Community Studies at UCSC

Did you know…

• Created in 1969, Community Studies was the first undergraduate major in the country to combine experiential learning with academic study of social justice issues.
• We believe that a public university should educate its students for excellence in all social endeavors: organizing and political activism, as well as economics and engineering.
• We teach social justice theory and practice in a rigorous academic curriculum of course work linked to a six-month full-time field study.
• On their field studies, our students work with organizations at the forefront of community building, advocacy, and policy making throughout California, the United States, and around the world.
• Over the past 40+ years, our students have contributed over one million hours of community-based work – that’s 25,000 work weeks and 500 work years.
• Our students complete high caliber, often award-winning, senior capstone projects of all kinds, from analytical essays to scholarly theses, creative installations, and funded grants.
• At least 1 in 10 of our alumni have gone on to found non-profit organizations. Hundreds more serve on boards of directors or hold executive positions.
• Community Studies has been one of the most attractive majors to women and students of color and overall has been one of the most popular majors at UCSC.

www.communitystudies.ucsc.edu