Detroit ‘25 Institute on Teaching Social Action

This two-day, in-person institute is focused on graduate students, and will be held at the University of Michigan Detroit Center as a pre-conference before the American Association of Geographers (AAG) Annual Conference.

The Institute will introduce graduate students, as well as interested faculty attending the AAG Conference, 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.

Note: we ask that attendees fully participate in our community of practice by making the following commitments.

Hosts

Morgan Fett (she/her)

Ph.D. Candidate, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning

University of Michigan

View profile here.

Maria Alejandra Perez

Associate Professor of Geography

West Virginia University

Read profile here.

During the two-day institute, participants will begin to draft a syllabus and develop a teaching plan to support student campaigns which are launched mid-semester.

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.