The Activism Toolkit
Fall 2020
Taught By: Savanna Washington
Section: A
CRN: 8957
Credits: 3
The ability to create an effective business plan and roll-out strategy is essential in any and every aspect of Media Management. This is no less the case for non-profits, educational organizations, community groups, advocacy groups and cultural institutions. This class will focus on activism campaign strategies, social outreach, and evaluation metrics as benchmarks for progress and success within these types of organizations. This course begins with a survey of activism in the United States over the last 100+ years, beginning with the nation-wide protest of Birth of a Nation, in 1915, by the NAACP. It was the first nation-wide campaign by this fledgling organization and helped serve as a catalyst for their continued nation-wide activism. The class will also include the women's suffragette movement of the 1910's, to the activism of the 1960's over Civil Rights, the Vietnam War, and women's rights of today. Current events will also be included such as the activism of Gay rights organizations, the Me Too movement, and Black Lives Matter groups among others. The course will look at their tactics; what worked, what didn’t work, and how we can create new and more effective ways to implement these tools in students' current media projects. By the end of the course, each student will create their own campaign by incorporating the media tool(s) and strategies discussed and analyzed. Whether it is an advocacy organization, a meet-up cultural event, or other outreach activity, this class will prepare you to utilize digital video, photography, transmedia, installations or other non-traditional methods to implement social issue-based plans and campaigns. The course will also emphasize how to assist organizations with media audits and promotional materials as a means to make mission statements come alive and organizations more visible.
College: Schools of Public Engagement (NS)
Department: Media Studies (NMDS)
Campus: Online (DL)
Course Format: Seminar (R)
Max Enrollment: 20
Add/Drop Deadline: September 14, 2020 (Monday)
Online Withdrawal Deadline: November 22, 2020 (Sunday)
Seats Available: Yes
Status: Closed*
* Status information is updated every five minutes. The status of this course may have changed since the last update. Open seats may have restrictions that will prevent some students from registering. Updated: 6:21am 2/25/2021 EST