Community and Social Change Master's Program at University of Miami

[Announcement from SCRA-L]

Dear Colleagues and Potential Applicants,

Housed in the School of Education and Human Development, the Community and Social Change (C&SC) M.S.Ed. Program at the University of Miami is accepting applications for Fall 2017. Submission deadlines for incoming students is May 1^st.

Our mission is to prepare globally aware leaders, researchers, and agents of change who create, inspire, and engage community organizations. To foster well-being in diverse communities, we train community-engaged action-practitioners to apply theory and research in community based settings. A new generation of critical thinkers is rising and this program aims to be the hub for innovative and applied leadership at the University of Miami. 

Some call Southern Florida a tropical paradise of its own, but, there is a lot of work to be done and countless ways to get involved. While there are over 2,250 philanthropic organizations in the county, the 2010 census found that Miami-Dade has one of the lowest rates of civic engagement and participation in community meetings. The C&SC program is unique in the way we address this statistic, combining in-depth theory with community action—encouraging both thinkers and actors. Foundational theories of community psychology impact classroom discussions, drawing from ecological perspectives and community participatory action research.  It is an exciting time to be at UM; our new President Julio Frenk hopes “to build the hemispheric university” to serve as a bridge between cultures and continents.

Essential to the hemispheric university, C&SC faculty conduct community engaged research both locally and nationally, in and with, community agencies, schools, coalitions, as well as other internationally recognized organizations. Students have the opportunity to work with some of these partners both in out of class with faculty, applying what is learned in the program to the field. For instance, the Engagement, Power, and Social Action Research Team (EPSA) under the direction of Dr. Scot Evans works on a wide range of issues of power, community engagement, and collective action. The research team is made up of doctoral, masters, and undergraduate students and engages collaborative action research with community-based partners to uncover injustice and build community capacity for social change. 

Alumni of the C&SC Program are equally ambitious and forever a UM Cane. Students who graduate from the program go on to lead the non-profit sector, advocating for sustainable and transformational change. Taking positions with a variety of organizations ranging from the Global Health Corps, The Miami Foundation to Georgia Legal Services Program, our alumni pursue a diverse set of careers with great tenacity. The curriculum of the C&SC program prepares students for organizational capacity building, community research, and evaluation, to embody the change the world so desperately needs.

More of our faculty and students’ work can be found on our web site, along with further information about life at the University of Miami. If you have questions about this program please feel free to contact me at a.oberoi@miami.edu. You can also visit the program Facebook page where a short video from the Fall ’16 Cohort will soon be posted.

Best regards,

Ashmeet

Ashmeet K. Oberoi, Ph.D.

Clinical Assistant Professor| Educational and Psychological Studies

Director| Community and Social Change Masters Program

School of Education and Human Development | University of Miami

5202 University Drive | MB 312-S| Coral Gables, FL  33146

a.oberoi@miami.edu| phone:  305-284-5956

Part 2 of the GJCPP Special Issue on Practice Competencies is Now Live

[Announcement from GJCPP]

It is with great pleasure that we bring you part 2 of the Global Journal of Community Psychology’s special issue on the practice competencies!

The guest editors had such an overwhelming response to their call for articles that one volume could not contain them all. Part 1 was published in December (and is still available under Past Issues if you missed it), and now we have ready another slate of fantastic papers exploring the uses, limits, and benefits of the 18 Community Psychology Practice Competencies. We encourage you to read, reflect, and comment on the pieces that get you thinking.

www.gjcpp.org

We hope you enjoy this special issue and would love to hear your feedback in comments, on FB, or in an email.

Kind Regards,

Scott

Scott Wituk, PhD

Editor, Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice
Executive Director, Community Engagement Institute
Wichita State University
editor@gjcpp.org

Frontiers of Democracy Conference

[Announcement from he-sl]

Register for Frontiers of Democracy and Submit Session Proposals Tisch College’s Frontiers of Democracy Conference will happen this June 22-24 at Tufts University’s downtown Boston campus. The theme is confronting the global turn to authoritarianism. Please register soon to hold your spot. Space is limited. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/frontiers-of-democracy-conference-2017-tickets-31104870505 We will offer concurrent sessions: interactive “learning exchanges” proposed and facilitated by attendees. We still have space for some more sessions. No later than April 21, 2017, please submit your session ideas here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd8Etpu74ic3gAMXgPbfevLf6dvKlzCI4CQ2UyQs922N56h2w/viewform We have confirmed some of the exciting “short-takes” speakers for this summer, including Jill Abramson, author and former executive editor of The New York Times, Rehka Datta from Monmouth University, Joe Goldman, president of the Democracy Fund, Rev. Willis Johnson of Wellspring Church in Ferguson, MO, Hardy Merriman from the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, Ashley Trim of the Davenport Institute, and Wendy Willis of the Deliberative Democracy Consortium and the National Policy Consensus Center. The whole conference will be asked to work collaboratively with three frameworks for civic and democratic work developed respectively by Ceasar McDowell of the Interaction Institute for Social Change and MIT, Archon Fung of the Kennedy School of Government, and Tisch College’s Peter Levine. A nationally prominent group of scholars will hold a roundtable discussion of civic renewal, “fishbowl”-style so that everyone will have opportunities to ask questions and make comments. Those scholars will include, among others, Jeff Coates (National Conference on Citizenship), Felton (Tony) Earls (Harvard), Lewis A. Friedland (Wisconsin), Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg (Tufts), Carmen Sirianni (Brandeis), and Janet Tran (The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute). Cosponsors include the Deliberative Democracy Consortium, the Charles F. Kettering Foundation, and Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center. Find Out More Copyright © 2017 Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts University, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you attended or expressed interest in Frontiers of Democracy or the Summer Institute of Civic Studies at Tisch College Our mailing address is: Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts University Lincoln Filene Hall Tufts University Medford, Massachusetts 02155

