Letter from the Chair
December 2008

On election night, like so many other people around the globe, I watched with moist eyes as another wall of discrimination in our society fell away. In his acceptance speech that night, President-elect Barack Obama acknowledged the historic racial barrier that had been broken. He also paid tribute to more than a century of community organizing and social struggle that have been at the core of social progress in this country. As people committed to community development and social change, this is indeed our moment—to develop and mobilize the talent, support, and commitment that will be necessary in the months and years ahead, to address the difficult social and economic circumstances that face us in our increasingly volatile, transnational world.

As the new chair of the Community Development Graduate Program here at the University of California Davis, I want to share with you some information on recent developments in the program and ask for your help in sharing information about our program with potential graduate students and colleagues working in related fields. For over twenty years, this program has taught practical skills, analytical abilities, and theoretical framing to social workers, community developers, urban planners, environmental activists, union leaders, and so many others who have sought to be more effective in their social change work.

We provide a 2-year Master's of Science (MS) Degree in Community Development. Our program is flexible and inter-disciplinary, with core courses in Community Development, affiliated courses across multiple departments, and opportunities for students to customize their own programs of studies. Particular strengths and recent developments in our program include the following:

• More than 40 affiliated world-class faculty in over 15 campus departments and programs, including Landscape Architecture, Sociology, Chicana/o Studies, American Studies, Education, Medicine, the Agricultural Sustainability Institute, Environmental Sciences and Policy, and UC Extension.
• Strong links with a range of public, non-profit and community organizations in the Sacramento Region and throughout the Central Valley of California. The region provides an invaluable living laboratory for addressing a range of community development challenges and opportunities. Recognized by Time Magazine as "America's Most Diverse City", Sacramento is simultaneously the Capitol of a state with the 7th largest economy in the world, a node in diverse trans-national diasporas reaching across the globe (students in the Sacramento school district speak more than 70 different languages at home), and the core of a dynamic metropolitan region striving to grow sustainably and equitably in the 21st century.
• Deep connections in the city of Davis itself. Known as the most bicycle friendly town in the country, Davis has a long-term commitment to sustainable community development, and includes some of the country's longest-standing initiatives related to co-housing, smart growth, environmental sustainability, and social responsibility.
• Close collaboration with the Center for Regional Change (CRC), which brings together faculty, students, & communities to collaborate on innovative research to create just, sustainable, & healthy regional change in California's Central Valley and Sierra Nevada. Students in our program have substantial opportunities for both paid work and internships in CRC related projects. Current projects include initiatives related to environmental justice, affordable housing, regional equity, population change, air quality, art and regional change, California labor studies, and youth development.
• A new collaboration with the Geography Graduate Group, which has involved creating a Community and Regional Development area of concentration with the Geography Ph.D. program. For Community Development students who are interested in pursuing academic careers, this provides an integrated path to a doctoral degree in a strongly allied field.
• Strong links with the Agricultural Sustainability Institute, a hub that links initiatives and education in sustainable agriculture and food systems across the University and with partners across the State of California. Students interested in community gardens, rural community development, healthy communities, local food and other aspects of sustainable agro-food systems have found this collaboration to be particularly valuable.

Please browse our web-site, and if you would like any additional information, please don't hesitate to contact Cat Huff, our Graduate Coordinator (530-752-1926, chuff@ucdavis.edu).

Thank you for your interest.

Sincerely,

Chris Benner, Ph.D.
Chair, Community Development Graduate Group
Associate Professor, Human and Community Development Department