community studies

Evergreen has a rich legacy of working within communities on issues of treaty rights and sovereignty, economic and social justice, and a host of other issues. Working closely with faculty and various communities, you’ll learn a holistic approach to systemic change at the community level.

As you learn to conduct community-based research (also known as participatory research, popular education, and action research), you’ll learn the history, philosophy, and modes of research vital to understanding the needs, challenges, and aims of specific communities.

How to Choose Your Path

You’ll choose what you study to earn a Bachelor’s degree that’s meaningful to you. Some students decide their programs as they go, while others chart their course in advance.

Aim for both breadth and depth; explore fields that may be related or that may seem very distant. You'll be surprised at what you discover.

If you're new to college, look for programs where you can gain a foundation, build key skills, and broaden your knowledge (FR only, FR-SO, or FR-SR).

If you already have a foundation in this field, look for programs with intermediate or advanced material (SO-SR, JR-SR, or FR-SR). These programs may include community-based learning and in-depth research. Some of these programs have specific prerequisites; check the description for details.

Talk to an academic advisor to get help figuring out what coursework is best for you.

Planned offerings for 2019–20
Class Standing Quarters Offered Credits
American Frontiers: Homelands and Borderlands FR-SO
  • Spring
 16
Arts, Culture, and Spirit on Silk Roads FR-SR
  • Fall
  • Winter
 8, 12
Breaking Through Gridlock: Polarization and Problem Solving FR-SR
  • Fall
 4
Broke: Poverty in the U.S. Today SO-SR
  • Fall
 8
Carrying Home: Latinx Worlds, Media, and Education SO-SR
  • Fall
  • Winter
 16
Catastrophe: Community Resilience in the Face of Disaster FR-SR
  • Winter
 16
Comparative Eurasian Foodways: Immigrant Experiences FR-SR
  • Spring
 16
Creating and Developing Social Enterprises for Community Development FR-SR
  • Fall
 4
Creating and Developing Social Enterprises for Community Development FR-SR
  • Winter
 4
Critical Indigenous Studies FR-SR
  • Fall
 4
Critical Indigenous Studies: Case Based Learning FR-SR
  • Spring
 4
Critical Indigenous Studies: Setting the Stage for Leadership FR-SR
  • Winter
 4
Cultures and Communities of (Dis)Ability SO-SR
  • Winter
 12
Cycle Makers and Cycle Breakers: Transitional Studies JR-SR
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Spring
 16
Evergreen Student Civic Engagement Institute FR-SO
  • Fall
 2
First Peoples Multicultural Scholars Program FR-SR
  • Fall
 2
Ideas to Realities: Grant Writing and Fundraising for Social Enterprises FR-SR
  • Spring
 4
Irrepressible Bodies: Hope, Health, and Resilience in a Turbulent World FR-SO
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Spring
 16
Land, Water and the Public Interest SO-SR
  • Spring
 4
Making Change: Social Entrepreneurship and the Public Good FR-SR
  • Fall
 8
Mediaworks: Experimental and Documentary Approaches to the Moving Image SO-SR
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Spring
 16
Medicine Grows in the Garden FR-SR
  • Summer
 8
Psychology and Social Justice: Making Change Happen JR-SR
  • Winter
  • Spring
 8, 12
Radical Traditions of Community Social Work and Public Health FR-SR
  • Summer
 4
Student-Originated Studies: Community Resilience SO-SR
  • Fall
 16
Student-Originated Studies: Community-Based Learning and Action (CCBLA) SO-SR
  • Winter
 16
Student-Originated Studies: Sustainable Campus Food Systems SO-SR
  • Winter
 16
Student-Originated Studies: Taking Action in Our Communities (CCBLA) SO-SR
  • Spring
 16
The Power of the Trauma Narrative in an Intersectional World: Impact on Bodies, Minds, and Lived Experiences FR-SR
  • Spring
 8
The Power of the Trauma Narrative in an Intersectional World: Impact on Bodies, Minds, and Lived Experiences FR-SR
  • Winter
 8
Therapy Through the Arts (Day) FR-SR
  • Summer
 16
Therapy Through the Arts (Evening) FR-SR
  • Summer
 16
What Has Become of Us?: Political Economic Ethnography FR-SR
  • Summer
 4, 8, 12, 16
Planned offerings for 2020–21
Class Standing Quarters Offered Credits
Community Arts and the Art of Community SO-SR
  • Fall
 8
Community Teaching: Pasts, Presents, and Futures FR-SR
  • Fall
 16
Conceptualizing Place: Pacific Northwest Native Art and Geographies SO-SR
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Spring
 16
In the Presence of Beauty: Writing, Healing, Resilience SO-SR
  • Fall
  • Winter
 8
Literary Arts Capstone–Advanced Projects in Creative Writing & Literary Studies JR-SR
  • Spring
 16
Teaching English Language Learners: Culture, Theory, and Methods SO-SR
  • Fall
  • Winter
 16
Terroir/Meroir: Toward Agroecological Agribusiness? FR-SR
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Spring
 16