Taught By:
Rebecca Watts Hull
Assistant Director, Faculty Development for Sustainability Education Initiatives,
Center for Teaching & Learning; School of History & Sociology
Georgia Institute of Technology
rwattshull@gatech.edu
Read profile here.
Course Description:
In this course, we analyze how groups of “ordinary people” organize to amplify their voices, build power, and enact change. Collective action enables people to advance solutions to complex social and environmental challenges. In a democratic society, organized groups are better able to develop, articulate, and assert shared interests to advance equity, accountability, effectiveness, and sustainability in social institutions. Groups often use similar strategies to advance social change within organizations, from universities to corporations and government agencies.
Student Campaigns:
In organizations and communities, what kinds of knowledge, skills, and practices help people work together effectively around a shared idea, concern, or interest to advance change? To answer this question, we explore several frameworks and 20th-century traditions that guide change agents within organizations and communities in the U.S. We draw on these frameworks and traditions, case studies, and community-based organizations to understand and practice strategies and skills used to advance social change. Students practice commonly practiced organizing skills, including storytelling, power and asset analysis, and “strategizing.” They apply the knowledge and skills they develop to create a plan of action for a desired change on campus that they identify as a priority.