This short course introduces and reviews the basics of Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD): working with communities based on their assets, or strengths. We will explore how an orientation to gifts and assets instead of problems and deficits can positively change both the processes and outcomes of collaborations intended to make communities healthy and sustainable. Then, in collaboration with partners, we will explore ABCD in action via campus and community site visits. The course is open to undergraduate and graduate students. Students and partners from outside Georgia Tech are also encouraged to register, to create a richly diverse and intergenerational learning experience.  

The course is taught by two Serve-Learn-Sustain faculty: Jennifer Hirsch (SLS Director; Adjunct Associate Professor, City and Regional Planning; and ABCD Institute Steward) and Ruthie Yow (SLS Service Learning and Partnerships Specialist; adjunct instructor, History and Sociology, and ABCD Institute Steward) and is being planned in collaboration with the SCaRP Student Planning Association. 

COURSE DATES & LOCATIONS:

Total of 15 hours over 3 sessions:

• Fri, February 4th: 6:00pm - 9:00pm

• Sat, February 5th: 10:00am - 4:00pm

• Sun, February 6th: 10:00am - 4:00pm 

Please note that course dates are represented as a range in OSCAR; actual dates are those listed here. Some sessions will be held on campus, while others will be held on site in a community. Participants are responsible for their own transportation to sessions held off campus.

REGISTRATION AND CREDIT:  

If you are a GT student who took the short course in Spring 2021, you are eligible to register and take it again, since the title and content are different. If you are a GT Staff or Faculty member, or a non-GT student, faculty, staff, or community partner, please use THIS FORM to register. The registration deadline is January 15th. GT students registered through OSCAR will receive one credit and a grade. Everyone who completes the course will receive a verifiable digital badge that can be added to a wallet app on their smartphones. 

Questions? Please contact Ruthie Yow - ryow6@gatech.edu.