Course Type: Upper-level elective
Institution: Bryn Mawr College
Semesters Taught: Fall 2025 + 2x prior
Enrollment: 15-20 students

Course Description

I designed and taught this course, in which students used several different theoretical lenses to study contemporary social movements including Black Lives Matter, Me Too, and the anti-Dakota Access Pipeline protests, as well as earlier twentieth-century movements. I used a central wiki-building activity to tie the course together.

Pedagogical Approach

• Multiple theoretical lenses: Students apply different frameworks to understand movement dynamics
• Collaborative wiki-building: Class-wide project that synthesizes learning across the semester
• Contemporary focus: Emphasis on current movements with historical context
• Student-driven inquiry: Students help shape topics and research questions
• Community building: Creating spaces for dialogue across difference

Key Learning Outcomes

• Understanding social movements as complex, multi-faceted phenomena
• Application of multiple theoretical frameworks to movement analysis
• Recognition of movement strategies, tactics, and organizational forms
• Analysis of how movements adapt to changing political contexts
• Development of collaborative research and presentation skills

Course Structure

Students examine movements through various analytical lenses while contributing to a collaborative wiki that becomes a comprehensive resource on social movement theory and practice.

Student Impact

The wiki-building activity helps students see connections between different movements and theoretical approaches while developing digital collaboration skills valuable beyond the classroom.

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Header image: Protest demonstration photo from Unsplash. Free for educational use under Unsplash License.