Undergraduate Programs Committee/Graduate Programs Committee/Continuing Education Governing Council
Person making the proposal:
Alice Julier
Date:
9/19/12
Department/Program:
SSE/ FST
Proposed course title:
(maximum twenty-five
characters, including spaces)
Sustainable Community Development
Formal catalogue description:
(50 word limit: present tense, third person objective, either all sentence fragments or all complete sentences but not a combination):
This course explores how people can engage in creating more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable communities at multiple scales, from the local to the regional. The reading and assignments emphasize sustainable planning theory and practice as well as sustainable food systems perspectives. Students will engage in practice-based research and community projects.
Course level and number:
(must be assigned by Registrar before the course proposal is submitted)
FST 640/ SUS 640
Term in which course is proposed to be offered:
Spring
Frequency and proposed scheduling of new course:
(one time only, annually, every other year, summer, evening and weekend)
Every Spring
Prerequisites:
(if any)
Credits to be offered:
3
FST508 or FST509 or SUS504
Grade option (A,A-,B+,B,B-,C+,C,F,P,NG,I,W,UW):
Letter grades
Enrollment limit:
20
Category most applicable to this new course
(Programs) to be served:
Traditional, as generally offered in corresponding departments in other colleges
Relatively new, now being widely established
X Not yet offered in many (or any) other colleges
Anticipated audience (i.e. traditional , Gateway, Continuing Education, graduate) Certificate students
Course rationale: (Why is this course needed?)
The course meets the growing needs of our students in both Food Studies and Sustainability who are interested in community development.
How does the proposed course fit into the liberal arts curriculum of the
University? How does it interface with the general education requirements?
It does not
Form #2B Proposal for a New Course June 2010

If the proposed course is added, will another course be dropped? If so, state the name(s) and number(s) of the course(s) to be eliminated and the effect of its (their) removal upon the department’s or program’s curriculum. Cite the advantages to the student of the added course.
no
Has this course been proposed or passed at the undergraduate level? Yes No
Has this course been proposed or passed at the graduate level?
Yes No
Will this course count toward fulfillment of an undergraduate proficiency or general education requirement?
If yes, which one?
Yes No
Evaluation:
(If this course is proposed as a
300/700 level course, please explain the requirement that will distinguish this course as a graduate course)
Attach evidences of planning:
 Brief outline or syllabus of the course

Suggested texts, reading list, or bibliography

Methods to be used in evaluating student achievement

Problems foreseen in proposed course staffing
 Will additional library resources be required or are current holdings
Program Director Name:
 adequate?
Other problems or comments
Program Director Signature: Date:
Alice Julier
Dean Name:
David Hassenzahl
Undergraduate Programs Committee Action:
Graduate Programs Committee Action:
Continuing Education Governing Council Action:
School of Sustainability and the Environment Committee Action:
Submit form to Dean and Committee Chair
Dean Signature: Date:
Date:
Date:
Date:
Date:
Date referred for Catalogue Copy:
Form #2B Proposal for a New Course June 2010

FST/SUS 640 Sustainable Community Development
Spring 2013
Room:
Alice Julier/Jessica Mooney
Offices: Dilworth Hall
Office Hours: TBD and by appointment jmooney@chatham.edu
, ajulier@chatham.edu
Catalogue Description:
This course explores how people can engage in creating more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable communities at multiple scales, from the local to the regional. The reading and assignments emphasize sustainable planning theory and practice as well as sustainable food systems perspectives. Students will engage in practice-based research and community projects.
Course Overview
Why study community development? As people, places, and technology shift in relation to the economic and environmental issues of our time, communities bear the burden of having to revitalize their economic and social functions. Small communities and inner city neighborhoods are particularly vulnerable to changes; consider how many “defunct” communities there are in the U.S. What does it take to succeed and survive as a healthy community amidst complex (and sometimes destructive) forces that shape and mold our society? Community development -- with an emphasis on food systems -- will be considered from the perspective of achieving balance between economic, environmental, social, physical, and political realms.
Course Objectives
The course objectives are to:
 gain an overview of sustainable community development and organizing, particularly as it is connected to material and social resources related to food systems.
 develop facility with a variety of concepts and perspectives used to address issues in the area of community, food and agriculture
 apply a multidisciplinary analysis to community problems.
 engage in direct research on community development issues
Food Studies Program Goals
Interdisciplinary breadth: Students will have the ability to articulate and integrate knowledge and skills across and within a variety of disciplines, particularly as these skills relate to the historical and contemporary organization of food provision and consumption.
Systems knowledge : Students will have a command of food systems as a conceptual and practical tool for understanding the connections between agriculture and food production, social configurations, cultural meanings, and environmental conditions .
Communicative competence: Students will demonstrate ability to use history, ethics, culture, and empirical data to document and evaluate food systems through oral, written, and multi-modal means of representation
Methodological depth: Students will be able to evaluate the effectiveness and applicability of various social scientific methods. By implementation, students will
Form #2B Proposal for a New Course June 2010

