MUST: Poverty, Inequality, and Social Change

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Overview

Program Categories:

United States

Program Location:

Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota

Semester(s) offered:

Fall and Spring Semesters

Program Start/End Dates:

September 7, 2011 - December 16, 2011

Other Program Dates:

Program break dates are November 24th and 25th, 2011.

Program Fees:

Some schools have a different fee structure. Always check with home institution first.
For member school students HECUA invoices the institution either (1) tuition of their home college or (2) $13,100 whichever is less.
The fee for University of Minnesota students is $8,100.
Nonmember students pay $13,900.

In the MUST: Poverty, Inequality, and Social Change program students actively delve into major challenges of our time: poverty, inequality and social change. The program pursues three major framing questions utilizing a number of relevant and contested theories to frame the discussion throughout the semester. The questions are: What are some of the root causes of increasing levels of economic, political, social inequality and insecurity and how does this impact all social classes and groups in the United States? How are economic, political, and social inequality reproduced? How do we create more opportunity for all Americans squeezed by economic, political, and social inequality and what are some concrete social change tools for making these changes? To understand these questions the program looks at the economy, housing systems, education, welfare, government policies, urban sprawl, regional race and class segregation, and institutional discrimination. Connecting these issues is at the core of the program. Instead of just learning about these problems, students explore solutions and become engaged in organizations committed to social transformation. Students have direct conversations and work with practitioners in government, the private sector, nonprofit social change organizations, academia, labor unions, schools, and other community institutions that in one way or another claim to be addressing some aspect of economic, political, and social inequality and poverty.

Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota is increasingly diverse and in some areas still has a strong and vibrant economy, yet many people are not sharing in this vitality. As in most large urban regions there is a growing gap between the rich and poor, increasing geographic and social segregation and polarization between these groups. Forty-five percent of the children in the “core” of the Twin Cities live at or below the poverty line, and an educational gap between racial groups worries many policymakers, parents, educators and students. Through critical thinking set into action, HECUA students analyze policy, lobby elected officials and engage communities. This program focuses on learning the basics of organizing in communities and workplaces, persuading others to become critically engaged, and learning to act as an effective advocate for issues and people. Building these skills is valuable for social change.

Field Study

This program involves an exciting blend of field experiences, internships, readings and lively discussions. In the field students learn from organizers, social justice advocates, policymakers, companies, elected officials, community residents, and many more politically engaged citizens. Internship experiences are integrated with both field work and discussions of readings to develop skills for political engagement. During the semester students meet at Dreamland Arts located on Hamline Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Here is a list of recent field speakers in the program:

Abdi Ali, is the founder and executive director of the Center for Multicultural Mediation and Restorative Justice (CMMRJ), a direct service, mediation, and restorative justice program for people with family or cultural roots in East Africa.
Allison Johnson is a congregational partnership organizer at the Plymouth Church Neighborhood Foundation (PCNF), where she works to build congregational support for affordable housing and stronger communities.
Amoke Kubat is a Northside artist, writer, teacher, and spiritual elder. She is the founder of YO MAMA: The Mothering Mother’s Institute.
Hussein Samatar is founder and executive director of the African Development Center (ADC), an entrepreneurial nonprofit organization whose mission it is to work within the African communities of Minnesota to start and sustain successful businesses, build assets, and promote community reinvestment.
Jessica Webster is a staff attorney with the Legal Services Advocacy Project (LSAP). She advocates on behalf of low-income Minnesotans at the Legislature and with State agencies regarding MFIP, food support, and unemployment.
Lori Stee is a program director at Rebuild Resources, a non-profit organization whose mission is to help addicts and alcoholics, many with felonies, become sober, self-sufficient, and of service by providing real, meaningful, transitional employment in business enterprises it owns and operates.
Michael Dahl is the public policy director at HOME Line, an organization that provides free legal, organizing, education, and advocacy services so that tenants throughout Minnesota can solve their own rental housing problems.
Mary Cathryn Ricker is president of the St. Paul Federation of Teachers, a union representing more than 3,600 teachers and educational assistants in St. Paul Public Schools.
Rena Moran is currently serving her first term in the Minnesota House of Representatives.

