Undergraduate Field Study and Experiential Learning
About field study
The Community Studies Program takes pride in the required experiential education component of our major, called field study, through which students contribute to and learn from organizations actively working for social change in a variety of fields. Field study integrates research with hands-on experience in the community and follows each student’s chosen program emphasis topic, which builds a strong connection between practice and theory.
The field study approach involves several key elements:
Direct partnerships with community organizations
Students actively participate in the operations of their host organizations, contributing to ongoing projects and initiatives. Hands-on involvement allows students to gather data, observe processes, and develop research insights while providing tangible daily benefits to the organization and the community. This immersion ensures that research is grounded in the lived experiences of community members.
Ethical research practices
Students engage in preparatory coursework that covers research ethics, community engagement strategies, and reflective practices. Students and community members often work together to co-create research knowledge. Field study placements are meant to be a learning exchange, where both the student and the partner organization can gain new insights that will enhance the impact of their future work.
Real-world impact
The research conducted during field study is designed to benefit the community, whether through informing policy or theory, identifying ways to improve services and outcomes, or raising awareness about critical issues. Students’ work often culminates in reports, presentations, or other forms of advocacy that contribute to social change.
More information about field study requirements for students is available on our Undergraduate Advising page.
Field study research methods and process
During their field studies, students take detailed ethnographic notes, observing and analyzing their workplace. They return to campus to craft a research paper connecting practice back to theory, bringing what they have learned beyond the classroom to bear on the perspectives and ideas of other activist-scholars. In doing so, they fine-tune their own sense of the change they want to make in the world after they graduate. This field study research project is unique to the Community Studies major, but closely mirrors requirements in many graduate programs.
Students present their research findings each year at the annual community studies poster session, as part of their capstone course. Our students complete high caliber, often award-winning, senior capstone projects of all kinds, from analytical essays to scholarly theses, creative installations, and funded grants.
Past field study placements
Community studies students have partnered with a wide range of host organizations, both locally and globally, to conduct research on topics ranging from immigrant rights to sustainable development to senior programs and HIV/AIDS advocacy.
Benefits for our partners
Over the past 50+ years, nearly 3,000 community studies students from UC Santa Cruz have contributed over one million hours of community-based work to our partner organizations. That’s 25,000 work weeks and 500 work years of public service conducted on behalf of hundreds of NGOs, community groups, and local governments.
Community studies students are well-prepared for this endeavor. They’re trained by our world-leading faculty in the latest research-based strategies for effective social movement work and impact, and they want to apply what they’ve learned to help advance the mission of their host organization. They’re also eager to learn about the on-the-ground reality of the problems each organization addresses and the solutions they offer to the community.
Student experiences
Arjun Akella
Field study partner: Building Futures, a non profit in San Leandro, California, that works with communities to provide safe, supportive housing and services.
“I learned how nonprofit organizations such as Building Futures brought principles of equity and justice in frontline homelessness prevention, housing services, and domestic violence programs and services. I also learned how city and county governments handle the crisis on a more comprehensive plan to eliminate homelessness. Because of this field study experience, I feel very prepared for employment after my graduation.”
Nancy Hernandez-Rocha
Field study partner: LandPaths, Sonoma County, a non-profit organization and leader in environmental education and conservation
“The most important thing I have learned from my field study is that community can be the root of love and growth. When I was conducting my field study, I felt as though I was part of the community, and I would be treated as such. I loved everyone and everything that I did, and I am truly blessed and thankful that I had an amazing experience that has forever impacted my life for the better. I also learned that I would like to do community work as a career when I graduate, specifically in Sonoma County. I love my home county, and I cannot wait to get more involved and build connections with other organizations.”
Other experiential learning opportunities
Looking for experiential learning opportunities beyond your six-month field study? Check out the resources and opportunities on the UCSC Undergraduate Research Opportunities website, as well as the specific learning experiences below.
Study abroad
The community studies program encourages students to consider studying abroad, to add global perspective to their learning experience. You can find out more about specific study abroad opportunities through UCSC Global Learning and the UCEAP program. We especially recommend the UCEAP experiences designed around social justice, activism, and identity, which includes study abroad programs in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and France.
UCDC
The UCDC Program supervises and supports students who pursue internships and academic study in the nation’s capital. The program is open through a competitive application process to juniors and seniors or occasionally sophomores in all majors.
This is a great opportunity for Community Studies majors in the fall or winter quarter of their junior year or spring quarter of their senior year. Students in the UCDC program earn 12-18 course credits and continue to be registered as full-time UCSC students, while spending 30 hours each week in an internship. Internships could include working on Capitol Hill or in a government agency, or for a major media outlet, a nonprofit organization, or a cultural institution.
This program is managed through the Study Abroad Office. For information, please visit Global Learning for more information. If you’re interested in adding UCDC to your academic plan, discuss it with the Community Studies Program Advisor early in your academic career.