Course information contained within the Bulletin is accurate at the time of publication in June 2025 but is subject to change. For the most up-to-date course information, please refer to the Course Catalog.
CDEV 1113. Introduction to Community Development. 3 Credit Hours.
Community development refers to the broad set of skills and institutions that local communities utilize in an effort to improve the quality of life for all residents. The course examines the history of housing, economic trends, and social policies that have affected low-income communities across the US, and the various ways through organizing and capacity building that community development professionals and activists have sought to improve these conditions. Topics include the provision of affordable housing, community economic development and finance, public education and workforce development, local food systems, and environmental sustainability.
Course Attributes: SE, SF, SP, SS
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
CDEV 2013. Community Redevelopment and Revitalization. 3 Credit Hours.
This required course within the core curriculum of the community development major is designed to give students a background on the history of urban redevelopment programs, and their impact on individuals and communities. Spanning the period from the early 20th century through the first years of the 21st, students will learn about early progressive era reforms, programs of the New Deal, Urban Renewal, Model Cities, and the Great Society. It will also cover the development of community development corporations, and their role in revitalizing cities across the United States. Market-based and neoliberal programs that began in the 1980s will also be discussed, as will the current policy landscape for redevelopment of urban communities. Particular focus will be paid to this history in the City of Philadelphia.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
CDEV 2155. Housing and Community Development. 3 Credit Hours.
A comprehensive study of housing and community development within the context of its environment, both natural and built. Explores the implications on housing of topography, public policy, demographics, transportation, adjacent uses, local culture, building practices, zoning, climate, and historical patterns. A broad range of housing types and densities are examined along with housing as both shelter and social symbol. This course has both historical and current references and introduces the role of the community development professional or planner as a community designer and advocate.
Course Attributes: SI
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
CDEV 2255. Environmental Justice in Communities. 3 Credit Hours.
This course explores the histories, policies, and innovations associated with environmental justice movements in the United States and throughout the world. It will explore public policy responses to social movement against environmental injustices and environmental racism; discuss the role of science in the public debate; and connect environmental justice to community development theories, policies, and practices. Service learning for a Philadelphia-area organization on an environmental justice project is a key component to this course.
Course Attributes: SF, SS
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
CDEV 2354. Cooperatives. 3 Credit Hours.
Cooperatives serve a unique role in the modern economy. Having first emerged during the Industrial Revolution, cooperatives were an alternative way for individuals to work together on food production, ownership of businesses, and labor. Today, cooperatives represent a significant portion of the economy around the world, and are a vital component of place-based grassroots community development. This course examines the history and development of cooperatives in the United States and around the world, as well as exploring the innovations that cooperatives continue to bring to communities. Philadelphia is a recognized center of cooperatives in the United States, many of which will be engaged as part of this course. Specific attention will be paid to the Rad Dish Co-Op Cafe, Temple University's student-run co-op.
Course Attributes: SF, SP, SS
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
CDEV 2454. Grant Writing for Non-Profits. 3 Credit Hours.
The course will help to develop the skills necessary for students to have the knowledge to be able to develop, write and submit a solid grant proposal. Students will obtain hands-on practice to learn to write successful grants. The course will start with an introduction to grants and their place in the development and funding of non-profit organizations. Students will learn the roles of both government and private grant funding for non-profits. Students will learn sound planning skills, write a grant proposal and get feedback on their proposals. Using interactive learning and assigned tasks, we will focus on planning, research, evaluation techniques, budgeting, and how to effectively communicate issues and needs in a clear and concise manner. There will be some exposure to grant-writing software, as applicable.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
CDEV 2596. Community Planning Analysis. 3 Credit Hours.
Community development and planning practitioners use tools to gather, analyze, and present information. This course provides an introduction to a broad range of analytical methods and techniques used in the field to understand communities. Students learn to obtain data, select and use the most appropriate analytical methods (with an emphasis on computer applications, such as Microsoft Excel), and present results effectively. Topics to be covered include primary and secondary data collection, basic methods of descriptive statistics, demographic models, population projections and forecasts, economic analysis, housing indicators, surveys, interviews, questionnaires, community asset mapping and zoning. Classes consist of a mix of lectures, small group exercises, and hands-on computer labs. Students, over the course of the semester, develop a portfolio of analytical tools for an assigned community. Consistent with the University's Writing Intensive Program, each weekly assignment will be returned with comments for revision and compilation into a single portfolio. This 'thick description' of a community demonstrates competency with the wide range of methods used in community development. Note: Basic computer skills required. By lecture 4, students must have familiarity with Microsoft Excel. Go to http://www.temple.edu/cs/training/ for information on free seminars offered by Temple University Computer Services.
