COURSE NUMBER: MBA292N.1

COURSE TITLE: Large-Scale Social Change: Social Movements

UNITS OF CREDIT: 2

INSTRUCTOR: Nora Silver

E-MAIL ADDRESSsilver@haas.berkeley.edu

PREREQUISITE(S): None

CLASS FORMAT: The class explores significant social change movements through written cases, articles, portions of books, films, podcasts, featured guests, and experiences that students bring to the class.

REQUIRED READINGS: Readings will take the form of written cases, featured guests, portions of books, films, articles, podcasts, and more, and will be available on bCourses.

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: The final grade will be based on class attendance and participation (40%), 2 short individual papers analyzing social movements (25%), a group project designing a social movement (25%), and an individual reflection paper (10%).

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES: Haas students have repeatedly demonstrated their desire for opportunities to engage in healthy discussions about meaningful social issues. There has been a growing need for a class that provides the frameworks and tools necessary to usher in positive, large-scale social change. History is packed with examples of this social change in action, from Indian independence to #MeToo. Behind many of these advancements lies a social movement, defined for class purposes as: collective action by ordinary people working outside existing institutional frameworks toward a common goal, with the intent to disrupt the status quo. Graduate students interested in creating large-scale impact often take courses on leading and managing institutions. Yet much large-scale social change occurs extra-institutionally, beyond the purview of individual businesses, governments, and social sector organizations. In this course, we will move beyond the walls of traditional institutions, building an understanding of the key levers available to those seeking to create major social change. Rising business leaders also have much to learn from social movements. This course will teach us to think big, look beyond traditional institutional change, and challenge ourselves as we learn to apply different levers to diverse issues and constituencies. It will help us appreciate and understand how a range of progressive and conservative movements around the world and over time have mobilized and, crucially, how we might contribute to large-scale social change in our future.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: Nora Silver is Adjunct Professor and Founder and Faculty Director of the Center for Social Sector Leadership at Haas. She brings over 30 years of leadership experience as a two-time social sector founder, executive director, board member, and funder of social sector organizations and social change.  She has consulted internationally with hundreds of social change organizations, authored books and articles on leadership and community involvement, and lectured at universities and conferences around the world. Her recent research is on multisector leadership, networks, and next generation social impact leaders. She was recognized with the Aspen Faculty Pioneer award in 2016 for this course.