Social Action
Social action occurs when everyday people band together to develop their power in order to change policy. Students in a social action course choose a campaign to work on and attempt to enact a policy change on campus or in the community by making demands of a decision-maker. Students can launch their own campaign or join a community organization's campaign and create a "student-wing" in collaboration with them.
Our Vision
Every semester on every campus there is a course where students learn social action by doing it.
The Need
The United States is at a crossroads, as democracy is under attack and many feel disempowered. Many college courses teach about democracy and change, but few provide students the opportunity to learn by doing them. Teaching Social Action meets the need by providing the necessary training for faculty and staff.
“I have tried to teach social action, but to be honest I think I have been teaching ABOUT social action. We have talked about issues and what they COULD do about them. I've even assigned them to write letters to editors, submit public comments, taken them to legislative hearings and to climate marches. BUT I haven't taught them how to identify an issue and plan and implement a goal of change. This is what I want to do next.”
Dr. Bethany Woodworth, School of Marine & Environmental Programs, University of New England
The Model Course
In 2006, Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton created a social action course at San José State University. Ever since, he has been refining and honing this transformative pedagogy and curriculum. Importantly, Scott has figured out how to do social action in one semester by having students do issue development, build power, explore tactics, and then launch a campaign and implement it. Using this model, his students have won 17 campaigns. Scott believes that social action can breathe new life into our democracy by giving students the opportunity “to do democracy” and change.
Read more about our model social action course here and other social action courses here.
The Student Campaigns
The key component of this model is that students work on campaigns to enact a policy change on campus or in the community by making demands of a target (i.e., decision-maker). Campaigns, which the students choose, can be from a conservative, liberal, or no ideological perspective. In addition, the campaigns must be non-violent and cannot break the UN Declaration of Human Rights. Over 50 student social action campaigns have taken place, or are currently taking place.
View student campaigns here.
The Impact
The impact of this transformative model is felt by students, campuses, and communities.
“When I came into this classroom, I remember our professor said ‘this is going to be a life-changing class. You might not believe that change is possible, but it is.’ I wanted too believe it, but there was still some type of doubt in me. Little did I know that within the semester we were talking to the media and to different people. Now I would say that change is possible, if you have the motivation, the drive, the passion, or even the anger. That spark in you that comes when you say that this is an injustice and this is not right.”
Mayra Bernabe, Student Homeless Alliance, San José State
View more on the impact of teaching social here.
Our Guides
We have developed two CHANGE! books and a Companion Guide. They are all based on the model developed by Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton over 18 years of teaching Sociology 164: Social Action at San José State University.
"CHANGE! is very effective, in part because the book is structured to align with the academic semester. Just three weeks into the semester, I can see that my students have already carried out as many actions as they accomplished all semester long last year without the book. The narrative is compelling, the examples from prior college student campaign successes are inspiring, and the focus on policy change is pushing my students to make clearer and more focused demands."
Dr. Miriam Shakow, Anthropology, The College of New Jersey
“CHANGE! comes at a moment in U.S. history that demands the creation of ever more powerful social and economic justice change agents, a job that higher education has done poorly. It’s part roadmap, part compass, part toolkit. But above all, it’s a practical guide for faculty who want to foster a new generation of able and smart activists."
Dr. Kent Glenzer, Graduate School of International Studies & Management, Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey
See CHANGE! books and Companion Guide here & other teaching resources here.
Our Events
We host in-person and virtual Institutes on Teaching Social Action on how to teach social action. We also organize Zoom meet-ups each semester for faculty and staff who are teaching social action and for people considering it. At the end of each semester, we host an on-line National Summit on College Social Action.
“I loved the Institute. It was so powerful to be in this community and to get such great tips about how to do social action. I loved Scott guiding us through the Companion Guide and sharing his experience with us and providing examples. It was also really great to be able to hear from fellow practitioners who have gone through this experience and are now teaching social action courses.” Kujegi Camara, Mission Integration & Ministry, Fordham U.
More on our events here.
Our Community
Join hundreds of other educators who are teaching the next generation of community leaders by engaging them in direct experiences in leading policy change campaigns.
“In Fall 2023, after just two days with Scott and other scholars from all over the country learning how to teach and do social action with our students, I have felt connected, supported, and empowered to do extraordinary things in and beyond the classroom. I love it that we are learning together, part of a national network, growing by the day. This is true transformation.”
Dr. Maria Perez, Geology & Geography, West Virginia University
Join our community here.