INVST Community Studies Electives

INVST Community Studies offers a collection of academic classes designed to complement each other in developing CU-Boulder students as engaged citizens and future leaders. All INVST Community Studies courses educate, equip and inspire students in distinct ways.  Each course has Curriculum Essentials that identify the specific knowledge, skills and experiences that we promise to fulfill.

In each course, students will experience a sense of community in the classroom.  We limit our course enrollment so that we can enhance connections among students, deepen opportunities for learning and be responsible to the Community Partners we're serving.

Below is the list of academic classes open to all students:

INVS 1000:  RESPONDING TO SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS THROUGH SERVICE LEARNING
By integrating theory with required community service, students explore how problems are shaped by cultural values and how alternative value paradigms affect the definition of problems in areas such as education and the environment.  Students examine different approaches to solving problems and begin to envision new possibilities.  Approved for Arts and Sciences core curriculum:  Ideals and Values.

INVS 3000:  INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO CONTEMPORARY ISSUES THROUGH SERVICE LEARNING
This course explores creative approaches for solving complex social and environmental issues, with a focus on peace and population.  Students analyze the root causes of issues in theoretical and historical contexts, and develop their understanding of effective and innovative approaches to change.  This course has a requirement of community service.  Approved for Arts and Sciences core curriculum: Contemporary Societies. Recommended: Upper-division status.

INVS 3041:  SELF AND CONSCIOUSNESS
Explores human development from a psychosocial perspective, focusing on the interplay between psychological patterns and social forms.  Issues such as self-image and social consciousness are studied within the larger context of individual and collective forces leading to transformation.  Same as SOCY 3041.  Prereqs. SOCY 1001 and either SOCY 2001, 3001 or 3011, or instructor consent.

INVS 3100:  MULTICULTURAL LEADERSHIP:  THEORIES, PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES
This course focuses on leadership theories and skills necessary for effectiveness in multicultural settings.  Students gain understanding of traditional and culturally diverse approaches to leadership and change through comparative analyses of western and non-western theories and practices.  Community service required.  Same as ETHN 3200.  Approved for Arts and Sciences core curriculum:  Cultural and Gender Diversity.  Recommended:  Upper-division status.

INVS 3302: FACILITATING PEACEFUL COMMUNITY CHANGE
Students gain knowledge and skills that enable them to become effective organizers and facilitators of community goals.  Learners  focus on understanding the processes of community building, with a multicultural emphasis.  Students are encouraged to apply concepts to life experiences and to examine themselves as potential change agents.  Same as WMST 3302.

INVS 3402 (4033): IMPLEMENTING SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
This course examines grassroots democracy as a means for creating comprehensive, solution-based strategies to address social and environmental problems.  Students develop an understanding of the use of democracy for positive social change, identify how changes are initiated within movements, and learn the theory and practice of effective and responsible change efforts.

INVS 4041:  THE CREATIVE SELF
Experimental approach to the creative process that fosters experimentation outside of conventional patterns of thinking and expression, and explores the use of imagination and creative thinking in problem-solving, writing, and art.  Same as SOCY 4041. Prereqs. SOCY 1001 and either SOCY 2001, 3001 or 3011, or instructor consent.

INVS 4302: CRITICAL THINKING IN DEVELOPMENT
This course requires students to critically evaluate explanations, presented in assigned or optional readings or in student papers, on the success or failure of development. Learners look at policy proposals for facilitating development.  Prerequisite:  ECON 2010 and 2020, PSCI 2012 and one upper-division PSCI, or instructor consent. Same as PSCI 4732 and similar to PSCI 4012. Approved for Arts and Sciences core curriculum: Critical Thinking or Contemporary Societies.

Some of the curricular content of the INVST Community Leadership Program is based upon the work of Seana Lowe Steffen, Ph.D.,

Contact our Administrative Assistant by calling 303-492-7719 to ask questions about course registration.