articulate research questions and assess the strengths and weaknesses of different research design and collection methods.
Comprehensive awareness of sustainability: Students will be versed in the complexities of defining and enacting sustainable practices related to food production and consumption.
Requirements:
General assignments
Participation and attendance
50%
10%
Community project and evaluation 40%
Grade Scale: Your total points will be assigned a letter grade based on the following scale:
A 94-100%
A- 90-93%
B+ 87-89%
B 84-86%
B- 80-83%
F 0-79%
General Assignments
Think Pieces: There are five think pieces assigned during the semester. Think pieces are short essays of at least 500 words in length (typed). The pieces are short and so must be written very tightly and concisely. Every word counts. Your think piece should demonstrate that you have read and are engaged with the readings. Begin the think piece with the citation for the reading(s), followed by a very brief summary of main points or main idea of each reading. Be sure and properly cite direct quotes with quotation marks and page numbers from source. (Please do not go over three pages in length and do not fill the piece with empty verbiage). The purpose of these pieces is to encourage you to prepare for class by reading and engaging with the readings thus allowing you to develop a distinct point of view. Guiding questions or topics may be assigned or you may be given freedom in your response to the readings. Your think piece should demonstrate that you have read the readings carefully. The paper will be read by a classmate who will then prepare a response to your paper.
Peer responses : Peer responses should be at least at least 200 words (typed) The peer response provides feedback to the author. You may respond either to the strength of the argument or may question portions of the think piece that are unclear, inconsistent or confusing. You may want to either provide another way of looking at the ideas contained in the think piece or reinforce its core ideas. Be sure and note anything that is not clear or consistent.
Field Observation Assignment : This assignment will require a structured field excursion outside of class. Details of the assignment will be provided.
Additional Short Activities: TBD
Form #2B Proposal for a New Course June 2010

Participation: You are expected to attend class, except for one excused GAD (Global Anxiety
Day) and any religious holidays that are not accounted for by an academic calendar. You are expected to contribute to discussion, to help foster community rather than competition among your classmates, both by speaking to them and by allowing them to speak. You are encouraged to post information, related news articles, ideas, and the like to our Moodle site – and to our other Food Studies web outlets (blogs and newsletters).
Community Project and Evaluation: You will be engaged in one ongoing community development project with the group – these will be determined each semester and will be based on ongoing relationships with specific communities. Handouts on specific requirements will be given out on the first day of class. Introductions to community partners will occur the first week.
There will be a group and an individual component to the project and it will involve a selfevaluation as well as peer feedback.
Topic schedule:
We will cover the basics of sustainable development, community organizing, and food systems questions in the first five weeks of class. Meetings and site visits will also occur immediately.
There will be time spent beyond the classroom on site visits, transportation, and community engagement.
Major Books:
Wheeler, S. M., and T. Beatley, eds. 2009. The Sustainable Urban Development Reader, Second edition. New York, NY: Routledge. Original edition, 2004.
Wheeler, Stephen M. 2004. Planning for Sustainability: Creating livable, equitable, and ecological communities. New York, Routledge. de la Salle, Janine and Mark Holland (with contributors). 2010. Agricultural Urbanism:
Handbook for building sustainable food and agriculture systems in 21st century cities. Canada:
Green Frigate Books.
Williams Forson, P. and Counihan, C. Taking Food Public: Redefining Foodways in a
Changing World 2011 Routledge
Krile, James. Community Leadership Handbook: Framing Ideas, Building Relationships and
Mobilizing Resources.
R. Phillips and R. Pittman. (2009) An Introduction to Community Development . Abingdon, UK:
Routledge.
Issues 1 – 4 of Journal of Food, Agriculture, and Community Development
Articles (in tentative order of reading):
“Classic”:
Meadows, Donella H., Dennis L. Meadows, Jörgen Randers, and William W. Behrens III. 1972.
“Perspectives, Problems, and Models” from the Introduction to The Limits to Growth
Jacobs, Jane. 1961. “Orthodox Planning and the North End”
Leopold, Aldo. 1949. “The Land Ethic” Excerpt from
A Sand County Almanac pg 20-29. Jacobs,
Allan B. 1985. “Seeing Change” from Looking at Cities . pg 298-302.
Form #2B Proposal for a New Course June 2010

