CSS 395: Community Internship
Autumn 2005
Thursdays 5:45– 9 pm
Marisol Morales, Instructor
Faculty Hall-Room 107
773-325-4817
Email: mmorale1@depaul.edu
Course Description
This course is intended to provide a capstone for students minoring in Community Service Studies. Internships have been organized for students who have a career interest in the non-for-profit or community-based organization field. Class meetings are designed to provide a reflective work/class experience that supports the academic discipline and interest of the student and the interest and needs of the community-based organization to which the student has been assigned. CSS 395 is a mandatory requirement for students electing the Community Service Studies minor. Students are required to work 100 hours at their respective sites over the course of the fall academic quarter.
As we have seen by the New Orleans tragedy, patterns of racial and economic inequality lead to unequal distribution of and lack of access to resources. In this country race and poverty are linked in every sector, especially the non-profit sector. This course is intended to take students on an applied learning journey that investigates the role race and racism play in the socioeconomic realities of communities and how community-based organizations and not-for-profits realize their mission and vision in the midst of racial and economic inequality. Throughout the course students will reflect on their internship experience through the lens of social justice and critical race theory. Students will be encouraged to look at communities from an assets perspective as opposed to a deficit perspective and the role social capital, funding, partnerships, and leadership play in transforming communities. Students will also engage co-workers at their respective internship sites to understand the motivations of those who do this type of work. Finally students will investigate their own possible career goals in the not-for-profit sector.
Course Objectives
The learning objectives for the course include the following:
- To complete 100 hours of work at a community-based organization or not-for-profit agency that services the under-served in the Chicagoland area;
- To develop critical thinking skills around career and employment issues related to community and not-for-profit work and relate that work to greater socio-political issues affecting communities;
- To critically explore the role and impact of race and racism on community building;
- To develop a critical understanding for the needs and resources of community based organizations and not-for-profits that serve the under-served; and
- To identify initial career goals that may involve community/social justice work after leaving DePaul University in both traditional and non-traditional work environments.
Course Evaluations & Requirements
- (30%) Students are required to work a minimum of 100 hours over 10 weeks at a community-based organization or not-for-profit that serves the underserved in the Chicagoland area. Students will be required to fill out timesheets and have them signed by their site supervisor every two weeks. Please develop a concrete schedule with your site to ensure completion of your internship hours
- (30%) Students are required to complete (7) reflective journal
entries, each a minimum of two-pages typed with font size no larger than 12, due each Thursday evening beginning September 22, 2005. Writing should be consistent with college level writing skills. Complete and developed sentences and paragraphs, that are indicative of reflection on internship experience and class readings, are required. A question may be included each week to better facilitate your thoughts concerning your reflection and writing. Journal entries should be submitted during class. The following format should be utilized for each journal entry:
- Description
What happened? What are the facts?: This should include only the description of facts reflective of class discussion, class readings or work at the organization.
- Reaction
How did/do I feel, how did I react? What did I learn about my biases, my assumptions, and myself? What will I do now?
- Incorporation
How can I better understand the previous two points using course literature and concepts?
- (20%) Students are required to complete a 6-8 page final reflection paper and multi-media presentation. More details will be given throughout the course. Due November 17, 2005
- (20%) Students are required to conduct small fact finding projects throughout the course to better enhance their experience at their internship sites
| Course Schedule |
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Topics/Readings |
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| September 8, 2005 |
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Who are we to be doing this? Charity vs. Service |
| September 15, 2005 |
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Structural Racism & Community Building
Reading: Structural Racism & Community Building |
| September 22, 2005 |
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Mission, Values, & Structure: Knowing your organizations Reading: Structural Racism & Community Building (cont) |
| September 29, 2005 |
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Social Capital: What communities bring to the table
Reading: Social Capital and Neighborhood Stability: An Empirical Investigation |
| October 6, 2005 |
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Grassroots organizing vs. corporate not for profits: Distant cousins in the same family
Reading: “Where Do We Go From Here?” |
| October 13, 2005 |
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Leading by example: social justice leadership
Reading: “Never Say ‘Help’” |
| October 20, 2005 |
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“Dollar, Dollar Bills Y’all”: Funding for not for profits in a post 9/11 world Reading: “The Perfect Storm” |
| October 27, 2005 |
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Why do we do what we do? Oral histories of community organization workers |
| November 3, 2005 |
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Networking & Partnerships: The glue that keeps us together Guest speaker: Eliud Medina, Executive Director of Near Northwest Neighborhood Network |
| November 10, 2005 |
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Career goals & the path before us |
| November 17, 2005 |
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Final due/ Celebration and reflection |
Readings
Del Valle, Taina Luisa Medusa. 2002. “Dear Rachel,. Medusa Finds Love.
Ed. Carson, Claybourne and Kris Shepard. 2001. Where Do We Go From Here?. A Call to Conscience: The Landmark Speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:165-199.
Louv, Richard. 2004. Never Say “Help”: Leadership that Instills the Values of Personal and Community Responsibility. Essays on Leadership for a Changing World.
Morino, Mario. 2001. The Perfect Storm. Venture Philanthropy Partners
Office for Social Justice, Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis “Charity vs. Justice”
Temkin, Kenneth and William M. Rohe. 1998. Social Capital and Neighborhood Stability: An Empirical Investigation. Housing Policy Debate 9(1):61-88.
The Aspen Institute Roundtable on Community Change. 2004. Structural Racism and Community Building.
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