Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
Community Development
762: 307 – Spring 2015
Instructor: James DeFilippis, Ph.D.
Office: Room 365, 33 Livingston Avenue (Civic Square Building).
Office hours: Mondays, 1:30-3:00; Tuesdays, 10:00-11:30; or by appointment.
Phone: 1-848-932-2805
E-mail: jdefilip@rci.rutgers.edu
Class meeting time and location: Mondays, 9:50-12:50 ED Building, room 025B
Course Description:
This course is a broad-based, but intensive and critical analysis of the practices and
theories of community development. Given that community development is a field that covers a
whole array of approaches to transforming communities, the course will necessarily cover a lot
of ground. It does so, hopefully, in ways that allow the students to understand the complexity of
the different parts.
This course is not a celebratory one. I believe in the goal of transforming communities
into better, more equitable places in which we can live and work. I do not, however, believe that
that effort is advanced by downplaying problems, contradictions, and unresolved issues in the
field. In fact, it is much better to be clear-eyed about the problems, if the goal is to improve the
field; and thus improve communities.
The course begins with a couple of weeks of readings on the basic history and theory of
community development. From there we will look at the institutions and practices that basically
constitute the field of community development. The course then shifts gears and focuses more
specifically on the relationships between community development, capital, and markets. Finally,
the course ends with a month of looking at specific issues in the field of community
development.
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Required Readings:
1) The required readings are on the Sakai site, organized by week.
Many of them are chapters from the book:
DeFilippis, James and Susan Saegert. 2012. The Community Development Reader. 2nd ed. New
York: Routledge
Course Requirements:
Your final grade will be based on the following:
1) Attendance and Participation: 15%
2) Community Profile: 25%
3) Mid-Term: 30%
4) Final: 30%
1. Attendance and Participation: This course depends on the students contributing to the
discussion and moving the issues forward. Students are expected to be prepared to discuss the
readings in each class. That preparation means that each student must bring in 3 or 4 questions
to discuss with the class every week. Those questions will count as the students’ attendance for
the class.
2. Community Profile: Students must prepare a “community profile” of a community of their
choice anywhere in the United States. This will include two different components.
i) Statistical profile of the community. For this assignment, students will use the public data sets
explained in class to do an analysis of the community they have chosen. This should include
analyses of: housing; poverty; race; ethnicity; nativity; language; public benefits receipt, and
other issues.
This paper should be 4-5 pages.
This assignment is due, in class, on March 9.
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ii) Inventory of community development organizations. For this assignment, students will
compile a master list of charitable organizations currently active in the community they have
chosen. Charitable organizations are those recognized under Section 501(c)(3) of the federal
Internal Revenue Code as having a primary purpose of serving the public interest. The primary
source for this information is the online database kept by the Center for Charitable Statistics at
the Urban Institute in Washington, DC (http://nccsweb.urban.org/PubApps/search.php). You can
search by zip code and filter out any organizations with primary or secondary purposes other
than community development, housing, land use, and/or closely related issues. Students should
supplement this data with web searches, press accounts, and other secondary data. Students are
to analyze the work being done in/with the community to identify both strengths and weaknesses
of the system from the point of view of community development “capacity.” This inventory
should be relatively brief, 4-5 pages.
This assignment is due, in class, on April 13.
3 & 4) Mid-term and final exams: The mid-term and final exams will include both short
answers and essay questions.
Grading Policy:
Rutgers does not maintain a standardized grading policy, and therefore individual faculty
members are able to set their own thresholds for the different grades. For this course the grade
thresholds are as follows: >92=A; 87-91.9=B+; 82-86.9=B; 77-81.9=C+; 70-76.9=C; 60-69.9=D;
<60=F
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Classroom etiquette:
This course relies upon students being engaged in the class. This means several things:
1) Disagreements among students and between me and the students are encouraged; the issues
we are discussing are often contentious, and the class should be as well. Nobody should ever
feel compelled to think a certain way, nor should anyone feel the obligation to be silent about
disagreements. But such disagreements must be respectful and cordial.
2) Laptop computers and tablets may be used in class, but only for note-taking. If I find you
doing anything else on your laptop or tablet during the course, then you will be asked to
leave the class immediately. There is zero tolerance on this issue.