Hawken, Paul. 1997. “Natural Capitalism” from
Mother Jones , March/April 1997. In SUDR* pg
217-225.
Hayden, Delores. 1997. “Housing and American Life” In
Space, Gender, Knowledge,
Hayden, Delores Excerpt from Redesigning the American Dream: the Future of Housing, Work and Family Life,
Calthorpe, Peter. 1993. “The Next American Metropolis” from
The Next American Metropolis:
Ecology, Community, and the American Dream.
“Issues”
Cameron, J. & J. K. Gibson-Graham. 2003. Feminising the Economy: metaphors, strategies, politics. Gender, Place and Culture , 10, pg 145-157.
Oden, Michael D. 2010. “Equity” in Pragmatic Sustainability: Theoretical and Practical Tools., pg. 39-49.
Cope, Meghan. 2006. Lots of Opportunity Project (LOOP): Empowering Childrens’ Visions for
Neighborhood Spaces Children’s Urban Geographies LOOP Report
Litman, Todd. 2006. “Cities Connect: How Urbanity Helps Achieve Social Inclusion Objectives”
Presented at Metropolis Conference, Toronto, Canada. 14 June 2006 www.vtpi.org/citiesconnect.pdf
Southworth, Michael. 2005. “Designing the Walkable City”
Journal of Urban Planning and
Development. 1 31(4): pg 246- 257. http://mantis.csuchico.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true
&db=aph&AN=18861206& site=ehost-live
Wolch, Jennifer. 2007. "Green Urban Worlds" Annals of the Association of American
Geographers , 97(2), 2007, pg 373–384.
“Food, specifically”
“Transforming an Empty Building into a Year-Round Hub for Local Food” Project for Public
Spaces http://www.pps.org/transforming-an-empty-building-into-a-year-round-hub-for-local-food/
“Setting the table, making a place: How food can help create a multi-use destination” http://www.pps.org/setting-the-table-making-a-place-how-food-can-help-create-a-multi-usedestination/
Bestor, Tsukiji: The Fish Market at the Center of the World (excerpts)
Graham,
Feeding the City: From Street Market to Liberal Reform in Salvador, Brazil”
(excerpt)
Subdivisions Built Around Agriculture http://www.planetizen.com/node/43867
“Community organizing versus development”
Stephen Valocchi, A Way of Thinking About the History of Community Organizing. http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/tcn/valocchi.htm
Our Resistance Must Be As Local As Capitalism: Place, Scale and the Anti-Globalization Protest
Movement, James DeFilippis, 2001, http://comm-org.wisc.edu/papers2001/defilippis.htm
Local and Global Organizing after 9/11, By Autumn Leonard, Tomás Aguilar, Mike Prokosch, and Dara Silverman, 2001, http://comm-org.wisc.edu/papers2001/localglobal.htm
The Community Toolbox, by the Community Toolbox Team. Adapting Community
Interventions for Different Cultures and Communities http://ctb.lsi.ukans.edu/tools/EN/sub_section_main_1163.htm
Judi Bari and Judith Kohl. 1991. "Environmental Justice: Highlander After Myles ." Social Policy
Winter, pp. 71-77.
Frank Adams. 1975. Unearthing Seeds of Fire: The Idea of Highlander . (excerpt)
Form #2B Proposal for a New Course June 2010

“Emotions and the politics of place”
Poletta, F Democracy is an Endless Meeting and “It was like a fever: storytelling in protest and politics” (excerpts)
Hustedde and King Rituals: emotions, community faith in soul and the messiness of life
Community Development Journal Vol 37 No 4
Carpenter, M Working with Emotions in Community Development Community Development
Journal Vol 35 No 4 2000
POLICIES
Chatham University Honor Code:
Chatham University students pledge to maintain the Honor Code, which states in part: “Honor is that principle by which we at Chatham form our code of living, working, and studying together. The standards of honor at Chatham require that all students act with intellectual independence, personal integrity, honesty in all relationships, and consideration for the rights and well being of others.”
Information about the Honor Code is available in the Student Handbook.
Cheating and Plagiarism:
Cheating is defined as the attempt, successful or not, to give or obtain aid and/or information by illicit means in meeting any academic requirements, including examinations. Plagiarism is defined as the use, without proper acknowledgement, of the ideas, phrases, sentences, or larger units of discourse from another writer or speaker.
Disability Statement:
Chatham University is committed to providing an environment that ensures that no individual is discriminated against on the basis of her/his disability. Students with disabilities, as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and who need special academic accommodations, should notify the assistant dean of the PACE Center as soon as possible. The
PACE Center will work with students and the course instructor to coordinate and monitor the provision of reasonable academic accommodations.
Non-Registered Students Policy:
In accordance with University policy, only officially registered students may attend this class and all other classes offered at the University after the drop/add period. Please confer with your academic advisor if you need assistance with the registration process or you need additional information.
Form #2B Proposal for a New Course June 2010