Comparative Social Movements, circa 1800-present

This course encourages students to explore the relationship between the individual, society, and established institutions of public order (e.g., family, religion, education, economy, government) in the context of social movements, that is to say, in terms of individuals and groups who have acted in concert with one another to effect or resist change from roughly 1800 down to the present. Given the broad scope of this course in time and space, our approach will be topical, emphasizing issues (e.g., religion, class, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, environment, peace) that have inspired the emergence of many modern social movements worldwide. In addition to fostering an academic understanding of social movements, this course also utilizes a community-based, service-learning pedagogy to encourage you to consider firsthand the extent to which social movements have affected, or may yet influence, the ways in which we experience and understand our own roles. This dual focus on the academic study and practice of social movements is designed to give you a better understanding of the past and its relationship to the present.

Submitted by California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. This work was supported by the California Campus Compact Social Innovation Generation: California Recovery and Renewal Initiative.