Course Attributes: WI
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
CDEV 3113. Nonprofit Management. 3 Credit Hours.
The course provides an overview of management of nonprofit organizations, including issues pertinent for nonprofit managers and leaders faced with changing organizational environments. Most community development activities are centered within a nonprofit organization or work closely with these community-based organizations. Students are introduced to the major aspects of nonprofits and voluntary organizations that distinguish them from public and private organizations: mission/vision; legal definitions/IRS rulings; voluntary governance structures; and a social change agenda. Topics covered include the history and scope of the nonprofit sector, variations within the sector, contemporary theories of nonprofit enterprise, growth in the international nonprofit sector, management issues which pertain to nonprofits, financial management, accountability, human resources management, strategic planning, collaborative partnerships, leadership, advocacy, and the future of the sector.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
CDEV 3155. Healthy Community Design and Development. 3 Credit Hours.
This course seeks to bridge the gap between planning and public health, providing an interdisciplinary approach to address the health implications of the built environment. Students will understand public health and planning history, evolution and significant movements to the present, and historical and current theories on the relationship between the built environment and public health. They will identify contemporary features of the built environment such as patterns of development, parks, public works projects, houses, and transportation systems that reflect past efforts to influence health, and use methods developed by architects, urban planners, public health professionals, sociologists and anthropologists to address current health impacts of the built environment. Students learn about vulnerable populations and health disparities, and develop skills to identify studies and engage communities, critique methods and findings, and apply lessons from planning and public health research to current and future problems.
Course Attributes: SE, SF, SS
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
CDEV 3165. Placemaking: Revitalizing Urban Communities. 3 Credit Hours.
The term placemaking (sometimes referred to as "creative placemaking") refers to a particular approach to community building and revitalization that has gained popularity in recent years. Through readings, lectures, exercises, and tours students will explore placemaking practices focused on asset based, bottom up approaches that seek to enhance the social fabric while improving physical places. This includes local economic development and revitalization practices that value community identity as expressed in local cultural, historic and natural resources, but also includes other types of practices that simply seek to create a sense of "place" in some otherwise under-used or ill-defined space. Students will assess placemaking practices and identify opportunities for "creative placemaking" in Philadelphia's neighborhoods.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
CDEV 3175. Gentrification and Equitable Development. 3 Credit Hours.
With the recent revitalization of cities, gentrification has become a real, complex and highly contested issue that represents progress for some and displacement or its threat for others. This course investigates gentrification and interventions aimed at limiting its negative effects. Through analyzing academic literature, current events and case studies, we consider: the processes, forms, agents and impacts (positive and negative) of gentrification; examine the roles of policy, planning and community development in the gentrification process; and investigate programs and strategies that practitioners could implement to foster equitable development.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
CDEV 3197. Community-based Organizations. 3 Credit Hours.
For the past 50 years, community-based organizations (CBOs) have played an important role in the housing, economic and social development in low-income communities: community development corporations (CDCs) were established to construct and manage affordable housing; community economic development programs seek to empower local residents through job training and entrepreneurial assistance; and faith-based organizations continue to play an important role in social service provision in many communities. Fundamentally, CBOs strive to build community leadership and empower low-income people to take charge of their own future. Understanding the role of such organizations is crucial in being an effective planner. Synthesizing skills developed in lower-level courses within the Community Development major, students in this writing-intensive course produce - over the course of the full semester - a strategic plan for a community-based organization of their choosing. Beginning with a profile of the community served, students develop a profile of a specific CBO within the Philadelphia region. After meeting with stakeholders, students develop and present a strategic plan to assist that organization in meeting the needs of its client community, both now and in the future. The plan produced is a result of ongoing feedback from classmates, stakeholders, and the instructor.
Course Attributes: WI
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
Pre-requisites: Minimum grade of C- in CDEV 1113 and CDEV 2596.
CDEV 3313. Community Development Finance. 3 Credit Hours.
The course examines the history and practice of community development finance in the United States. Low-income communities face particular challenges in meeting their credit needs through the traditional financial sector. Over the past 100 years, various institutions have developed to both advocate for change and to cover this gap. The course explores strategies for developing assets for low-income families and low-income communities. Different types of community development finance projects are discussed, including affordable housing, charter schools, community facility, small business lending, and nonprofit real estate projects. The course concludes with an examination of continuing challenges to meet the depository and credit needs of low-income communities.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
CDEV 3334. Community Economic Development. 3 Credit Hours.
