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A New Class from the Centre for the Study of Co-operatives
Interdisciplinary Studies 898.3: Organizations, Communities, and Social Change
Course Objectives
This advanced special topics reading course is designed primarily for graduate students in the Co-operative Studies concentration of Interdisciplinary Studies. Other graduate students with a social science background and a focus in related areas of social inquiry are very welcome. It provides an overview of contemporary scholarship pertaining to the social and economic effects of organizations such as co-operatives and other forms of social enterprise that are part of the social economy. It focuses on the distinguishing characteristics of such organizations, on the nature of economic and social development, and on an expanded conceptualization of social and economic impacts/affects. The course also considers the changing character of communities, evolving conceptions of sustainable regional and local development, and links between organizational innovations and multiple dimensions of social change. It gives particular attention to new forms of community, collective action, and associative enterprise, and to the roles of such organizations in knowledge-based economies. It also addresses the nature of interdisciplinary scholarship and its role in transformative change.
Course Outline
Week 1. Course introduction and key themes
Week 2. Communities as sites for development and social change
Week 3. Sources and modalities of social change
Week 4. Organizations as tools for capacity building, resistance, CED
Week 5. Work, workplaces, and social change
Week 6. Organizations, communities and new forms of governance
Week 7. The social and economic affects of complex organizations
Week 8. Co-operatives as vehicles for sustainable development
Week 9. Cognitive praxis: from knowledge-based economies
to knowledgeable societies
Week 10. Development and another development: sites and strategies
Course Requirements and Evaluation
1) Class participation in the form of preparation for class, critique of assigned readings, attendance, and general contributions to class discussions (10%)
2) Two seminar presentations based on selected course readings (15% each)
3) Two review papers dealing with specific course themes and relevant subsets of the readings (30% each). Each paper will include a critical review of the selected works and a synthesis of key concepts and contributions. It is also expected that students will identify and integrate additional relevant sources and examples. Paper topics and seminar presentation topics and scheduling should be discussed and confirmed with the instructors. Suggested review paper length: 12 pages.
Seminar/class sessions will be 2.5 hours each and there will be 10 meetings on an approximately weekly schedule. Unless otherwise agreed, all class meetings will be held Mondays from 5:00-7:30 pm in DIEF 162, the Diefenbaker Centre conference room.
Instructors
Michael Gertler, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology; Fellow in Community and Co-operative Development, Centre for the Study of Co-operatives
Isobel Findlay, Associate Professor, Department of Management and Marketing; Scholar, Centre for the Study of Co-operatives
Additional faculty advisors, guest seminar leaders: (Others TBA)
Louise Clarke, Associate Professor, Department of Human Resources and Organizational Behaviour; Scholar, Centre for the Study of Co-operatives
For more information contact
Centre for the Study of Co-operatives
Phone: 306-966-8509
Fax: 306-966-8517
E-mail: coop.studies@usask.ca
Website: www.usaskstudies.coop
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Academic Information
Student Information
Scholarships for Studies
in Co-operation
The Centre was conceived as a research and teaching centre that
would bring together faculty members from different disciplines
to study the issues surrounding co-operatives and co-operation.
To accomplish its goals, the Centre has a unique structure. The
four academic members—currently from agricultural economics,
history, political studies, and sociology—are hired into
their home departments, where tenure and promotion decisions are
made, and where they are expected to teach and do research. At
the same time, they also come together at the Centre, which has
its own set of offices, to work on co-operative topics. They are
joined by associate researchers and visiting scholars whose research
overlaps with and contributes to the research of the Centre's faculty.
The result of this structure is a group of people who address
a common set of questions and issues through different disciplinary
lenses. The researchers have found that it is only by examining
co-operatives from these different angles that they can begin to
fully understand them. Universities are increasingly adopting this
approach to problem solving, and the Centre has played a valuable
role in demonstrating how interdisciplinary work can be fruitfully
undertaken.
The Centre does not offer a program of study in co-operatives
at the undergraduate level. Research faculty from the Centre teach
classes in their home departments on co-operatives and undergraduate
students wishing to learn about co-operatives may take these courses
as part of their larger program in colleges such as arts and science,
agriculture, commerce, or education. However, students must be
enrolled in one of the currently existing programs on campus to
be able to take these courses in co-operatives.
At the graduate level (MSc and PhD), students interested in researching
co-operatives have two options. The first is to enter one of the
existing graduate programs on campus (e.g., history, agricultural
economics, marketing, sociology) and then do a specialization in
co-operatives as part of their research or thesis work. The other
option is to enter a special case interdisciplinary MSc or PhD
program. Experience with this second option is very limited. Students
wishing to follow this option must have a clear research project
in mind and must be willing to work independently. In either case,
faculty from the Centre can be approached to provide teaching,
supervision, or advice. Students need to consult with the faculty
of the Centre for the Study of Co-operatives before pursuing either
option.
View our student package
for more details, or contact the Centre direction at:
Centre for the Study of Co-operatives
101 Diefenbaker Place
University of Saskatchewan
Saskatoon SK S7H 5B8
Canada
Phone: 306-966-8509
Fax: 306-966-8517
E-mail: coop.studies@usask.ca
Scholarships
for the study of co-operation are also available.
