Major: Community Organization and Advocacy
The history of community organizing as we know it today began in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. That's when college-educated young people set up settlement houses in midwestern and East Coast cities.
Settlement houses provided services, such as child care and English language classes, to the great numbers of people who needed them urgently. They were mostly immigrants working in low-wage jobs such as meat packing and garment making. Some settlement-house organizations also advocated for workers, urging government to take action and improve housing or create child labor laws, for example.
This major prepares students to organize communities for social action. Students learn how to serve as links between community groups and public agencies, and how to give information, instruction, and help to community members.
Did You Know?
- President Barack Obama worked as a community organizer in a low-income
Are You Ready To...?
- Do hands-on learning
- Participate in campus activities such as food drives
- Conduct research
- Write papers
- Read the news to keep up with political, economic, and social changes
- Learn a foreign language
- Visit the website of a national association such as the Industrial Areas Foundation
It Helps to Be...
Passionate about justice and eager to help others obtain it. People who do well in this major enjoy keeping up with current events and are good at organizing others to take action. They like finding creative ways to overcome obstacles on the road to social change.
College Checklist
- Does the school offer a major in community organizing or is it a concentration in another major such as urban studies, political science, or sociology?
- Are there special requirements for admission to the program?
- Are the professors actively involved in community organizations?
- What hands-on learning opportunities does the program provide?
- What are recent grads doing now?
Did You Know?
- Another of the nation's most famous community organizers, Jane Addams, opened Chicago's first settlement house in 1889. Called Hull House, it was located in the city's toughest and poorest neighborhood.
Course Spotlight
Hands-on learning is at the heart of any program in community organization. Whether your school calls them internships, field studies, or practicums, you’ll have the chance to take on a wide range of tasks. Maybe you'll organize a dance to benefit a shelter for battered women. Perhaps you'll design a brochure for an organization providing services to troubled youth. Or you might do research on pesticides for a farm workers' group.
You'll love this chance to use what you’ve learned to help real people. And you'll appreciate the guidance and support you receive from your professors along the way.
