This three-day virtual institute will introduce faculty and teaching staff to an experiential learning approach for incorporating social action campaigns into either a semester-long course or co-curricular workshop series. In this transformative experiential learning model, students develop and launch a social action campaign of their choosing during the semester the course is taught. The student campaigns seek to change a rule, regulation, norm, or practice of an institution, whether on campus or in the community. While not all of the student campaigns are successful, many have been and those that haven’t succeeded have still taught valuable lessons to those who led them and those who were engaged in one form or another.
Our long-term goal is to mainstream this model for teaching active democracy. The world needs more people who have developed their knowledge and skills in bringing about positive change through real world experience.
Institute Preparation
During the three-day institute, participants will draft a syllabus and develop a teaching and a plan for supporting student campaigns which are launched mid-semester. The institute sessions will be led by Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton, Professor of Sociology at San Jose State University, with support from Bobby Hackett, President of the Bonner Foundation. We will use a flipped classroom model, where participants will be asked to prepare for live webinar sessions by reading textbooks CHANGE! A Student Guide to Social Action and CHANGE! A Guide to Teaching Social Action and watching a series of short video presentations on the following topics:
- An Overview of Teaching Social Action
- Organizing Your Class
- Issue Development & Choosing Campaigns
- Change Theory & Building Power
- Research & Group Dynamics
- Strategy & Tactics
- Campaign Kick-Off
- Campaign Plan & Evaluation
Participants will work with a syllabus template which includes guiding questions. We will discuss the pros and cons of revising a course to incorporate social action campaigns or develop a new course that complements an existing course, concentration, minor, major, or certificate program. We will also share the process and lessons learned from prior student campaigns. We welcome participants who want to explore developing a co-curricular social action workshop series embedded into a fellowship or co-curricular or integrated program.
Over the three days participants will meet for discussions about your goals, course models, teaching approach, and sharing examples and exercises using a Mural Board that will help you plan your social action course or workshop series.
At the conclusion of the institute, we will invite participants to join a year-long support and networking community of fellow practitioners who are teaching or learning how to teach social action using this experiential, real-world model. The Teaching Social Action Group is hosted by the Bonner Foundation on the Bonner Learning Community Platform to give faculty, staff, and students a forum for asking questions, discussing active student campaigns, sharing successes and challenges, and announcing future opportunities for training, education, and reflection.
Application
There is no cost to join the Winter ‘26 Institute on Teaching Social Action. However, we want to restrict participation in the institute to those faculty, staff or students who are committed to implementing this experiential social action course model. Please note that preparing and supporting students to launch their social action campaigns generally takes at least half of the course content and assignments. Some courses are directly on social action and change, while others address a societal issue (e.g., climate change, housing, poverty, etc.) around which students develop their campaigns. From experience, the social action campaign dimension of these courses takes up roughly half of the course work (readings, assignments, and in-class teaching and group work).
CLICK HERE to submit your application
Institute Participants (Accepted To Date)
Sam Frye
School of Integrative Studies
George Mason University
Amy Gardner
College Core (First Year Seminar program)
The College of New Jersey
Ashley Newby
African American and Africana Studies
University of Maryland, College Park
Ayesha Ghazi Edwin
Social Work
University of Michigan
Brenna Candelaria
Community Studies
UC Santa Cruz
Carla Guerron Montero
Anthropology
University of Delaware
Casandra Coin-Sweeney
English and Humanities
Cuyahoga Community College
Charlie Domahidi
Criminal Justice
SUNY Oswego
Danielle Starks
Education
Purdue Northwest University
Dominique Montgomery
School of Social Work
University of Nevada, Reno
EJ Néel
Sociology
Worcester State University
Erin Johnson
Social Work
University of Michigan-Flint
Helen Machin
Social Work
Keele University
Isabel Pla Julián
Applied Economy
University of Valencia
Jean Costa-Silva
Modern Languages Department
SUNY Cortland
Jennifer Juszkiewicz
English
Saint Mary's College
Jennifer Klauth
Social Work
University of Olivet
Kate Rudder
Anthropology
University of Tennessee - Chattanooga
Kathleen Edwards
Educational Leadership and Cultural Foundations
UNC Greensboro
Lisa Gibson
Public Services and Community Studies
Washington and Jefferson College
Lori Sousa-Meixell
Social Work
Roberts Wesleyan University
Maria Isabel Espinoza
Sociology
Michigan State University
Marshelia D. Harris,
Social Work
Indian University Northwest
Michael Skladany
Criminology & Sociology
Cleveland State University
Natalie Novak
Core Curriculum, Department of Visual Arts
Flagler College
Omotoyosi Odukomaiya
English
Hope College
Qiang Chen
Social Work
Siena University
Rachel Radina
Leadership & Counseling
Eastern Michigan University
Sarah Ramirez
Office of Connected Learning
University of Washington Bothell
Schantell Williams
Public Health
San Jose State University
Tracy Humphrey
Social Work
University of Memphis
Tristan Sharratt
Decker School of Nursing and Health Sciences (Graduate Nursing/Public Health)
Binghamton University
Tyler Bush
Communications & Creative Arts
Purdue Univetsity Northwest