UVa Course Catalog (Unofficial, Lou's List)
Complete Catalog of Courses for Youth and Social Innovation    
Class Schedules Index Course Catalogs Index Class Search Page
These pages present data mined from the University of Virginia's student information system (SIS). I hope that you will find them useful. — Lou Bloomfield, Department of Physics
Education-Human Services
EDHS 1120So You Want to Change the World: Foundations of Community Engagement (3)
Offered
Fall 2024
How can we be part of creating a more just world? In this course, we'll aim to answer that question for ourselves by examining practices of youth and community engagement through a critical and discerning lens. We'll reflect on our own practice engaging with youth and their communities, examine our roles in those relationships and interactions, explore the complexities and importance of culture, and consider our own cultural influences.
EDHS 2840Intro to Youth and Social Innovation (3)
Offered
Fall 2024
What do we need to know in order to design effective youth programming and policies that promote the positive development of youth? This course focuses on how theories of development and theories of change inform social innovations that enhance youth thriving, what strategies promote creative problem-solving and innovative solutions for youth programming, and how current social innovations in youth programming address youth challenges.
EDHS 2860Fundamentals of Child Protection in Emergencies (3)
This course will provide students with a core knowledge base of the organizations, principles and practices that working together are the foundation and informs the practice of Child Protection in Emergencies (CPIE). This course is designed to familiarize students with the principles and normative frameworks of humanitarian responses that shape the CPiE Sector.
EDHS 2889Fostering Leadership in Teenage Boys (3)
This course is designed to teach students to maximize effective mentoring, foster critical thinking, & understand the relationship of theories of masculine identity to the development of middle school age boys. Leadership, respect, authenticity, strength, social systems & their behavioral manifestations will be explored while class members work in a mentoring role with Middle School boys or in another mentoring relationship.
EDHS 2891Mentorship Skills with Adolescent Girls (4)
Offered
Fall 2024
This course is an opportunity for students to develop their leadership skills through academic service learning. Students explore the psychological, social, and cultural issues affecting adolescent girls and apply this understanding through service with the Young Women Leaders Program (YWLP), a mentoring program pairing middle school girls with college women for a year. Offered on the Undergraduate and Graduate levels.
EDHS 2895Mental Health and Schools (3)
Offered
Fall 2024
How do schools serve students with diverse academic and mental health needs? This course will provide an overview of how school mental health professionals: identify students in need of additional academic or mental health support, promote academic and psychological well-being, and assess outcomes. Students will have the opportunity to hear from school professionals currently engaged in this work and apply these skills to their own learning.
EDHS 3055Development and Prevention of Youth Violence (3)
This course examines social and psychological factors contributing to the development of violent behavior in youth, accompanied by an analysis of current prevention approaches. Each topic will include a case study followed by relevant social science research. Students will participate in simulated legislative hearings where they will present oral and written position statements on policy issues such as bullying. media violence, and gun control.
EDHS 3060Building Resilience in Youth (3)
This course presents theories, models, and techniques related to enhancing resilience among children and adolescents who experience marginalization. This course focuses on understanding resiliency within three contexts of child development: families, schools, and culture. Students will leave the course with strategies and tools to help vulnerable youth become stronger, more competent, and better functioning in adverse situations.
Course was offered Spring 2021, Summer 2018
EDHS 3070Introduction to Design & Thinking (3)
This course introduces the creative methods and strategies of Designers utilized on real-world issues, in the exciting environment of the School of Architecture. Learned skills include empathy, designing and making process, critical thinking, resilience, stakeholder/project management, and visual communication techniques. The course culminates in a demonstration showcase with opportunities for professional feedback.
EDHS 3080Design Innovations for Informal Learning (3)
This course will leverage design thinking, design pedagogy, and arts-based instruction to develop innovative, project-based programming for a range of informal learning environments (cultural institutions, historic sites, cultural landmarks, etc.). Such project-based models of informal education require collaborations between designers, educators, and programmers in order to engage youth in active and participatory learning.
