COURSE DESCRIPTION

Research into pro-social change, the kind that improves the world around us, all leads to empathy as the most powerful force for connection, community building, human understanding and change. This course delves deep into the ways empathy can create the world we want to inhabit. We will explore points of view on how empathy changes politics, impacts movements, creates a space for quantitative data-based knowledge acquisition, and makes us better change makers. 

In this course students will learn about how empathy works, find it in action around values, understand polarization, and work on the skills of intellectual humility and attunement to make possible the changes we need. 

Learning Objectives

This course provides an opportunity for learners to:

• Define and understand empathy and its role within social movements and community building
• Explore political polarization within and outside of the USA
• Build stronger coalitions and be thoughtful about how trauma impacts all of the work we do
• Recognise and respect diversity of thought, values, beliefs and attitudes

This course was created through and is part of :

COURSE-AT-A-GLANCE

Empathy as a Force for Social Good 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, including original content with Alan Miller.

The topical overview of the course below provides an early taste of what you can expect as you embark on this 12 module learning journey.

Module 1: Exploring Empathy

Module 2: Creating Empathy

Module 3: Beyond Empathy and Inclusion to Listening

Module 4: Political Positionality

Module 5: Bridging

Module 6: Cory Booker Case Study

Module 7: Trauma and Resistance to Change

Module 8: The Problem of Polarization

Module 9: Developing Political Empathy and Thick Solidarity 

Module 10: Case Study: The Environmental Movement Interview with Alan Miller

Module 11: Groundtruthing & Global Action

Module 12: Intellectual, Social and Political Humility 

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.

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.