3) Phones must be turned off before class. If your phone rings or buzzes during class, please turn
it off immediately. If you respond to, or answer, a call, text or email during the class, then
you will be asked to leave the class immediately. There is zero tolerance on this issue.
Statement about Academic Integrity
The following is excerpted from Rutgers University’s statement about academic integrity:
Academic freedom is a fundamental right in any institution of higher learning. Honesty and
integrity are necessary preconditions of this freedom. Academic integrity requires that all
academic work be wholly the product of an identified individual or individuals. Joint efforts are
legitimate only when the assistance of others is explicitly acknowledged. Ethical conduct is the
obligation of every member of the University community, and breaches of academic integrity
constitute serious offenses.
Students must assume responsibility for maintaining honesty in all work submitted for credit and
in any other work designated by the instructor of the course. Students are also expected to report
incidents of academic dishonesty to the instructor or dean of the instructional unit.
Students committing acts of academic dishonesty not only face university censure but run a
serious risk of harming their future educational and employment opportunities. In addition to the
notation for a specific sanction placed on the student's transcript and which remains for the term
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of the sanction, prospective employers and other educational institutions frequently use
recommendation forms that ask for judgment and comment on an individual's moral or ethical
behavior. Since such forms are sent with the permission of the student, University faculty and
administrators knowledgeable of academic dishonesty infractions are ethically bound to report
such incidences. In all cases in which a grade of "F" is assigned for disciplinary reasons,
moreover, the "F" will remain on the student's transcript, even if the course is retaken and a
passing grade is achieved.
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Class Schedule: (subject to modification)
WEEK 1
Jan. 26
Course Introduction
WEEK 2
Feb. 2
Part I: General History and Theory of Community Development
Community Development History
Readings:
1) O’Connor, Alice. Swimming Against the Tide: A Brief History of Federal Policy in Poor
Communities. Community Development Reader, chapter 2
2) DeFilippis, James. Community Control and Development: The Long View. Community
Development Reader, chapter 3
3) Sites, William, Robert J. Chaskin, and Virginia Parks. Reframing community practice for the
21st century: Multiple traditions, multiple challenges. Community Development Reader, chapter
4
4) Newman, Kathe. Forthcoming. Community Development in the Time of Obama. in James
DeFilippis (ed.). Urban Policy in the Time of Obama. Minneapolis, MN: University of
Minnesota Press
WEEK 3
Feb. 9
Theories of Community, Development, and Community Development
Readings:
1) DeFilippis, James and Susan Saegert. 2012. Communities Develop: The Question is How?
Community Development Reader, chapter 1
2) Sampson, Robert. 2012. What "Community" Supplies. Community Development Reader,
chapter 36
3) Wolf-Powers, Laura. 2014. Understanding community development in a “theory of action”
framework: Norms, markets, justice. Planning Theory & Practice. 15(2): 202-219
WEEK 4
Feb. 16
Part II: The Organizations, Institutions and Practices of Community Development
CDCs
Readings:
1) Glickman, Norman and Lisa Servon. More Than Bricks and Sticks: Five Components of
Community Development Corporation Capacity, Community Development Reader, chapter 6
2) Stoecker, Randy. The CDC model of urban development: a critique and an alternative.
Community Development Reader, chapter 42
3) Time to Rethink CDCs? Shelterforce special issue. Winter 2012/13 (on Sakai)
WEEK 5
Feb. 23
Guest Speaker: Brunie Sanchez, US Census Bureau
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WEEK 6
Mar. 2
CDFIs
Readings:
1) Benjamin, Lehn et al. 2004. Community Development Financial Institutions: Current Issues
and Future Prospects. Journal of Urban Affairs. 26(2): 177-195.
