Cooperatives are 'democratic economic associations for self help." This introductory course is a hybrid of fact-to-face and online meetings. It begins with an online tutorial introduction to cooperatives (Cooperatives 101) developed by the National Cooperative Business Association, Then follows with a field trip to cooperatives and co-op developers in Boston to introduce important examples of successful cooperative development. On subsequent classes we will elaborate on the various forms and applications of cooperatives to the problems of low-income communities, examine the basic structure of ownership and governance of that model, the structure of capital, and sources of startup finance and ongoing finance. This course will be run as a seminar. There will be opportunities for everyone to share their perspectives on cooperatives and to participate in the presentation of readings on cooperative models.