Courses
INVST Community Studies courses educate, equip and inspire students for careers serving humanity and the environment. In each course, students will experience a sense of community in the classroom. We limit our course enrollment so that we can enhance connections among students, deepen opportunities for learning and be responsible to the Community Partners with whom we serve. INVST Community Studies has always offered small classes for an intimate, transformational learning experience. We promise a unique and challenging academic experience.
The INVST Program is a Pathway to earning the Leadership Studies Minor (LSM). By successfully completing all the components of the two-year INVST Program, as well as taking LEAD 4000, you can earn the LSM. See this site to learn more: .
The following are classes only offered to students who have been accepted into the 2-year INVST Program.
This skills-training course develops students' competencies as community leaders working for a just and sustainable world. Under the supervision of the instructor and a community partner, students learn organizational and leadership skills by volunteering at community-based organizations. First-hand experience provides students with a deepened understanding of complex community problems. Learners are exposed to solution-based strategies for positive change. Pre-requisite: admission into the 2-year INVST Program. If you are interested in this learning opportunity, apply now!
This skills-training course develops students' expertise as community leaders working for a just and sustainable world. Under the supervision of the instructor and a community advisor, students learn leadership skills by researching, designing, implementing and evaluating a community-based project. First-hand experience provides students with a deepened understanding of the complex issues facing humanity. Learners develop competence with solution-based strategies. Pre-requisites: admission into the 2-year INVST Program; INVS 3931; INVS 3932. If you are interested in this learning opportunity, apply now!
(Instructors, meeting times and locations vary. Contact us for more information about this opportunity.)
Students participate in a teaching assistantship under the supervision of an INVST instructor. They explore teaching strategies for implementing concrete educational goals, with an emphasis on the pedagogies of service-learning and participatory education. Focusing on issues of social justice and environmental sustainability, teaching assistants learn how to encourage higher levels of critical thinking, creativity, synthesis of ideas and analysis among students. Pre-requisite: graduation from The INVST Program (if you would like to TA for INVS 3931, 4931, 3932 or 4932) or successful completion of the Public Achievement course, INVS 2919 (if you would like to TA for INVS 2919). PLEASE NOTE that it is the student's responsibility to register in this course and then meet with the instructor on a bi-weekly basis, following a Learning Outcomes Contract that they uniquely co-create with the instructor. It is not the instructor's responsibility to reach out to the TA; it is the would-be TA's responsibility to reach out to our staff, for this particular course. With questions, please contact sabrina.sideris@colorado.edu well in advance of the start of the semester! This course cannot be added after the semester has already begun.
Spring 2025
INVS 3932: The Community Leadership Internship, Part 2 for first-year INVST students
INVS 4932: Community Leadership in Action, Part 2. Taught by Dr. Sabrina C. Sideris for second-year INVST students
Community Studies Electives
Our Community Studies courses educate, equip and inspire students for careers serving humanity and the environment. In each course, students will experience a sense of community in the classroom. We limit our class size so that we can enhance connections among students, and deepen opportunities for learning and be responsible to the Community Partners with whom we serve. INVST Community Studies has always offered small classes for an intimate, transformational learning experience.
INVST courses open to all CU students:
INVS 1000: Responding to Social and Environmental Problems through Service-Learning: By integrating theory with required community service, students explore how problems are shaped by cultural values and how alternative value paradigms affect the definition of problems in areas such as education, food justice, and the environment. Students examine different approaches to solving problems and begin to envision new possibilities.
INVS 2919/EDUC 2919: Renewing Democracy in Communities and Schools: This service-learning course might change your life! Examines concepts of citizenship, democracy, power, inclusivity, and diversity through classroom discussions and participation in a local Public Achievement project. Through community-based partnerships, students will develop leadership skills; dialogue with diverse groups of people; identify multiple perspectives around controversial issues, and learn to use research and writing to articulate public problems and advocate for positive solutions.
INVS 3302/WGST 3302: Facilitating Peaceful Community Change: Students gain knowledge and skills that enable them to become effective and responsible community leaders. Focuses on understanding the processes of community building with an emphasis on privilege, power, oppression and democratic processes in small groups and organizations. Students are encouraged to apply concepts and theories to life experiences and to examine themselves as potential change agents. Focus on food justice, sustainability, activism and social justice. Same as WGST 3302.
INVS 4402: Nonviolent Social Movements: Explores theories of democracy in relation to movements for nonviolent social change. Focuses on means and ends, spirituality, leadership, decision-making, civil society and decentralized power.
Contact invst@colorado.edu or 303-492-8045 to ask questions about course registration.
Civic Engagement! INVST students Diana Downard & Annie Brashear being interviewed by Sam Fuqua at KGNU Community Radio