2) Rosenthal, Cliff. 2012. Credit Unions, Community Development Finance, and The Great
Recession. San Francisco: San Francisco Federal Research Board. Working Papers Series
3) Swack, Michael, Northrup, Jack and Eric Hangen. 2012. CDFI Industry Analysis. University
of New Hampshire: Carsey Institute
WEEK 7
Mar. 9
The Community Development Industry System I: Intermediaries, Foundations, Churches, Schools
Readings:
1) Liou, Y. Thomas and Robert C. Stroh. 1998. Community Development Intermediary Systems
in the United States: Origins, Evolution, and Functions. Housing Policy Debate, 9(3): 575-594
(on sakai)
2) Owens, Michael. Capacity Building: The Case of Faith-based Organizations. Community
Development Reader, chapter 15
3) Brown, Prudence, et al., Toward Greater Effectiveness in Community Change: Challenges and
Responses for Philanthropy, Community Development Reader, chapter 16
4) Chung, Connie. Connecting Public Schools to Community Development. Community
Development Reader, chapter 14
Note: Statistical profile of the community is due in class today.
WEEK 8
Mar. 16
Spring Break! No Class this week!
WEEK 9
Mar. 23
Mid-Term Exam in class
WEEK 10
Mar. 30
The Community Development Industry System II: The State
Readings:
1) Rich, Michael, Giles, Michael and Emily Stern. 2001. Collaborating to Reduce Poverty: Views
from City Halls and Community-Based Organizations. Urban Affairs Review, 37: 184-204 (on
Sakai)
2) Neil Mayer and Langley Keyes. City Government's Role in the Community Development
System. Community Development Reader, chapter 17
3) Additional Reading TBA
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WEEK 11
Apr. 6
Part III: Community and Capital
Housing, The CRA, Finance Capital, and the Foreclosure Crisis
Readings:
1) Stone, Michael. Social Housing. Community Development Reader, chapter 8
2) Immergluck, Dan. Community Response to Foreclosure. Community Development Reader,
chapter 9
3) Shelterforce Magazine. Winter 2011. Special Issue on “Capital Markets and Neighborhood
Stabilization” (on Sakai)
WEEK 12
Apr. 13
Community Economic Development
Readings:
1) Wiewel, Wim, Teitz, Michael and Robert Giloth. Economic Development of Neighborhoods
and Localities. Community Development Reader, chapter 11
2) Simon, William. 2001. The Community as Beneficiary of Economic Development. in The
Community Economic Development Movement. Durham, NC: Duke University Press (on Sakai)
3) Clay, Roger and Susan Jones. 2009. Brief History of Community Economic Development.
Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Development Law. 18: 257-268
Note: Inventory of Community Organizations due in class today
WEEK 13
Apr. 20
Part IV: Issues in Community Development
Community Organizing
Readings:
1) Alinsky, Saul. Community Traditions and Organizations. from Reveille for Radicals, and
Tactics. from Rules for Radicals.
2) Stoecker, Randy. 2001. Community Development and Community Organizing: Apples and
Oranges? Chicken and Egg? Paper presented on the Comm-Org website. Available at:
http://comm-org.wisc.edu/drafts/orgdevppr2c.htm#N_1_
3) DeFilippis, James, Robert Fisher and Eric Shragge. 2010. History Matters: Canons, AntiCanons, and Critical Lessons from the Past. in Contesting Community: The Limits and Potential
of Local Organizing. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press
WEEK 14
Apr. 27
Participation and Democracy in Community Development
Readings:
1) Andrea Cornwall, Andrea. 2008. Unpacking ‘Participation’: models, meanings and practices.
Community Development Journal, 43(3): 269-283
2) Eversole, Robyn. 2012. Remaking participation: challenges for community development
practice. Community Development Journal. 47(1): 29-41
3) Arnstein, Sherry. 1969. A Ladder of Citizen Participation. AIP Journal. July: 216-224
4) Fainstein, Susan. 1987. The Rationale for Neighborhood Planning. Policy Studies Journal.
16(2): 384-392
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WEEK 15
May 4
Globalization, Immigration, and Community Development
Readings:
1) DeFilippis, James and Benjamin Faust. Forthcoming. Immigration and Community
Development in New York City. Urban Geography
2) Orozco, Manuel and Rebecca Rouse. Migrant Hometown Associations and Opportunities for
Development: A Global Perspective, Community Development Reader, chapter 32
3) Newman, Kathe. Post-Industrial Widgets: Capital Flows and the Production of the Urban,
Community Development Reader, chapter 30
4) Williamson, Thad, Imbroscio, David, and Gar Alperovitz. Globalization and Free Trade.
Community Development Reader, chapter 29
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