Civil Society & Community Studies

The Department of Civil Society and Community Studies collaborates with communities, civil society organizations, and social movements to co-create a just and sustainable future for all.

We are a department that:

Strives for social justice, common good, and sustainability for current and future generations;
Elevates the power of those who are marginalized by various forms of oppression and dominant cultural norms;
Embraces the multitude of ways of knowing and being in the world;
Engages with the wider community in our work as researchers, teachers, and members of civil society;
Uses systems thinking, mixed methods, and community-engaged research approaches to gain a holistic and comprehensive understanding of community issues and how to address them;
Emphasizes positive youth development, asset-based evaluation and programming, and appreciative inquiry; and
Seeks to understand and honor the various ways people come together to effect policy and programmatic change in their communities.

The School of Human Ecology is home to the Center for Community and Nonprofit Studies, known as “the CommNS.” Under the leadership of Executive Director Mary Beth Collins and Associate Director Amy Washbush, the CommNS is a hub for community-engaged research, teaching, and outreach related to civil society, and community, nonprofit, and social innovation efforts. CommNS community-engaged activities and partnerships support student experience through community-engaged learning in courses, networking and educational events, connections with experts and leaders in the field, and opportunities for paid work experiences with the Co-Create initiative — which does direct project-based work with community organizations.

SoHE also seeded the 4W Initiative (Women and Well-being in Wisconsin and the World) and more recently launched the Indigenous Ecowell Initiative, which supports work at the intersections of Indigenous cultures, health, language, and community. In addition, SoHE is home to the POWER Collective, founded and led by CSCS students to produce, support, and disseminate critical scholarship and community action projects led by students, community members, and professionals of color at UW–Madison and throughout the state of Wisconsin.

Department Chair

A Native American Indian woman, with light brown curly hair, wearing a royal blue dress with silver beads.

Carolee Dodge Francis

Degrees Offered

Affiliated Centers & Labs

Partners & Affiliations

National Professional Associations

Areas of Specialization

Food systems and sovereignty

Community food systems
Indigenous and global food sovereignty
Food security and assistance programs

Indigenous communities

Traditional ecological knowledge
Indigenous language and culture

Research methodologies

Indigenous research methodologies
Community-based research
Program, systems, and transformative evaluation

Environment and land

Gentrification and urban development
Climate and environmental justice
Housing and land access

Civic engagement and nonprofit studies

Civic health and civic engagement
Local and global nonprofit and community organizations and practices
Philanthropy and community-based fundraising
Strategic nonprofit communications
Youth civic engagement

Social, behavioral, and public health

Community-based public health of Native American populations
Indigenous-centered health evaluation methodologies
Rights-based approaches to health and wellbeing of vulnerable women and children globally
Global health education and service-learning programs
Global and community-based participatory research

Community organizing and activism

Labor and economic justice
Immigrant rights
Cooperatives and alternative economies
Criminal justice system and reform