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$2,500 Course Development Grant

Social Action in Response to Climate Change

A $2,500 grant opportunity from the Bonner Foundation is available for developing an undergraduate or graduate course with a community organizing or social action component. Proposals that focus on social action in response to climate change are of particular interest. The course would add "social action" (community organizing) to an existing course or to create a new "social action" course. In this model of teaching social action, students would form groups and make a demand for a policy change(i.e., a rule, regulation, norm, or practice of an institution), whether on campus, in their community, or at the national level. The benefits of this approach to teaching social action are many, as students learn about power, democracy, inequality, human agency, and much more.

This course development opportunity is connected to a larger effort by the Bonner Foundation to mainstream social action at colleges across the nation. Bobby Hackett, President of the Bonner Foundation, is spearheading this effort together with Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton, a sociologist at San Jose State University (https://www.bonner.org/social-action-course-initiative-launched). Out of this work to train more faculty, staff, and students (for student-led courses), folks have developed 15 social action classes and co-curricular experiences that will be taught across the country this academic year.

If you are interested in applying for this $2,500 Course Development opportunity to add social action to one of your courses, please write a 2-3 page description of what course you would teach a social action component in, how would the social action project connect to the curriculum, and what would be types of policy changes the students might be involved in (with the understanding that in this model students have the opportunity to develop and choose the campaigns on their own rather than assigned by the instructor). Please submit this 2-3 page statement to Scott Myers-Lipton by September 25th, 2021 at smlipton@sjsu.edu. 

If you receive the award, you are expected to:
  • develop a syllabus for one of your courses that includes a social action component;
  • participate in a nine-session webinar series (generally held on Friday around noon) led by Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton and Bobby Hackett from the Bonner Foundation for about 20 faculty and staff on best practices of social action;
  • teach the course in the next year;
  • submit a Tower Foundation appointment form for your hours developing and implementing the completion of the course.

Another opportunity is to take part in the course development webinar series without applying for the grant:

2021-22 Social Action Course Development Webinar Series

The Bonner Foundation is pleased to announce the 2021-22 Social Action Course Development Webinar Series, and encourages all interested faculty and staff to apply. We welcome faculty and staff who are interested in incorporating a social action project into an existing course, a new course, or into a non-credit, co-curricular workshop series.

In the model of teaching social action we will use, students have the opportunity to advocate for a change in policy in a campaign they launch during the semester (or continue from a prior semester). These policy change campaigns are chosen by the students and generally address a rule, regulation, norm, or practice of an institution, whether on campus or in the community. This Social Action Course Development Webinar Series is connected to a larger effort to mainstream the teaching of social action with an experiential approach at colleges across the nation (https://www.bonner.org/social-action-course-initiative-launched). Out of this work to train faculty, staff, and students (for student-led courses), people have developed 15 social action classes and co-curricular experiences that will be taught across the country this academic year.

The Social Action Course Development Webinar Series starts on Friday October 15 at 3:30-4:45 pm EST, and will meet weekly throughout the semester, with one final get together on January 21st. If you are interested in joining this year's cohort, please use this Google Form to apply. 

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Posted: September 16, 2021, 9:18 AM

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