Motivation to Teach:
I designed and teach the online version of the Social Innovation Tools for Public Health Professionals course at my University. In looking at past iterations of the campus-based course, I noticed that social justice was not a part of the curriculum. As a result, I was very intentional about incorporating social justice content and community engagement principals throughout each lesson and made them core components of the course project. My taking this social action course I will benefit not only from the experts leading the course, but learn about other resources, best and emerging practices, and tools to equip students to organize and convene, launch campaigns, and advocate in their roles as public health practitioners, scholars, healthcare providers, scientists or whatever they may be. I am excited for the potential to fully engage and set my students up for success whether they take my Social Innovation Tools, Design Strategies in Public Health, Health Equity, or Leadership Theory courses next semester and in the summer (2024).
Course Description:
This course introduces students to the work of change-making and the field of social innovation. Students will explore principles of social innovation and social change while developing the skills to analyze social issues, generate solutions to those issues, and become effective social change agents. Students will co-create a toolkit of complex systems thinking and human-centered design thinking tools needed to address complex societal problems. These are wicked problems with many (conflicting) perspectives, where context matters, and there is no clear best answer. Students gain a deeper understanding of how (and why) “change happens” in an increasingly interconnected global society. Learn system- and design thinking (DT) via hands-on workshops to visualize “complex” (vs. simple) systems, identify relevant entry points, reframe problems, and generate potential solutions. Practical assignments are complemented by a theoretical framing. Examples of applications of tools and specific social innovations are given from public health, sustainability, and other fields and span domestic to international and global contexts.
Taught By:
Jylana Sheats
Associate Professor and Course Director for Social Innovation Tools in the Social Behavioral & Population Sciences Department
Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
Read profile here.