COURSE DESCRIPTION

To move forward strategically, it is important to understand the historical conditions that gave rise to social change, coalition building and movements across the world.  By exploring the individual strengths, weaknesses, tactics and strategies of coalitions and movements, we can more effectively support needed shifts in society. 

In this course, you will encounter and implement strategies for (1) honoring and integrating with diverse peoples and cultures; (2) advancing equity for historically marginalized groups; and (3) navigating circumstances where #1 & #2 conflict. Course content will focus on knowledge gathering with and exchange across generations, gender roles and identities, religions/cultural groups, and social groupings/economic status. Case studies in this course span civil rights movements in the 20th century United States and contemporary food movements.  

As you seek to rebalance power and shape change, you will also be able to balance deep respect for the past, empathy for those navigating an increasingly challenging present and volatile near-future, and caring attentiveness to the needs of future generations.

Learning Objectives:

This course provides an opportunity to:

1. Traverse the history and strategies of social movements and be able to apply them to changes students want to make.
2. Assess the systems, culture and political factors that make social movements succeed.
3. Address the needs of their community for coalition building knowledge and praxis.
4. Preserve, protect, integrate, and provide value for local, indigenous, and historical knowledge, practices, tools, animals, plants, and resources;
5. Understand, honor and integrate with the cultures of the people and communities involved in the project;
6. Promote empowerment and equality of marginalized groups; and
7. Navigate circumstances where #4 and #5 conflict.

This course was created through and is part of :

COURSE-AT-A-GLANCE

Culture, Coalition and Movement Building is one of five (5) thoughtfully and intentionally created courses that feature 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; 
• Reginald Hubbard;
• Sarah Schulman;
• Dr. Jessi Quizar; and
• Nicole Civita

The topical overview of the course below provides an early taste of what you can expect as you embark on this 13 module learning journey.

Module 1: What is a Social Movement?

Module 2: The Importance of Movement History

Module 3: Resources for Social Movements

Module 4: Systems Thinking and Identifying the Problem

Module 5: Making Change Through Movements

Module 6: SMART Futures

Module 7: Setting Goals & Selecting Targets

Module 8: Emergent Strategy

Module 9: Stories of One Community: Detroit and Grace Lee Boggs

Module 10: Assessing Outcomes

Module 11: Story of One Community: Project Protect Food Systems Workers and CO-HB21-087

Module 12: Cultivating the Skills, Tools, and Mindsets of Movement Builders

Module 13: Wrapping in up

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 500 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.

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

Enrollment provides access for one year and represents an annual commitment. There are no refunds. If you decide to stop participating in the Change Shaping: Connection-based Training for Good Trouble Makers Certificate Program or any of its component courses, you remain responsible for completing any remaining payments on your payment plan in full.  If you require an extension of time to complete the program due to unforeseen circumstances or hardship, please contact ncoit@sterlingcollege.edu to develop a plan to support your sustained access and successful completion.

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