Content Areas

You are required to earn 18 credits for CEPS through at least six courses, each three credits or more. You must take at least one course in the five required content areas. These are:

1. Issues of Social Justice (ISJ): Courses that offer an introduction to the root causes and theoretical understanding for different kinds of oppression in contemporary society and the theory and practice associated with creating a just society.

2. Civic and Political Theory (CPT): Courses that engage students in thinking theoretically about the dynamics of power and governance and prepare students to use theory to inform the practice of citizenship in a democratic society.

3. Public Policy (PP): Courses that provide an understanding of how public policy gets made through social movements and governmental processes; how it affects our lives; and how citizens can work to create, influence, and change policy.

4. Community/Political Organizing (C/PO): Courses that introduce students to how citizens mobilize to use their collective power and to make change.

5. Diverse Publics (DP): Courses that help students develop a complex understanding of "the public" by offering an in-depth exploration of different constituencies within contemporary American society or societies worldwide.

And a sixth course in a content area of your own choosing.

Additional requirements for the program include:

• Foundations Course: This course introduces students to fundamental CEPS issues and ideas and provides a critical framework for civic engagement and the CEPS certificate. 
   
• Service-Learning Courses: Single and multisemester, community-based courses offered across departments. 
   
• Capstone Experience: Culminating experience through capstone course, project, or thesis. 

Note: While one course cannot count as two content areas, some courses can be counted as a content area as well as foundations, capstone, and/or service-learning.

CEPS Tracks

Students may fulfill all of the requirements individually from the approved courses or through a service-learning program that fulfills a number of the requirements. CEPS tracks include:

• General Pathway: If you participate in the General Pathway, you will choose at least six courses that fulfill all of the following requirements: one from each of the five content areas, one foundations, and one capstone course. In addition, you must include two CESL-designated service-learning courses.
   
• CSP Pathway: If you participate in the Citizen Scholars Program, your four courses will fulfill four of the six course requirements, four of the five content areas, the foundations and capstone requirements, and all of the service-learning requirements. You will still need a course from the civic/political theory content area and one additional course from any of the content areas.
   
• Student Bridges Pathway: If you participate in Student Bridges, your two courses will fulfill the requirements for the issues of social justice and diverse publics content areas, the foundations and capstone requirements, and all of the service-learning requirement. You will still need one additional course from each of the other three content areas and a fourth course from any content area.
   
• IMPACT Pathway: If you participate in the IMPACT RAP, your two courses will fulfill two of the content areas (issues of social justice and diverse publics), the foundations requirement, and all of the service-learning requirement. You will still need one additional course from each of the other three content areas and a fourth course from any content area.
   
• UACT Facilitator Pathway: Several of the courses taken to fulfill the role of a UACT (UMass Alliance for Community Transformation) facilitator count toward the certificate. Review your courses with the CEPS advisor to determine which courses will count toward the certificate.