Community Based Learning (CBL) Requirement

Both JUPS majors and minors are required to fulfill a Community-Based Learning (CBL) component as part of their “Social Action” requirement as seen in the GU Experience. There are several ways for students to engage in CBL, offering various opportunities to connect academic learning with meaningful community involvement.

1. Take a CBL designated course (typically 3 or 4 credits) offered by JUPS or any other Georgetown Department/Program in a fall or spring semester or the summer term. You can search for these courses by selecting the attribute for CBL. 
2. Take JUPS 4951, a 2-week pre-summer faculty-led course “Social Transformation in South Africa” (3 credits). This course will count towards one JUPS core elective AND fulfill the CBL requirement. 
3. Sign up for UNXD 1130 CBL Social Action (fall or spring semester), a 1-credit course through Georgetown University’s Center for Social Justice (CSJ). 
4. Sign up for UNXD 1030 CBL Intersections of Social Justice (summer term). This is a 1-credit online, asynchronous course of the Center for Social Justice. 
5. A deep, immersive community-engaged co-curricular commitment through Georgetown University such as the: 1) Andretta Fellowship; 2) the Education and Social Justice Fellowship; or 3) the Kalmanovitz Initiative fellowship can also meet a JUPS student’s community-based learning requirement.
6. Take GOVT 2219: Prisons and Punishment. This course examines the severe overcrowding, violence, and lack of rehabilitation programs in U.S. prisons, in contrast to the extensive efforts in many European countries. Despite the large incarcerated population, little is known or taught about prisons and punishment. The course will explore why the U.S. maintains such a high incarceration rate and sanctions the death penalty compared to other democracies. It will feature lectures, group discussions, films, and a class “field trip” to a prison to deepen understanding of these issues.