In addition to these and many more guest speakers who engage the students throughout the semester, a number of day-long excursions occur. Students visit:

UNITE HERE which represents workers throughout the U.S. and Canada who work in the hospitality, gaming, food service, manufacturing, textile, laundry, and airport industries.
Southside Family Charter School, a K-8 elementary alternative school that educates students to become independent-minded citizens who respect themselves and others. The school stresses basic skills, encourages creative expression, and offers a range of electives in an atmosphere free of racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia.
Simpson Housing Services operates two shelters where they house, support, and advocate for people experiencing homelessness.
Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches (GMCC) operates a family of social service programs and draws on the resources of congregational communities to assist families living in poverty.
Crossing Barriers, an organization that provides leadership development training through issue-based community organizing. At Crossing Barriers low income youth, students, and their families are agents for change in projects committed to contributing positively to the long term social economic stability, and success of their community and education.
The Urban Immersion Service Retreat Center is a program of the Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches. The program operates a "poverty simulation excercise" in which students learn about the realities of poverty in urban areas.

Finally, one of the most impactful days on the program is a day-long learning experience called "A Day in the Life," whereby students are led through a unique opportunity to engage with and learn from people who have experienced homelessness. The components of the day include a walking education through Minneapolis, candid conversations with individuals who have experienced homelessness, deep group reflection, and action opportunities to get a real sense of how to work for change.

Example Internships

The following provides detailed information on internships that have been available most recently. Sites often change in response to the needs of local organizations and the specific interests of students participating in the program where possible.

All Parks Alliance for Change (APAC)

APAC works to improve the quality of life in manufactured (mobile) home parks through grassroots organizing, and to protect the rights of these low-income residents, with a philosophy of helping people to help themselves. Located in St. Paul, APAC serves as a tenant's union for park residents throughout the state of Minnesota. The HECUA student worked as a community organizer with mobile home park communities. She planned meetings, distributed flyers in neighborhoods, conducted outreach calls, and took calls on the hotline for residents. She also gathered the stories of mobile home residents to be used during the 2011 legislative session.

Website Link:

http://www.allparksallianceforchange.org/

Congressman Keith Ellison's District Office

Representative Keith Ellison is serving his third term representing the Fifth District of Minnesota, which consists of Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs. The HECUA student worked in the Congressman's district office, housed in the Urban League in North Minneapolis. Her primary responsibilities were related to responding to and documenting constituent calls and correspondence through the office. She planned events and forums for the legislature and attended community outreach events with the Congressman.

Website Link:

http://ellison.house.gov/

Council on Crime and Justice

The Council on Crime and Justice is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit that has provided leadership and innovated solutions to social and criminal justice issues of concern in Minnesota for over 50 years. Their work addresses the barriers to successful integration into the community faced by offenders and their families (employment, housing, education, etc.) and the challenges faced by victims of crime and those most a risk of falling into the criminal justice system. The HECUA student worked on two research projects: 1) mental health and the criminal justice system, and 2) employment research related to the proposed "Ban the Box" legislation that would reduce hiring barriers for ex-offenders.

Website Link:

http://www.crimeandjustice.org/

HOMEline

HOMEline provides free legal, organizing,education, and advocacy services so that tenants throughout Minnesota can solve their own rental housing problems. They work to improve public and private policies related to rental housing by involving affected tenants in the process. HECUA students to have written articles for the policy blog, created and implemented a campaign to collected photographs from over 300 tenant rights supports, and wrote sample letters for people to send to their representatives to support the Tenant Bill of Rights.