Course was offered Fall 2022, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
EDHS 3100Media Socialization, Racial Stereotypes and Black Adolescent Identity (3)
This course will introduce students to developmental differences in media engagement for younger children, older children and adolescents. Students will learn about media socialization, black racial stereotypes in the media, racial identity, racial socialization and how these variables may influence the identity processes of black adolescents.
EDHS 3130Blood, Sweat and Tears: Exploring Psychological Impacts of Traumatic Events (3)
The purpose of this course is to increase knowledge and understanding of current definitions of trauma, the impact traumatic events have on human functioning, and what psychological science tells us about how people respond to, and recover from, such events and experiences.
EDHS 3400Social Innovation in Nepal: Pre-Departure (1.5)
Immerse yourself in the social challenges facing Nepal through collaborative projects with local social innovators eager to effectuate lasting social impact relevant to youth. We approach this work not with solutions to longstanding problems, but with an intention to learn with and from local partners in Nepal. You are invited to join us for this course with a spirit of humility, generosity, and openness to different perspectives.
Course was offered Spring 2021, Spring 2020
EDHS 3420Social Innovation in Nepal (1.5)
Immerse yourself in the social challenges facing Nepal through collaborative projects with local social innovators eager to effectuate lasting social impact relevant to youth. We approach this work not with solutions to longstanding problems, but with an intention to learn with and from local partners in Nepal. You are invited to join us for this course with a spirit of humility, generosity, and openness to different perspectives.
EDHS 3850Introduction to Counseling (3)
What is counseling? How do counselors work with clients whose values differ from their own? What are some evidence-based practices used in various settings? How might race, gender, and class influence the counseling relationship? The answers to these and many other questions will be explored through small and large group discussions, conversations with community stakeholders, role-plays, and individual and team research.
EDHS 3891Fostering Leadership in Girls and Women (3)
Offered
Fall 2024
The aim of this course is to help YWLP Facilitators acquire the skills and knowledge required for successful facilitation as well as to provide lots of support. Given the diverse members of each group, the mentoring group curriculum, and other factors that affect the group, how can YWLP be the most rewarding experience possible for each group member? How can students grow as facilitators and leaders through their experience as YWLP Facilitators? Prerequisite: EDHS 2891 and EDHS 2892
EDHS 4400Youth and Social Innovation Capstone II (3)
Now that you have - in partnership - thoughtfully designed an innovation to benefit youth, how can you determine if it is working? During this course, you will begin to assess your innovation and collaboratively determine next best steps. With the conclusion of your two-year capstone experience, you will have gained project design, management, and evaluation expertise you can carry with you into your life after the YSI Major.
EDHS 5400Youth Sociopolitical Development: Foundations, Theory, & Application (3)
Sociopolitical development (SPD) refers to the process by which youth understand and navigate systemic oppression in their world. SPD is defined by cognitive, emotional, and social developmental processes; it also involves community dialogue, civic activism, and collective hope. In this course, we will ground our work in multiple models of human development that emphasize the interactions between individuals, environments, and structures. It is highly recommended that students complete either EDLF 3150 or EDLF 3170 before enrolling in this course.
Course was offered Spring 2021, Spring 2020
Education-Curriculum, Instruction, & Special Ed
EDIS 3452Designing Games for Learning (3)
What makes games so much fun? How can games be educational? The goal of this course is to understand how games can motivate, engage, and teach. In this course students will survey current approaches by playing a variety of games and develop understanding of game-based learning, motivation, and design thinking perspectives. Students will apply this understanding by designing a new educational game in a collaborative class project.
Education-Leadership, Foundations, and Policy
EDLF 2050What the Innovators Do: Strategies to Transform the Lives of Youth (3)
Offered
Fall 2024
Inequalities persist at every level of education. Throughout this course we will study innovations designed to address these disparities. We will investigate the process by innovations are designed and will critically assess the efficacy of a wide range of innovations. The course will feature numerous guest speakers involved in innovation design and implementation, including leaders in the private, educational, and government sectors.
