GUIDING DOCUMENTS
As part of the SASSY initiative, LA&tW focuses on empowering the student to draw in their Naropa- and outside-community support, as cultivated through their time at the University. From this place, LA&tW uses the strategies of deep listening, pointed curiosity, and a thirst for understanding to share a body of work with the community ready to be built through digital avenues of connection, empathy, and humanness.
Personal Mission Statement and Statement of Purpose:
To investigate the intersections of postmodernism, leadership, and cultural identity; and to recognize the agency of the individual as empowered to recraft the script of western culture.
Guiding Values
Presence and Attentiveness
Taking Responsibility for our stories
Open-heartedness that invites resonance
Beginner's Mind
Honesty & Integrity
A willingness to ask "who needs to hear this story? who needs to be heard?"
Tracking cultural themes
A willingness to respond to our answer of "what's next?"
Legacy Goals
LA&tW seeks to be an example of what's possible for a dedicated student to achieve with planning, support, and dedication. Started as an Independent Study syllabus, the legacy goal of Leadership, Advocacy & the Web is to present one method of resourceful engagement to other ambitious students, and to stand as a provocateur for their potential contributions to our digital community learning.
Action Items
1. Conduct the Interview Series "Tell Us A Story" first with community leaders, then invite public testimony to round out the project.
2. Read voraciously on the fundamental values of entrepreneurship and organization building. Apply that learning to the context of political movements, futher exploring the relationship of individual:group in the Western world.
3. Create locations for inclusive dialogue and individual expression that function to puncture the stagnant and limiting cultural narratives of dualistic privilege and oppression, thereby initiating collectivist discourse. (More on these events and locations soon!)
SYLLABUS
LEADERSHIP, ADVOCACY & THE WEB: An Independent Study
by Erin Likins with Sarah Steward
Course Description:
"Leadership, Advocacy & The Web" will focus on media engagement and community asset building as components of social entrepreneurship. This IS will be constructed by and through media engagement styles, and will reflect the values of leadership, entrepreneurship, innovation and radical honesty while exploring the modern implications of being a global citizen in the digital world.
Learning Outcomes:
· Erin will hone her research skills by engaging in dialogue with mentors, peers, and colleagues about what media engagement means to them and INSERT CONTENT AREA and analyzing her findings through reflections.
· Erin will develop and demonstrate media literacy by presenting written blogs, video blogs, and other forms of commentary and developing an explorative “legacy” website.
· Erin will learn how to and create a social entrepreneurial research campaign and connect with members of that field across the globe.
· Erin will gain the recognized skills of revisions and resilience in the pursuit of a predetermined goal.
Research Plan:
John Paul Lederach's "The Moral Imagination," entire book.
John Elkington & Pamela Hartigan, "The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets That Change The World." entire book.
David Bornstein & Susan Davis' "Social Entrepreneurship: What Everyone Needs to Know." Ch 8 "how is social entrepreneurship different from activism?" and Part II "Challenges of Causing Change"
Rupert Scofield's "The Social Entrepreneur's Handbook" entire book.
Assignments:
All assignments will be sculpted to further the student's exploration of social entrepreneurship and media engagement on their issue of choice.
· Legacy Website: Erin will create a “legacy” website consisting of the following elements:
o Guiding Documents (10%): Erin will generate a "guiding documents" section on her website to help guide her inquiry. This section will include a Personal Mission Statement/Statement of Purpose, a list of guiding values, and Legacy Goals and Action Items. Due: first draft January 18th; final draft due and posted by January 25th.
o Bi-weekly Interviews (35%): Erin will schedule and conduct bi-weekly interviews with mentors, peers, and/or colleagues to whom the issue is relevant.
o Bi-weekly blogs/vlogs (35%): Erin will generate seven bi-weekly written and video-based responses to the bi-weekly interviews and other source materials she encounters along the way. Due: Friday, January 24; Friday, February 7; Friday, February 21; Friday, March 7; Friday, March 21; Friday, April 11; and Friday; April 25
· Final Reflection (5%): Erin will submit a final reflection on her engagement, effectiveness, and suggestions for future social entrepreneurial ventures. Length: 5-7 pages. Due: Monday, May 5
Timeline:
Student will meet with instructor each week for the duration of the semester.
Grading Criteria:
1) Assignments must be turned in by the due date unless prior arrangements have been made with the instructor and a plan has been established to compensate for the delay. Exceptions to due dates are only granted in cases of emergency. Otherwise, late assignments will be marked down one-half letter grade for each day late (e.g., from an “A” to an “A-”). Please plan accordingly.
2) A = Excellent; B = Good; C = Acceptable; D = Poor; F = Failure. For undergraduate students, a grade of “C” is the minimum for required courses in the student’s major and minor fields of study. A grade of “D-” is minimally adequate for all other courses. An undergraduate student does not receive credit for a course in which he or she receives the grade of “F” (See Naropa Student Handbook).