Designing Independent Study Classes for College

Hi, my name is allister and I currently attend the New College of California, where I am a Humanities Student.

I find myself drawn to the Activism and Social change MA program, and have received special permissions to take their classes as an undergrad student. I am also in the process of coming up with two to four Activism/Social Change independent study classes, to fill the gaps in my schedule. Something that I would have liked to ask in the Activism forum, but couldn't seem to, is if anyone can offer input as to anything i should consider focusing on in those independent studies.

The criteria for independent studies are very slim: one must pick a topic that they would like to learn about, come up with a lesson plan and list of texts/ videos that they would utilize in the class, design a final project, and get a teacher to agree both that it has educational merit, as well as attesting that they'll work with you on it, keeping you on schedule.

So far, I have a handful of topics that I would be interested in doing a class on:

*treehuggers and monkeywrenchers: on environmental activists and historic environmentalism, as well as key issues environmentalists are fighting against today.
*into the wild: giving up on society: at what point do you stop trying to change the system, and establish your own? this class would be about communes, co-ops, and those who abandon their lives in search of something better.
*a primer on activism and social change: for this class, I would need key suggestions as to who are the most important activists to focus on starting out; as well as what issues or protests I should consider including in the readings.
*activism and social change through print: exploring activism and social change perpetrated through zines and other media.

in addition to my ideas, I am very curious as to whether or not anyone from the hipforums (especially those of you who follow activism and/or social change) had any other suggestions for me as to what i should take for a class. I am interested in anything related to these topics so long as it is educational. Anyways, let me know and I'll totally look into any ideas you give me.

Thank you very much; I just want an exciting education that teaches me about things that are really important, instead of just taking more mindless electives.

-alister

 

fuck the classes, where's the practicum?

 

Very good point. You may get a whole lot of fancy knowledge out of those classes, but you won't learn a single thing until you actually go out and do something.

I don't see the point of learning about activism when you can actually be an activist without taking any of those classes. It's fun and all... but you might as well try to study something a tad more practical.