This elective course within the community development program is designed for students seeking to work in the areas of community economic development. It begins with a thorough examination of the theories of regional, city, and local economic growth and development, including tools necessary to document economic indicators. The second part of the course utilizes a case-study approach of methods and practice, including topics such as workforce development, entrepreneurship, small business attraction and retention, commercial corridors, immigrant communities, leveraging the creative economy, and development without displacement. Examples from the Philadelphia region will be given particular focus.
Course Attributes: SI, SP, SS
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
CDEV 3455. Community Engagement and Empowerment. 3 Credit Hours.
This class explores the theory and practice of involving citizens in agency-led and community-based planning processes. Readings, class discussions, case studies, and guest lectures emphasize building knowledge and skills necessary to develop open and inclusive processes using a continuum of civic engagement practices such as community organizing, outreach and education, interactive tools and technologies, charrettes and full empowerment.
Course Attributes: SI, SS
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
CDEV 3860. Topics in Community Development. 1 to 3 Credit Hour.
Variable offerings from semester to semester of selected topics not part of the regular listing of courses. The topic can be in an area of specialization of a faculty member or an examination of a current development in the field. NOTE: Students may obtain a description of the current version at the department office and in the schedule of classes. This course may be repeated for credit.
Repeatability: This course may be repeated for additional credit.
CDEV 3870. Special Topics in Community Development. 1 to 3 Credit Hour.
Variable offerings from semester to semester of selected topics not part of the regular listing of courses. The topic can be in an area of specialization of a faculty member or an examination of a current development in the field. Students may obtain a description of the current version at the department office and in the schedule of classes. This course may be repeated for credit.
Repeatability: This course may be repeated for additional credit.
CDEV 3882. Independent Study in Community Development. 1 to 3 Credit Hour.
An advanced course that involves explorative study or research not met in any established course. Initiated by the student, the project must be sponsored by a faculty member with an approved agreement outlining the content and requirements, including readings, meetings, and papers. NOTE: Students must have the agreement of a faculty sponsor and must submit a formal proposal to this faculty member and Department before registering for the course. A maximum of 3 s.h. of Community Development directed reading/study or independent study may be used as elective credit toward the B.S. in Community Development.
Repeatability: This course may be repeated for additional credit.
CDEV 3883. Directed Reading/Study in Community Development. 1 to 3 Credit Hour.
Prerequisite: Written contract with faculty member and approval of the Department Chair.
Advanced reading/study tutorial arranged between the student and a faculty member. Requirements are jointly determined relative to the specific focus of the course and may include literature review; preparation of journals, bibliographies and/or paper(s); and participation in regularly scheduled discussions. The level of work required is equivalent to a traditional course. Writing skills are evaluated for the final grade. Students are expected to demonstrate personal initiative in framing and meeting course requirements. NOTE: This course may be repeated for credit. A maximum of 3 s.h. of Community Development directed reading/study or independent study may be used as elective credit toward the B.S. in Community Development.
Repeatability: This course may be repeated for additional credit.
CDEV 4885. Internship and Professional Practice in Community Development. 3 Credit Hours.
The course requires 180 hours of supervised internship experience with public agencies, non-profit institutions, and private entities. The internship must have a designated field supervisor and must emphasize the acquisition and application of practical skills in community development. Undergraduates may register for
CDEV 4885 only once.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
Pre-requisites: Minimum grade of C- in CDEV 1113, CDEV 2596, (CRP 2524 or CTRP 2524), and (CDEV 3113 or CDEV 3197)
CDEV 4889. Community Development Workshop. 3 Credit Hours.
This capstone course in the Community Development major focuses the practice of contemporary community development in collaboration with a community-based organization. It builds upon the knowledge and skills students acquired earlier in the degree program and demonstrate their abilities to resolve real-life problems. Students work in small teams to formulate a research design and scope of services to investigate existing conditions; collect and analyze data needed to devise effective solutions to local problems which build on available community assets; and produce reports local leaders can use to guide their future revitalization efforts.
Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.
Pre-requisites: Minimum grade of C- in CDEV 1113, CDEV 2596, CTRP 2524, CDEV 3197, CDEV 2013, and CDEV 3455.
