Instructors

The faculty of the University of Missouri Extension Community Development Program will serve as the primary instructors for each of the three courses. In addition, community development practitioners and faculty from around the country will address selected topics in each course. For class content questions, contact Steve Jeanetta at (573) 882-8393 or jeanettas@missouri.edu.

Course descriptions

Course 1 — Building Communities From the Grassroots
March 26-30, 2012 — St. Louis, Missouri
September 24-28, 2012 — Excelsior Springs, Missouri

Course 1 includes:

• Community-based development principles and concepts
  
• Complexity and polarization of communities
  
• Group process, group dynamics, team building
  
• Dealing with differences
  
• Accurately assessing the community
  
• Practicing community inclusion
  
• The action planning process
  
• Evaluation and monitoring
  
• Developing community indicators and measuring impact
  
• Developing local leadership
  

Course 2 — Empowering Communities For The Future
March 26-30, 2012 — St. Louis, Missouri
March 25-29, 2013 — Excelsior Springs, Missouri

Course 2 includes:

• Keys to sustaining the future of communities
  
• Grounding development in community
  
• Understanding the local economy and economic development
  
• Role of local government in the local economy
  
• Participatory action research
  
• Discrimination and community development programming
  
• Working together: networks, partnerships, coalitions and collaboration
  
• Building effective community organizations
  
• Governance and civil society
  
• The environment and sustaining the future of communities
  

Course 1 is a prerequisite for Course 2 or instructor’s permission.

Course 3 — Creating Capacity For Dynamic Communities
September 24-28, 2012 — Excelsior Springs, Missouri
September 23-27, 2013 — St. Louis, Missouri

Course 3 includes:

• Change, ethics and sustainability
  
• Preparing communities for effective organizing
  
• Small group processes
  
• Whole systems processes for development and change
  
• Getting unpoor: more than tinkering at the edges
  
• Community conflict intervention
  
• Community development in perspective
  
• Citizen power, influence, authority, and participation
  

Course 1 is a prerequisite for Course 3 or instructor’s permission.

Wednesday Afternoon Community Development in Practice Concurrent Workshops

Each offering of CDA includes a set of concurrent workshops on Wednesday afternoons presented by current or past CDA participants.
This is a unique way to learn about the community development practices in which CDA participants are engaged.