Social Movements

INSTRUCTOR: Shedrick Boren

SECTION: U10

SCHEDULE: Fall 2021 – Monday, 5:00PM – 7:40PM; Spring 2022 – Tuesday, 2:00PM – 4:45PM

Social change starts with a vision and evolves to transform society. Many types of social movements have changed history, and many individual leaders have made a difference. The civil rights movements related to African Americans, women, and the LGBT community are examples of 20th-century social movements that have impacted American society globally. Still, other social movements have greatly influenced American politics and culture in general. Visionary leadership and strategic planning and thinking are required to create and manage a social movement successfully.

This course, set in a prison setting, will include a class comprised of “inside” students currently incarcerated in prison and “outsider” students from the FIU Honors College. The course will follow the model of instruction envisioned by the Inside Out Program (https://www.insideoutcenter.org) to facilitate “dialogue and education across profound social differences” by bringing “traditional college students and incarcerated students together in jails and prisons for semester-long learning.” The goal is to “ignite enthusiasm for learning, help students find their voice, and challenge students to consider what good citizenship requires.” The social movement concept will become more apparent to students as they examine this criminal justice reform movement via experiential opportunities.

Using the education of the course facilitator, a Clinical Assistant Professor with post-graduate degrees in Social Work, Business, Bioethics, and Sociology, this course provides a unique opportunity to attain student engagement, enhance awareness and guide students to improve their perspective by examining history, current views, and realities, and to address societal challenges globally.