Examines how students can become advocates for social change in their own communities. Students are encouraged to identify their own issue, examine the history of the issue, research potential solutions and choose a course of action. Once students learn who decides and how decisions are made at the local, state, national and global levels, they must formulate how they want to participate in the political process and influence the outcome.

An examination of the role of social movements as instruments of social change with the U.S. Will examine a series of ideological and culturally diverse social movements (such as the civil rights, prohibitionist, labor, and pro-life movements).

The course explores the complexities of policy-making and social change processes, from the perspective of specific potential civic interventions. The course introduces students to the skills and knowledge necessary to identify local and community challenges, analyze existing policies and organizations focused on addressing these challenges, and evaluate the effectiveness of existing policies or programs. In order to do so, the first half of the course is structured as a seminar, which prepares students to the second part of the course, in which they conduct their own analysis of one current community challenge. This course is the first in a 2-course sequence.

This course emphasizes social work macro practice at the agency and community levels. Course focuses on 1) conscious use of self and ethics in macro practice; 2) organizational development, facilitation, scenario planning, administration and supervision. This course is cross listed with SO W 366.

The aim of this course is to research and write a senior thesis, which will focus on designing a concrete plan for civic intervention. Building on the knowledge and skills gained during their studies, students will continue working on the community challenge they identified in PLI 350. After mapping and analyzing existing organizations, policies and programs that aim to address this challenge in the community, students will use evaluations these programs and will design their own concrete plan to address this identified challenge. A seminar will be incorporated in part of the course for students to share and discuss their research and intervention plans. Students will also present their intervention plans to relevant stakeholders and community partners. This is the second in a 2-course sequence.

The Internship provides a structured and focused field experience in a public agency, a non-governmental or non-profit organization, or a political campaign. Students will be assigned duties in various agencies, as well as regular meetings in an on-campus seminar (either in person or via Zoom) to discuss on-site experiences. Required for the PLI major. Instructor consent is required to enroll in this course.