What are effective strategies for social change? What can we learn from historical social movement strategies? How can these lessons inform current organizing efforts? In this program, students will learn about and apply principles of design thinking, power and systems mapping, framing, effective communication, and leadership tools to collaboratively design a social change strategy around an issue of their choice. Students will gain an understanding that the same principles that get applied to creating movements for social change are transferable to other types of work in the world.
A major component of this program is a project where students apply design thinking, along with the other theories and concepts studied in class to develop a strategy for social change. Students will also pick at least one historical social movement to study in-depth and share their findings with their peers. We’ll read texts from a variety of community organizers and scholar activists to learn more about approaches to social change and historical movements. This course will be taught in a hybrid mode with weekly online meetings on Zoom, asynchronous modules posted on Canvas, and two in-person field trips. Zoom sessions will include workshops, seminars, and time for students to work on final projects.
2 - Social Movement Theory
2 - Change Management
4 - Community Organizing
Registration
Academic Details
Nonprofit work, community organizing, social work, social entrepreneurship, public service
$20 fee covers entrance fees for off-campus field trips.