Community Development Certificate Program - Graduate - 2009 University Catalog

You are viewing the 2009 University Catalog. Please see the newest version of the University Catalog for the most current version of this program's requirements.

Across New Jersey communities work to make life better for the people who live in them. This work is called community development and it requires numerous skills and much knowledge in addition to the good will and mutual respect people bring to the challenges. Immigration, cross-cultural understanding, urban and suburban sprawl, poverty, providing access for people with disabilities, homelessness, aging in place and health care delivery and disease prevention are just a few of the challenges to making life better. More recently communities have begun to struggle with sustainability - meeting the needs of people in the present without compromising the needs of people in the future.

At the same time, the community development sector is expected to experience a large turnover in employment as practitioners who entered the field in the 1960s and 1970s begin to retire. Many communities and service organizations are already looking for replacements. Montclair State University offers the first and currently the only graduate certificate in Community Development in the State of New Jersey.

The Post-BA Anthropology Certificate Program in Community Development is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the role of the community development practitioner. The program equips graduates with training that will enhance their knowledge and skills that can be applied in a variety of settings. A key feature of the program is training in program evaluation that is an essential component of most community development initiatives.

Career Opportunities

Individuals with a Certificate in Community Development will be qualified to work in a variety of settings:

  • Community Development Offices of New Jersey's 566 towns/townships
  • The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs
  • As executive director, administrator, board member or staff member of a local Community Development Corporation (CDC)
  • Outreach for a financial institution or faith-based organization that partners with a CDC
  • Community mental health centers
  • Positions at all levels in New Jersey's hundreds of non-profit community development and affordable housing organizations
  • Immigrant rights work
  • Other organizations or institutions where community development work takes place

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

Complete 4 courses for 12 semester hours:

ANTH 521 Communities in Transition 3-4
ANTH 522 Environment and Community 3-4
ANTH 530 Development Anthropology 3
ANTH 560 Applied Medical Anthropology 3

Course Descriptions:

ANTH521: Communities in Transition

Case studies of community conflict and decay, conflicts over immigration, problems of racial and cultural diversity, multiculturalism and cultural misunderstandings, role of education and the local school system, urban infrastructure and community decline, sprawl versus community, introduction to basics of program evaluation. 3 - 4 sh.

ANTH522: Environment and Community

How environmental change affects community structures and practices, social and cultural responses to environmental change, role of citizen organizations, government and other institutions in solving environmental problems, green building and certification, ecological community planning and design, urban planning aspects of community and environment, sustainable cities initiatives, case studies, program evaluation skills, environmental policy making, perceptions of the environment, environmental discourses, environmental justice. 3 - 4 sh.

ANTH530: Development Anthropology

A critical review of theories of development with emphasis on anthropological contributions to development debates. Selected case study examination of the role of anthropologists in formulating, executing, and evaluating development programs and projects. 3 sh.

ANTH560: Applied Medical Anthropology

This course surveys selected theoretical and practical problems encountered by applied medical anthropologists in the cross-cultural identification of disease and delivery of health care services. Special emphasis is placed on the role of applied medical anthropologists in local and international health care institutions and programs. The course includes consideration of ethical problems encountered by anthropological practitioners. 3 sh.

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