Systems Thinking and Juvenile Justice Systems Reform

[Announcement from SCRA-L]

March 2017 20 Years of Using Knowledge to Promote Social Change David M. Chavis, Ph.D. Principal Associate/CEO 2017 marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of Community Science, originally known as the Association for the Study and Development of Community (ASDC). ASDC emerged as a place where social change professionals could come to focus on "creating healthy, just, and equitable communities." The promotion of healthy, just, and equitable communities has been a central part of Community Science from the very first day. Kien Lee joined me in forming ASDC, first in a small study in my home and then graduating into our basement. We grew to five people in our basement-to the dismay of our children. When my wife would bake cookies and other treats for our young children, staff would get a whiff of her cooking and instant message me to see if I could bring anything down for them to eat.  Read More Using Systemic Thinking to Transform Juvenile Justice in the United States Seeing the problem. The juvenile justice system in the United States is intended to reduce crime and increase public safety while holding youth accountable for their actions. However, for the last three decades the system has focused more on punishing young people, processing them in the formal court system, and confining youth in large, prison-like facilities, sometimes with adults, at an annual per-youth cost of $149,000. Data on public safety outcomes has shown that the use of harsh punishment, such as incarceration, has not been effective in supporting youth rehabilitation, education, or development.  Read More SPOTLIGHT ON:  Models for Change Legacy Phase In the 1980s, juvenile justice systems in the United States began adopting more punitive, adult-oriented approaches to juvenile justice. Since 1996, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (the Foundation) has been working to correct these trends through grant making activities supporting research, program innovation, and systems and policy change. To work effectively in a complex juvenile justice landscape, the Foundation has used multiple reform approaches suitable for a range of state and local conditions. Read More Interviews with Notable Contributors in the Development of Community Science Ricardo Millett Ph.D., Principal Associate In celebrating our 20th anniversary, we have decided to commemorate those people that have been major contributors to the mission success of Community Science by conducting interviews detailing their contributions. The first staff member in the series will be Ricardo Millett, current Principal Associate at Community Science and former President of The Woods Fund in Chicago. While working for the Fund, Ricardo developed and implemented a strategic grant making plan that responded to the needs of Chicago's least advantaged. Dr. Millett also worked for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation as the Director of Program Evaluation where he focused on building greater communication and collaboration between evaluation and program staff to maximize the use of evaluation as an integral part of programming. Ricardo was interviewed by Research Assistant, Nour Elshabassi. Click here for the interview Community Science Gives Back! Part of Community Science's mission is to directly give back to the local and national community. In 2016 donations were made to the list of organizations noted below. Charitable giving along with two days of service annually are among the many ways Community Science works "to strengthen the science and practice of community change in order to build healthy, just and equitable communities." Each Community Science staff member gets to recommend a charity for the organization to make a donation on their behalf as their "holiday gift." Five percent of Community Science's annual profits were donated, the maximum amount allowed by the IRS.  Click here to learn more Staff Profile: Peter York Peter York,  MSSA, Principal Associate, has over 20 years of experience as a consultant and researcher in the evaluation and nonprofit fields, as well as a national spokesperson for social impact and impact measurement issues. He has designed and led numerous research and evaluation studies with private philanthropies, corporations, nonprofit organizations and government agencies; examples include: the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, Gap, Inc., the Philadelphia Zoo, the David & Lucille Packard Foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies, the California Endowment, the Center for Employment Opportunities, Camp Fire USA, YMCA of the USA, etc.  He has authored book chapters, academic and professional articles, and a book on the topic of evaluation for philanthropists -  "Funder's Guide to Evaluation: Leveraging Evaluation to Improve Nonprofit Effectiveness". Click here to read more In This Issue 20 Years of Using Knowledge to Promote Social Change Using Systemic Thinking to Transform Juvenile Justice in the United States Spotlight On: Models for Change Legacy Phase Interviews With Notable Contributors in the Development of Community Science Community Science Gives Back! Staff Profile ANNOUNCEMENT! Community Science, along with other organizations under the leadership of Bridging Health & Community, will be holding the  Community Agency and Health Symposium: How Community Organizations Can Be More Effective in Promoting Health on May 15-16 in Oakland, CA. Click here for additional information About Community Science Community Science is an award winning research and development organization that works with governments, foundations, and non-profit organizations on solutions to social problems through community and other systems changes. To learn more, visit our PROJECTS page.  To discuss how Community Science can assist your organization in learning how to have a greater impact, contact us at (301) 519-0722 or info@communityscience.com Join Us! We are always eager to know about professionals who have experience in producing community and systems change work of the highest quality and who want to make a difference in this world. We are currently recruiting for the following positions: Analyst (Washington, DC)   Senior Associate (Washington, DC) Suggested Reading Material:  Ison, R. (2010) Systems practice: How to act in a climate-change world. London: Springer Community Science | 301-519-0722 | info@communityscience.com | http://www.communityscience.com 438 N. Frederick Ave. Suite 315 Gaithersburg, MD 20877 Copyright © 2015. All Rights Reserved.