COURSE DESCRIPTION

So many of us long to create a culture of care and nurturance in our communities – and to enjoy the benefits of membership in such communities at work, at school, in our neighborhoods, in our affinity groups, and our social circles.  This course aims to prepare students to advocate for, contribute to, and co-create cultures of kindness and compassion, inclusion, diversity, problem-solving, harm reduction, and joy. As you move through the course, you will sense answers to the question originally posed by Nora Samaran: “What would it feel like to trust the fabric of our human community so fully that we could take the risk to belong in this way, belong as our whole selves?” Through this study, you will encounter the intellectual and theoretical frameworks for caring communities and hone concrete tools and skills to cultivate such communities. After building self-knowledge and exploring the meaning and making of community, you will learn communication and leadership skills as well as problem-solving and decision-making processes. You will also learn to distinguish conflict and harm and be able to address each productively. The end result is a web of reciprocity and commitment that enables us to mend brokenness, cultivate possibility, and center joy in our communal lives.

Learning Objectives: 

This course provides an opportunity to:

• define what communities of support mean to you; find where you live in such communities, who is present and who is missing;
• identify your own values and will learn to listen for the values of others within and outside of communities of support. You will learn how to use these values for generative planning processes.
• recognize and define the mission of communities of support in which you participate;
• experience and practice communication skills for community building;
• explore decision-making processes and how decisions are made in community. You will learn methods for understanding those with whom you disagree , and how to hold productive discussions;
• distinguish conflict from harm within a community. You will explore conflict resolution, harm and repair on individual, interpersonal, and community levels;
• identify your own priorities for growth, further education, support, and connection.
• experience creating a virtual community during the class.

This course was created through and is part of :

COURSE-AT-A-GLANCE

Communities of Care is one of five (5) thoughtfully and intentionally created courses that features the voices of several experienced, well-learned and inspirational movement builders and activists. These include:

• Fatuma Emmad;
• Med Bradbury;
• Dr. Monica Coleman;
• The Reverend Charles Howard;
• Isabel Foxen Duke;
• Dr. Lia Howard; and
• Reginal Hubbard.

The topical overview of the course below provides an early taste of what you can expect as you embark on this 16 module learning journey.

Module 1: What is Community?

Module 2: Right Relationship

Module 3: Diversity in Community

Module 4: Benefits and Challenges of Diverse Communities

Module 5: Inclusion Attunement

Module 6: Centering Care

Module 7: Clear Communication for Social Good

Module 8: Communicating Across Differences

Module 9: Boundaries in Community

Module 10: Needs Assessment

Module 11: Building Trust

Module 12: Trauma

Module 13: Conflict and Harm

Module 14: Repair

Module 15: Pleasure and Joy

Module 16: Final Words on Wisdom

AUDIENCE

This course is designed for:

• established and budding activists, organizers, community leaders, and coalition-builders;
• leaders, staff, and volunteers affiliated with organizations making change within their spheres or seeking to have greater impact in the wider world;
• anyone interested in building stronger and more resilient communities;
• anyone who wants to pause and consider what is needed psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually to feel resourced and prepared to find their place and purpose in challenging times.

LEAD CREATOR

Michelle Auerbach (she/her) is a world builder and  community maker who uses all her geeky skills to support and educate change shapers. She works toward a  more just and loving place where more people get taken care of better. Michelle works as a consultant, educator, and writer focused on change shaping, creativity, and leadership for individuals, organizations, and communities.

Michelle has been studying change and developing her change shaping practice for over 40 years. She has worked with institutions (the NY City Department of Health, Kaiser Permanente, and The National Institutes of Health), organizations (from Fortune 50 companies to NGOs and nonprofits) and communities (through activist movements, consulting, designing change processes and facilitating), and she creates communications and storytelling strategies for universities, legislative change groups, and pro-social businesses. 

Michelle was trained in facilitation and change management as well as individual and group coaching at the Columbia University School of Public Health, Kaiser Permanente, and the New York City Department of Health as well as through movements and teachers on the ground.  She was a professor of Ancient World Languages and Humanities for a decade and served as chair of the Arts and Humanities discipline for the State of Colorado Department of Higher Education. Currently, she teaches communication and story for changemakers at The University of Colorado and Sterling College. 

Michelle was also trained as a chef in New York City at the Natural Gourmet, where she studied nutrition, Chinese medicinal cookery, and healing traditions as well as studying pastry at Peter Kump’s Institute for Culinary Education. She worked in restaurants and has done food writing for the New York Times, the London Guardian, and Sunset magazine as well as other outlets. MIchelle has a particular passion for supporting food sustainability and justice.  

Michelle’s PhD dissertation was written on story as a trauma sensitive change technology for individuals, organizations, and communities. She studies the way we respond to change from  wisdom traditions that go back 6000 years to the neurobiology that drives our connected selves. Her book, Resilience: The Life Saving Skill of Story came out in 2022 and her second book on change shaping and storytelling is due out in 2023. If you want to read her novels or her nonfiction you can find it, and more of her writing at www.michelleauerbach.com.

Agreements & Terms

To participate in any learning community spaces (such as discussion boards and videoconferences), you agree to follow Sterling College’s Code of Online Conduct.You also agree not to reproduce or circulate proprietary materials from this program.

You agree to respect the identities, privacy, and confidentiality of other learners in this program and will not share screenshots, recordings or information disclosed in our learning community spaces with other parties. To foster a dignified, respectful, brave space and model accountability, learners who do not uphold these requirements may have their access revoked without refund.

Course descriptions on this webpage are for informational purposes only. Content may be updated or changed as planning evolves. Sterling College reserves the right to alter the program specifics, including details about course content, instructors, collaborations, field trips, facilities and pricing, at any time without notice.