Home > Pre-College >Leadership Institute

Leadership for Social Change

<< Back to Leadership Institute course page
Click here to view Leadership for Social Change program dates

• Are you passionate about social issues?  Do you wonder how to turn your passion into real change?
• Are you curious about how social movements develop and how they impact societies and cultures? 
• Do you wonder how you as a young person can influence the course of social change locally and globally?
• Would you like to improve your abilities to lead, motivate and educate others?

Leadership for Social Change explores how grassroots movements can transform global systems, societies and cultures.  Students learn about many familiar movements, such as those for civil rights, women’s rights and the environment, as well as movements that have recently gained international attention, such as immigration rights, prison reform and fair trade.  Through meetings with historians, policy-makers, community activists and leaders in relevant social movements, students gain an “insider” understanding of the evolution of a movement.  How are social movements developed, initiated, and orchestrated?  What is the tipping point that turns a cause into a movement? What factors determine a movement’s success or failure?  Students discuss these questions, as well as learn some of the tools and skills needed to turn a vision for change into reality. Relevant films, readings, and oral histories are used to analyze past and present movements. Students also participate in workshops, role-plays, and activities designed to challenge their leadership abilities and broaden their ideas of what is possible.

Who are Leadership for Social Change Students?

This course is an advanced course for students who are already actively engaged in projects or movements in their own communities. Students who have completed a Leadership Institute course, or who have otherwise demonstrated a deep commitment to social change through volunteer work or other forms of community engagement, are encouraged to apply.  Applicants should have completed their sophomore, junior, or senior year and be able to demonstrate maturity and an interest in social issues.

Curriculum

In this course, students will:

• Learn how social change occurs by understanding the roles and motives of politicians, activists, organizers, the public and the media
• Learn why institutions, politicians and society as a whole resist change
• Learn how to assess different types of power and the tactics for changing power dynamics
• Develop some of the skills needed to work for social change, including how to identify needs, facilitate meetings, establish goals and priorities, build alliances, work with the media, fundraise and evaluate impact
• Understand the impact of different organizing strategies such as letter writing, boycotts, economic incentives, protests and political lobbying
• Develop an Action Plan for how they will apply their knowledge to an issue they care about

Dates

Leadership for Social Change - SO912-2GL