This two-day, in-person institute at the College of Charleston 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.
Note: we ask that attendees fully participate in our community of practice by making the following commitments.
Hosts
Hollis France
Associate Professor
Political Science Department
College of Charleston
Hollis France’s Social Action Courses
Kris De Welde, Ph.D. (she/ella)
Professor, Women’s and Gender Studies
College of Charleston
Read profile here
Kris De Welde’s Social Action Course
CLICK HERE to submit your application
Institute Participants (Accepted To Date)
Ian O'Byrne
TEDU, School of Education
College of Charleston
Sonya Okoli
Educational Leadership
Clark Atlanta University
Tracie Meyers
SEEK
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Chevy Alford
Percy Ellis Sutton Search for Education elevation and Knowledge (SEEK)
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Blake Scott
International Studies School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs
College of Charleston
Todd LeVasseur
ENVS
College of Charleson
Ra Malika Imhotep
International Studies
Spelman College
Joanna Neville
Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies
University of Florida
Alexis Johnson
Collection & Content Services (College of Charleston Libraries) and Department of History
College of Charleston
Elisa Jones
History
College of Charleston
Apryl Alexander
Health Management & Policy
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Elliot Ratzman
Raoul Wallenberg Institute/Judaic Studies
University of Michigan
Marshall Stevenson, Jr.
Social Sciences
University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Sarah Owens
Hispanic Studies and Latin American Studies
College of Charleston
Darien Robinson
Justice Studies
Winston-Salem State University
Hollie Mann
Department of Political Science
Virginia Commonwealth University
Lisa Ross
Psychology
College of Charleston
Jen Wright
Psychology, FYE
College of Charleston
Shumaila Bhatti
College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, School of Public and International Affairs
Virginia Tech
Tiffany Lane
School of Social Work
University of North Carolina Wilmington
Yamuranai Kurewa
Social Work
Bennett College
Edwina Jackson
College of Social Work
Johnson C. Smith University
Kareema Gray
Social Work - BSW Program
Johnson C. Smith University
Eunika Simons
Social Work
Benedict College
Megan Smith
Sociology
University of North Carolina Charlotte
Elycia Daniel
Sociology and Criminal Justice
Clark Atlanta University
Natalia Sianko
Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice
Clemson University
Adenife Modile
Sociology
Coker University
Alison McLetchie
Social Sciences
South Carolina State University
Institute Preparation
During the two-day Institute, participants will begin to develop a teaching plan to support student campaigns to be launched mid-semester. The Institute sessions will be led by Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at San José State University. In preparation for the Institute, participants will read two textbooks — CHANGE! A Student Guide to Social Action and CHANGE! A Guide to Teaching Social Action — as well as CHANGE! A Companion Guide to Teaching Social Action.
These resources address all aspects of teaching a social action course, including:
- 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
Below is a graph of how these course topics flow in Scott’s social action course:
Over the two-days, participants will meet each day 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. Institute participants will work with this course planning worksheet (below) which explores many of the issues that arise when teaching social action.
At the conclusion of the institute, we will invite attendees to participate in our 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 registration fee for the South Carolina ‘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
