How to Change the World: Advocacy Movements and Social Innovation

How does someone go about changing the world? What can we learn from the past about what it means to be an effective agent of change? This course will focus on several broad social movements in post-war America. Our objectives will be: to introduce and familiarize students with these social movements that span post-war American history, putting each in its historical context; and to use these movements to illustrate the variety of tactics and strategies employed by advocates to advance social change including demonstrations, boycotts, legislation, regulatory action, electoral politics, marches, and voter referenda.