New Directions Courses

Spring 2025 Courses

PSCI 4002/5008 - Special Topics: Local Government and Affordable Housing (new course -听3 credits)

Explore how local governments shape housing patterns and promote affordable housing through land-use, spending, policy and as property owners.听Themes include: origins of housing segregation/discrimination, state/federal regulation of local efforts, land use reform to address the recent housing crisis, components of comprehensive affordability strategy, basic housing finance, affordability policies, resolution of homelessness, private market forces, and political tensions. Includes housing site visits.听Lecturer: 听

Jan 25-26, Feb 15-16, Mar 8-9

PSCI 4075/5075 - Gentrification and Social Equity (3 credits)

Study causes and consequences of urban gentrification, and explore strategies of grassroots resistance and social equity solutions that are being mobilized to challenge the forces of gentrification. Contrast common celebrations of the waves of capital reinvestment that are fueling urban revitalization with the frequent claim of many low-income neighborhoods: 鈥淕entrification is Class War!鈥� Includes neighborhood tours. Professor: Dr. Tony Robinson

Mar 15-16, Apr 12-13, May 3-4

PSCI 5468 - Research Methods (required for traditional and New Directions MA students - 3 credits)

Lecturer: Aaron Ray

Please note that this class will be remote/online听and will meet once per week on Tuesday听evenings rather in the weekend intensive format, starting January 21.听听

Upcoming Courses

Summer 2025

PSCI 5008/4002听American Labor Movement through Film听(3 Credits)听 - Professor: Jim Walsh

This course utilizes several classic films about labor struggles to explore the history and politics of the larger movement, examining the many political and social barriers that workers have faced in their long struggle for a more dignified workplace.

Recently Completed Courses

Fall 2024

PSCI 5914/4914 Community Organizing and Community Development听听(3 Credits)听 -听Lecturer: Dr. Joyce Luj谩n Mart铆nez

The theory and practice of community organizing strategies and community development innovations. How can social activists build power at the grassroots to build equitable, sustainable, and healthy communities? This is one of two courses required for a Master's degree from the New Directions program.

This course examines diverse community development and community organizing practices engaged in by various governmental, civic and community-based organizations as well as differing strategies and outcomes associated with these various efforts.听The overall goal of the class is to help students lay a foundation for a broader theoretical and practical understanding of community development and community organizing, both historically and current practice.听

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Psci 5008/4002 Special Topics -听Public-Private Partnerships: The Process And The People (3 credits) -听Lecturer:听Kat Correll

A鈥痯ublic鈥損rivate partnership鈥痠s an arrangement often focused on鈥痜inancing projects that support the public vision. These partnerships can support听 a broad range of efforts and allow for a creative dialogue around synergizing benefits for both the public and private sector. Public private partnerships or P3s generally consider how the private sector can contribute to solving community challenges.听This course will explore the process for identifying potential partnerships and the people that will keep them successful and sustainable. It will听cover a number of interrelated topics aimed at developing a solid understanding of why public-private partnerships are needed, the factors to consider in developing a partnership strategy, the tools used to assess partners, and the processes for developing agreements and evaluating success.听听

A primary goal of this course is to consider why challenges in the public realm might need private assistance for resolution, to explore the types of partners and partnerships to address different issues, and to understand the process for considering the feasibility of different partners or tools for different cases.听听

Frequently Used Forms

The following are examples of the most frequent forms used by New Directions students.听

CU Denver Special Processing Form: This form must be听submitted to the CLAS Dean for all independent study and thesis/project proposals.

Transfer Credit Review Form:听This form will initiate the faculty review of transfer course(s). The results from this review will be added to a student's transfer record on the student information system (SIS) and will be applied towards the appropriate degree requirement(s). Please contact your advisor to discuss the use of this form in more detail.

Name and Record Update Request:听Use this form to let the Registrar's Office know of a name change or if the information on your student record is incorrect.

How to Register for New Directions Courses

Visit:听听

  1. Sign-in using your University username and password.

  2. Click UCD Access to proceed to the student portal.

  3. Click 鈥淩egister鈥� to view the drop-down menu. Then click 鈥淩egister for Classes.鈥�

  4. Select the registration term and continue to class search.

  5. Under the 鈥淎dvanced Search鈥� heading, click 鈥淪earch.鈥�

  6. Verify that you have selected the correct registration term, and proceed to course search by clicking 鈥淓xtended Studies鈥� under the 鈥淐ampus鈥� heading and 鈥淧olitical Science鈥� under the 鈥淪ubject鈥� section. Hit 鈥淪earch鈥� at the bottom of the screen to browse the course list.

  7. Select your course by clicking on the arrow near the class name. Then hit 鈥淪elect.鈥�

  8. Your New Directions selected course(s) will now appear in your Shopping Cart and will be available when you are ready to enroll.

    If you encounter any difficulties during the registration process, call the Registrar鈥檚 Office at 303-724-8059. Please note that unpaid University balances may impact the ability to register. All billing questions should be directed to the Bursar鈥檚 Office at 303-315-1800.