EDLF 3000Research Design for Social Innovation with Youth (3)
Offered
Fall 2024
What are the makings of good research in youth development? How do our methods help us more clearly measure what matters in settings for youth? This course will provide an introduction to applied social-science research methods and design. Students will engage a hands-on semester research project while learning the foundations of ethics, method, and design for research in the field of youth development.
EDLF 3150Introduction to Child Growth and Development (3)
Offered
Fall 2024
This survey course introduces several prominent theories of child development and explores the related empirical research. Emphasis is placed on applying developmental principles to parenting and professional practice. Major topics include: the historical basis of child study, the life cycle, maturational milestones, diversity in development, cognitive, emotional, moral development, and biological foundations.
EDLF 3170Introduction to Adolescence (3)
Offered
Fall 2024
Psychological and social development during adolescence are affected by multiple factors, such as biological, social and cultural changes, and larger macrosystem influences. We will examine how these influences shape development generally during the 2nd and 3rd decades of life. We will explore questions of identity, relationships, health and culture by considering key questions that adolescents explore such as "Who am I," and "Where am I going?"
EDLF 3200Examining the Effectiveness of Social Innovation (3)
In this course, we will explore whether innovations intended to improve outcomes for children and youth "work." How can we judge whether a particular approach is more effective, efficient, sustainable or just than present solutions? This class is a chance to better understand how to use evidence in the process of developing effective social innovations.
EDLF 3220What is Education For? (3)
Offered
Fall 2024
What is the purpose of your education? Why have you devoted so much of your life to it? This class explores opposing ideas about the aims of education. Should schooling prioritize skill-building, creativity, or reflection? Does education only reproduce social norms, or does it have the power to change society? We examine such questions in regard to our own education, philosophical texts, and efforts to promote schooling worldwide.
EDLF 3460Race and Identity in Youth Development (3)
This course is designed to examine how race/ethnicity, diversity, & identity matter in the lives of youth with a focus on educational settings. We will use theory and research to question stereotypes about youth achievement and will explore how individual, interpersonal, and structural factors help to explain associations between group membership & educational outcomes. Students should have previously taken an intro level social science course.
EDLF 3610Immigrant Youth and Families (3)
Questions of immigration have been at the fore of the national political conversation in the United States over the last decade. This course provides a developmental perspective on immigrant youth and families, with particular attention to educational contexts from early childhood through early adulthood.
EDLF 4000Dream it, Design it, Do it: Youth and Social Innovation Capstone (3)
Offered
Fall 2024
With a team, you will design and implement an innovation to address a community issue facing youth. You will become an expert in the issue, and develop the skills needed to 1) assess a social issue, 2) evaluate and integrate multiple perspectives on social issues, 3) collaborate with a diverse team of stakeholders to design and implement an innovation to address a social issue, and 4) assess and revise an innovation to improve its effectiveness. Prerequisite: YSI major
EDLF 4080U.S. Education Policy (3)
Offered
Fall 2024
Education policy has taken center stage in a variety of national, state and local debates such as teacher evaluation, universal pre-K, school accountability, and charter schools. These are issues around which there is often contentious debate, much of which is polarized and simplistic. This class will explore a few current education policy debates through the lenses of conceptual models and empirical evidence.
EDLF 4082The Politics of Public Education (3)
Understanding "what works" in education is useless unless we know how to pass, implement, and sustain political support for effective education policy. To that end, this course explores the politics of U.S. K-12 education policy 1954-present. We examine policy formulation and implementation, key institutions, actors, and theories of policy-making, and the role of racial and economic inequality in influencing education policy.
Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2021
EDLF 5030Policy in Action: Partnered Research in Education Settings (3)
District policy makers make high-impact decisions on a fast track. They seek to make choices that promote equity, but timelines are short and these problems are messy. In this class, we partner with real-world decision makers facing a specific policy problem of educational equity. We will lay out policy alternatives, weigh evidence, and provide clear, feasible recommendations that have a chance to inform those policy decisions in a very real way.
Course was offered Spring 2022