Community studies is an academic field drawing on both sociology and anthropology and the social research methods
Method ( grc, μέθοδος, methodos) literally means a pursuit of knowledge, investigation, mode of prosecuting such inquiry, or system. In recent centuries it more often means a prescribed process for completing a task. It may refer to:
*Scien ...
of ethnography
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
and participant observation
Participant observation is one type of data collection method by practitioner-scholars typically used in qualitative research and ethnography. This type of methodology is employed in many disciplines, particularly anthropology (incl. cultural an ...
in the study of community. In academic settings around the world, community studies is variously a sub-discipline of anthropology or sociology, or an independent discipline. It is often interdisciplinary and geared toward practical applications rather than purely theoretical perspectives. Community studies is sometimes combined with other fields, i.e., "Urban and Community Studies," "Health and Community Studies," or "Family and Community studies."
Epistemology
In
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
, community studies drew inspiration from the classic
urban sociology texts produced by the
Chicago School, such as the works of
Louis Wirth and
William Foote Whyte. In
Britain, community studies was developed for colonial administrators working in East Africa, particularly
Kenya. It was further developed in the
post-war
In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...
period with the
Institute of Community Studies
Early years
The Institute for Community Studies is a community-led research and evidence centre based in Bethnal Green, East London. Originally founded in 1953 by Michael Young as the Institute ''of'' Community Studies, it is probably best kno ...
founded by
Michael Young in east London, and with the studies published from the institute, such as ''
Family and Kinship in East London
''Family and Kinship in East London'' was a 1957 sociological study of an urban working class tight-knit community, and the effects of the post-war governments' social housing policy leading to their rehousing. Many East Londoners by rigid slum c ...
''.
Community studies, like
colonial
Colonial or The Colonial may refer to:
* Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology)
Architecture
* American colonial architecture
* French Colonial
* Spanish Colonial architecture
Automobiles
* Colonial (1920 a ...
anthropology, have often assumed the existence of discrete, relatively
homogeneous
Homogeneity and heterogeneity are concepts often used in the sciences and statistics relating to the uniformity of a substance or organism. A material or image that is homogeneous is uniform in composition or character (i.e. color, shape, siz ...
, almost
tribe-like
communities
A community is a Level of analysis, social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place (geography), place, Norm (social), norms, religion, values, Convention (norm), customs, or Identity (social science), identity. Communiti ...
, which can be studied as
organic
Organic may refer to:
* Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity
* Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ
Chemistry
* Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...
wholes. In this, it has been a key
influence on
communitarianism
Communitarianism is a philosophy that emphasizes the connection between the individual and the community. Its overriding philosophy is based upon the belief that a person's social identity and personality are largely molded by community relati ...
and
communalism
Communalism may refer to:
* Communalism (Bookchin), a theory of government in which autonomous communities form confederations
* , a historical method that follows the development of communities
* Communalism (South Asia), violence across ethnic ...
, from the
local context to the
global and everywhere in between.
Curricula
Community studies
curricula
In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...
are often centered on the "concerns" of communities. These include mental and physical health, stress, addiction, AIDS, racism, immigration, ethnicity, gender, identity, sexuality, the environment, crime, deviance, delinquency, family problems, social competence, poverty, homelessness and other psycho-social aspects. Understanding the socio-cultural completeness and the anthropological ramifications of the accurate analysis of community health is key to the sphere of these studies.
Another focus of curricula in community studies is upon anthropology,
cultural anthropology
Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans. It is in contrast to social anthropology, which perceives cultural variation as a subset of a posited anthropological constant. The portma ...
in particular. Some programs set as prerequisite knowledge, the background and historical contexts for community, drawing upon
archeological findings and the theoretical underpinnings for social organization in ancient and prehistorical community settings. The theories connected with the so-called "
Neolithic revolution
The Neolithic Revolution, or the (First) Agricultural Revolution, was the wide-scale transition of many human cultures during the Neolithic period from a lifestyle of hunting and gathering to one of agriculture and settlement, making an incre ...
" is one example of a deep study into how, where and why, hunter-gatherer communities formed.
Community studies have been linked to the causes of social justice, promoting peace and nonviolence and working towards social change, often within an
activist
Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
framework.
Schools with Community studies concentrations
Urban and Community Studiesat th
University of ConnecticutCommunity Studies Program
at th
University of Colorado Boulder
at th
Rochester Institute of Technology
at the University of Massachusetts Boston
Child, Family and Community Studies Integrated Curriculum Courses
at Douglas College (BC, Canada)
Center for Community Studies
at Peabody College
Vanderbilt Peabody College of Education and Human Development (also known as Vanderbilt Peabody College, Peabody College, or simply Peabody) is the education school of Vanderbilt University, a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. ...
- Vanderbilt
The Centre for Urban and Community Studies
at the University of Toronto
Institute of Health and Community Studies
at Bournemouth University (UK)
Pan African Center for Community Studies
at the University of Akron
Department of Educational Policy & Community Studies
at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.
Integrative Studies Concentrations - Community
at George Mason University
George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was origin ...
Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies
at Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...
Department of Social Policy and Education
at Birkbeck, University of London
, mottoeng = Advice comes over nightTranslation used by Birkbeck.
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £4.3 m (2014)
, budget = £10 ...
(UK)
Department of Community and Regional Development
at University of California, Davis
Center for Urban Studies
a
Istanbul Sehir UniversityDepartment of Community Studies
at University of California, Santa Cruz
Center for Communal Studies
at th
University of Southern Indiana
Notes
Further reading
* Community development
* Community psychology
Sources
Community studies at informal education
{{Social sciences
Community
Environmental social science