This two-day, in-person Institute in Memphis will introduce faculty and 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.
Our long-term goal is to mainstream this model for teaching active democracy. The world needs more citizens who have developed their knowledge and skills in bringing about positive change through real world experience. 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.
Institute Host
Dr. Austin Harrison
Urban Studies
Rhodes College
Institute Participants
Cristin Ellis
English
University of Mississippi
Jocelyn Batiste
N/A
Homer A Plessy Community School
Kristi (Kaj) Brian
Anthropology and Sociology, and the PhD Program in Justice Studies
University of New Orleans
Kristina Patterson
Public and Nonprofit Studies
Georgia Southern University
Melania Popa Mabe
College of Social Work
University of South Carolina
Naomi Washington-Leapheart
Theology/Religious Studies and Peace and Justice
Villanova University/Eastern University
Chevy (Schevaletta) Alford
Percy Ellis Sutton Search for Education elevation and Knowledge (SEEK)
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Elizabeth Talbert
Anthropology and Sociology
Drake University
Julie Sriken
Psychology and Neuroscience
Regis University
Katy Morgan
Psychology
The University of the South (Sewanee)
Institute Preparation
There is no registration fee for the Spring ‘25 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.
During the two-day Institute, participants will begin drafting a syllabus and develop a teaching plan to support student campaigns which are launched by mid-semester. The Institute sessions will be led by Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at San José State University.
Participants will be asked to prepare for the Institute by reading CHANGE! A Student Guide to Social Action (2nd edition) and CHANGE! A Guide to Social Action. In addition, participants read the Companion Guide, which is a multimedia media presentation of the teaching guide. In the Companion Guide, there are "mini-lectures" of Scott speaking about each topic, as well as articles, in-class videos, and portfolios that Scott uses. The hope is that with the two books and Companion Guide, the Institute can be interactive with you and the other participants grappling with the challenges of doing a social action course, rather than just being taught the material.
At the Institute, 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. Participants will leave the Institute with an overview for their syllabus.
Over the two-days participants will break into smaller groups for discussions about your goals, course models, teaching approach, and sharing examples and exercises that will help you plan your social action course or workshop series.
At the conclusion of the Institute, we 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.
When you apply to the Institute, we will automatically add you to the socialaction@bonner.org email discussion list where we discuss active student campaigns, share successes and challenges, and announce future opportunities for training, education, and reflection.