX 110: Introduction to Urban Community Change

NOW ENROLLING FOR SPRING 2025!

Special topic Spring 2025: Environmental, Land and Food Justice

 How is making change core to what makes us human? How have people made change in the past and present, locally and globally? How can we have the courage to envision a new world? Spring—intensive, hybrid** 3-day residency during a Spring Break weekend followed by 3 weekly synchronous online meetings
RUX 377: Community Organizing OR YES 250: Introduction to Youth & Urban Community Work What are best practices in community work, focused either on youth and/or communities most impacted by public policies? What are the assets and challenges in urban and other frontline communities? How do we think systemically and strategically? Summer—intensive, hybrid** 4-day summer residency followed by 4 weeks of online weekly synchronous meetings.  Includes field component individually designed to meet learner goals
PSY/RUX 215: Liberation Psychology:  Sustaining Community Change How can we sustain ourselves for the long-haul collective project of community change? How can we heal together? Fall—15 weeks, online** Synchronous weekly meetings
RUX 400: Community Change Studies Capstone (6 credits) How do we collaboratively build and sustain change publicly, within groups and institutions, and within ourselves? How do we deepen our investments in communities? Individualized instruction + 100 hours internship in field.  Most typically Spring. Weekly online meetings with instructor synthesize practice, theories and histories of community change alongside in-depth field placement with an approved community change organization

Low-residency, connected approach -- Enables students to learn while remaining in the communities where they live and work; twice per year, students gather on campus for brief (3-5 days), intensive residencies where they engage face-to-face, delve into practical projects and theoretical learning, and foster a supportive community.

Real-world credential — Students bring newfound knowledge back to their communities, applying it directly to the places that hold the most significance for them.  Our 6-credit capstone internship allows students to apply the knowledge and skills gained in previous courses to a field site chosen with professional, learning and practical community change goals in mind. Students already working in the field of Community Change Studies are able, with permission from the program, utilize their paid worksite to design and experiment with new practices or programs based on curricular learning.

Accessible — Credential open to current PASSHE students and also members of the community desiring to further their skills or capitalize on their existing knowledge in the classroom; can be completed within one year and can be awarded independently or can be part of a major program of study.

*All courses are currently existing; RUCCAS is in the process of developing hybrid/online versions and a certificate package. We anticipate the certificate being fully available by the end of Spring 2025, but pilot courses are available now.

**RUX 110 is also available Fall in a 15 week face-to-face; PSY 215 also available Fall in a 15 week face-to-face every other year.  YES 250, RUX 377 and RUX 400 may be offered in typical face-to-face formats as needed for participants in major or minor.

Urban Community Change (RUX) Major Overview

CORE: 21 credits 

  • RUX 110: Introduction to Urban Community Change (Humanities intro) 
  • YES 250: Introduction to Youth & Urban Community Work (Intro seminar) 
  • RUX/PSY 215: Liberation Psychology: Sustaining Urban Community Change (Speaking intro) 
  • RUX/PAX 377: Community Organizing (hands-on organizing campaigns) 
  • YES 300: Youth Empowerment and the Urban Context (20+ field hours) 
  • RUX 400: Critical Urban Work Practicum and Seminar (6 credits, 100 internship hours) 

ELECTIVES: 18 credits. 
Choose courses from directed electives from other departments covering cognate knowledge (Urban Contexts and Communities, Critical Consciousness and Grassroots Democracy, Race and Social Class) and skills (Methods of Research and Assessment, Communication Skills for Justice Workers, Public Administration). 

Youth Empowerment and Urban Studies (YES) Minor Overview

CORE: 9 credits 

  • YES 250: Introduction to Youth & Urban Community Work (Intro seminar) 
  • YES 300: Youth Empowerment and the Urban Context (20+ field hours) 
  • YES 301: Seminar in Youth-Led Media (3 credits, 30+ field hours) 

ELECTIVES: 9 credits
Choose courses from directed electives from other departments covering cognate knowledge (Urban Contexts and Communities, Youth and Social Systems) and skills (Empowerment Work in Diverse Communities).