About
In this course we will study the social movements of the past and meet the activists who are working for social justice today. We will learn about the history of American protest from pre-Revolutionary days to the present in order to understand how mass organizations are created and how they can be used to realize the American ideals of liberty, equality, justice, peace, and opportunity for all. Emphasis throughout is on bridging the academic perspective of the classroom with the practical concerns of different communities. This will be a "traveling seminar," moving between the classroom and the world outside. Our class may meet at the site of a labor, senior, or other community organization, hosted by a representative of that organization. Other weeks, the organizers will come to us. Students have the option of participating in a service-learning project and reflecting on the connections between assigned readings and the practice of organizing. Our central question will be: what can the social-action organizations of the past and present teach us about the possibilities for progressive social change in our world today?
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