Website Link:

http://www.homelinemn.org/

OutFront Minnesota

OutFront Minnesota's mission is to make our state a place where GLBT Minnesotans have the freedom, power, and confidence to make the best choices for their own lives. Their slogan "Leading Minnesota Toward GLBT Equality" reflects the role they provide in moving the state toward the elimination of homophobia and toward full equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, and bringing allies into the movement. OutFront Minnesota provides this leadership by delivering programs and services to the GLBT and allied community in the area of public policy, anti-violence initiatives, education and training, and the law. The HECUA student mobilized the service-learning interns working in the public policy department at OutFront working on the marriage equality campaign.

Website Link:

http://www.outfront.org

Southside Family Charter School

Southside Family Charter School (SFCS) is a small urban K-8 program dedicated to academic excellence, innovation in curriculum, and parent and community involvement. The school focuses on a social justice curriculum that teaches students to be independently minded citizens who respect themselves and others. The HECUA students worked as teacher aides in the classroom and worked individually with students providing special, often one-on-one tutoring related to homework needs.

Website Link:

http://www.southsidefamilyschool.org/

St. Stephens Human Services

The mission of St. Stephen's is to end homelessness through effective partnerships, programs, and advocacy. In addition to their three homeless shelters located in the Twin Cities metro area, St. Stephen's also has various programs for people experiencing homelessness including employment and housing services and the Homeless Against Homelessness (HAH) committee, an advocacy group led by people experiencing homelessness. They also conduct "A Day in the Life" which is a homelessness simulation workshop for groups interested in learning more about the realities of people experiencing homelessness in the Twin Cities. The HECUA student led groups through "A Day in the Life" and worked in the homeless community on voter engagement, registration, and mobilizing for the 2010 elections.

Website Link:

http://www.ststephensmpls.org/

TakeAction MN

TakeAction MN works year round to make change that matters to Minnesotans organizing at the grassroots level, building dynamic and effective coalitions, educating voters, endorsing and electing progressive candidates, impacting state and local policy, and winning issue campaigns. TakeAction MN's work is focused in several areas. HECUA students have worked as organizers with the Health Care campaign, conducting legislative research and one-to-ones, the Second Chance Program, which focuses on the rights of criminal offenders and re-entry programs and policies, and also democracy coalition planning and outreach to support the election of local progressive candidates.

Website Link:

http://www.takeactionminnesota.org/

The Family Partnership

The Family Partnership is an accredited, multicultural nonprofit organization serving the Twin Cities metro for 132 years. Founded in 1878, the organization has long-standing traditions of supporting constituent-led efforts to improve the lives of children, youth, and families in all their various forms. Over the past 25 years, the organization has placed a strong emphasis on community organizing, leadership development, and civic engagement of families and youth, especially those in low-income communities, communities of color, and immigrant communities. Increasingly, Family and Children Service is seen as a national leader in constituent-driven multicultural civic engagement. The HECUA student helped to organize the Peace, Power, and Unity Conference, worked on immigrant rights issues, and conducted research and attended legislative meetings on proposed policy to protect victims of human trafficking in Minnesota.

Website Link:

http://thefamilypartnership.org/

Youth Farm and Market Project

Youth Farm & Market Project is about youth gardening, cooking, nutrition, and entrepreneurship. It’s about youth connecting to their food and the environment—YFMP youth currently farm 9 garden sites over 2 acres of urban land in Minneapolis and St. Paul. YFMP is bringing quality healthy food to urban neighborhoods and exploring culinary traditions from around the world, cooking and distributing over 11,000 pounds of fresh, local produce. YFMP works with almost 500 youth ages 9-13 and employs 25 teens as both interns during the school year and youth staff during the summer program. HECUA students ran an after-school gardening and cooking class for youth and coordinated volunteers for after-school activities.

Website Link:

http://youthfarm.net/

Additional Internship Sites:

Avenues for Homeless Youth

Cedar Riverside Adult Education Collaborative

Children’s Defense Fund Minnesota

City of Saint Paul Second Shift Initiative

Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA)

HIRE Minnesota

ISAIAH

Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches

Jane Addams School for Democracy

Jobs Now Coalition

Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless

MN Department of Human Rights

Neighborhood House

People Serving People

Simpson Housing Services, Inc.

