Accelerated B.A./M.A. in Community Development and Planning

The Community Development and Planning (CDP) program prepares current and future community development practitioners, activists, and scholars to take on the challenges and struggles facing urban areas in the United States. In the program, students learn alternative ways of thinking and transforming communities to achieve greater equity and social justice. We believe that preparing graduate students to become effective community development practitioners requires three main forms of teaching, learning and training. First, students need to understand community development’s policy legacy and theoretical and conceptual debates in the field. Second, they need to acquire a diverse range of skills in areas such as theory application, community organizing, finance, geographic information systems, planning and zoning, and non-profit management,. Finally, students must engage in critical thinking about power, racial, and economic privilege. CDP students receive a strong foundation based on theory, skill development, and practice. Building on that foundation, students can either design their own area of specialization, or focus their studies on one of the following areas: Community Planning Enterprise Management and Economic Development Community-Based Development and Social Change Through the CDP program, students will: understand social, economic, and political forces that shape places, view communities in a regional and international context, gain rigorous analytical training to explore and research complex social issues, gain strong writing and public communication skills, develop professional practices that trigger social change to improve quality of life, and be prepared to be leaders in a diverse range of community development and planning arenas.