Community studies

Community studies is an academic field drawing on both sociology and anthropology and the social research methods of ethnography and participant observation in the study of community. In academic settings around the world, community studies is variously a sub-discipline of anthropology or sociology, or an independent discipline. It is often interdisciplinary and geared toward practical applications rather than purely theoretical perspectives.[1] Community studies is sometimes combined with other fields, i.e., "Urban and Community Studies," "Health and Community Studies," or "Family and Community studies."[2]


  1. ^ The University of California at Santa Cruz has an interdisciplinary Community Studies Department Archived 2006-09-04 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Examples of Community Studies programs with a particular focus: Urban and Community Studies Archived 2012-08-31 at the Wayback Machine at the University of Toronto; The Institute of Health and Community Studies Archived 2006-07-13 at the Wayback Machine at Bournemouth University, UK, and The Faculty of Child, Family and Community Studies Archived 2012-07-30 at archive.today at Douglas College, New Westminster BC, Canada.