Hands On Twin Cities

Wellstone Action!

Women’s Initiative for Self Empowerment (WISE)

Workers Interfaith Network

Eligibility & Coursework

Documentation & Syllabus Examples:

MUST Fall 2011 Syllabus.pdf

Prerequisites/Eligibility:

This program attracts students who are active, engaged, and passionate about poverty and inequality and want to learn how to make a difference. Because this program is interdisciplinary we integrate elements of philosophy, economics, sociology, urban planning, organizing theory, geography, history, political science and many other fields. We welcome students from all levels, backgrounds, degrees and political visions.

Students who apply must have completed one academic year in a four-year degree-seeking program, and hold a GPA of 2.5 or higher (2.0 GPA students are still welcome to apply, but will receive extra scrutiny).

Courses:

Contested Theories of Poverty, Inequality, and Social Change
Social Policy and Anti-Poverty Strategies in Theory and Practice
Internship and Integration Seminar

Total: 4 course credits / 16 credit hours
The courses are taken as an integrated whole and provide the equivalent of a semester's worth of credit, i.e. 4 course credits, 16 semester credits or 27 trimester credits. This program is full-time with classes two days a week (10am to 3pm) and around 20 hours weekly in an internship.

Credits

Receive Credits That Count

Like with most off-campus study programs, students need to work directly with their home institution to receive credit for participation in a HECUA program. It's important to note that HECUA's courses offer upper-level division credits. It's common to be awarded general education ("gen ed") credits, but most students also obtain significant Major and Minor credits as well. To assist with the process of negotiating credits with advisors and registrars on campus, HECUA has compiled information on how recent participants of MUST worked to receive credit from their respective schools. The following examples of credit earned are solely those that students have reported to HECUA.

Please contact HECUA's Director of Programs, Sarah Pradt, for more information on credit approval and for help with your individual situation.

Major and/or Minor Credit Students Have Received

• African American Studies
• American Studies
• Civic Engagement
• Community Organizing and Social Inequality--Individually Designed Major
• Critical Studies of Race/Ethnicity
• Cultural Studies
• Economics
• Education
• Family Social Sciencee
• Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies
• Geography
• History
• Human Service
• International Studies
• Justice and Peace Studies
• Leadership
• Pastoral and Youth Ministry
• Political Science
• Psychology
• Sociology
• Social Justice
• Social Work
• Spanish
• Urban Studies
• Women's Studies
• Youth Studies

Keep in mind that credit approval may be possible in other Major or Minor areas that HECUA is not yet aware of.

Previous Students' Methods for Credit Approval

• Submitted request for credit transfer prior to beginning HECUA program
• Filled out course substitution form
• Spoke with Academic Advisor about credit approval process
• Spoke with school's HECUA board representative
• Spoke with Major/Minor department head about credit approval process
• Sought approval from Major/Minor Department Chair
• Provided course materials (syllabus, papers, projects) to Major/Minor Department Chair or Academic Advisor for approval
• Filled out off-campus study form prior and retrieved appropriate signatures from school faculty and staff
• Worked with Academic Advisor and Office of the Registrar for credit approval

Student Reflections

“This experience has been enriching and life changing for me. I would never had had this much exposure to the issues that really matter with a traditional academic semester. I get to meet the people who are making decisions and working hard to make change in the community.”
Sarah, University of Minnesota

“MUST offered challenging concepts, phenomenal discussions, and a willingness on all sides to reevaluate, question, and grow.”
Ellie, University of Minnesota

“The readings, discussions, speakers, and out-of-classroom trips were all valuable components of the HECUA approach to learning.”
Meg, University of St. Thomas

“HECUA is completely different. Right from the beginning it was apparent that everyone was valued as a student and a teacher, and that everyone had something important to contribute.”
Lily, University of Minnesota

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