The Experiential Classroom

The Social Impact Lab develops experiential learning methods that nurture essential skills for effective, equitable, and accountable social changemaking: systems thinking, ethical reasoning, complex problem-solving, perspective taking, and cultural humility. Through experiential grant making, systems mapping, case studies, and a variety of micro-experiences built into SIL courses, students are challenged to navigate cognitive, ethical, and emotional dissonance, develop self-authorship and agency, and reflect on their identities and moral responsibility as social change makers.

Courses

Offers students an opportunity to explore the nonprofit sector’s multifaceted role in U.S. society and its relationship to democracy and social change. Introduces theoretical and practical frameworks for examining contemporary models of nonprofit and philanthropic practice and examines the ethical implications of engaging in and funding activities designed to effect social change. Offers students an opportunity to apply these concepts by mapping the complex systems within which social challenges emerge and by making real dollar grants to local nonprofit organizations.

The overarching goal of this course is for students to understand how persistent problems (e.g., income inequality, health disparities, climate change, food insecurity) and their potential solutions manifest within complex and dynamic systems. We will examine how human systems come into being, how they can intentionally and unintentionally perpetuate inequity and where opportunities exist for individuals and organizations to address them more effectively by applying systems thinking. The course will provide an overview of theories, practices, and tools of systems thinking and opportunities to apply them to both one’s personal experiences and a variety of complex challenges facing the U.S. and other countries. In addition to systems thinking, this course is designed to cultivate critical thinking, complex problem solving, ethical reasoning, perspective taking, relationship building, collaboration, accountability, and personal and intellectual growth through class discussion, reflection, group work, and systems mapping.

Intended for first-year students in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities. Introduces students to liberal arts; familiarizes them with their major; develops the academic skills necessary to succeed (analytical ability and critical thinking); provides grounding in the culture and values of the University community; and helps to develop interpersonal skills—in short, familiarizes students with all skills needed to become a successful university student.

This course examines the opportunities, challenges, and obligations nonprofit organizations face in addressing two interdependent imperatives: 1) providing the social benefit for they were created within complex and dynamic systems comprising diverse stakeholder groups and characterized by persistent inequities; and 2) building a sustainable business model within a social change funding market characterized by competition for limited resources and a power imbalance between the individuals and institutions controlling these resources and those seeking them. Topics include inclusive stakeholder identification and participation, systems change, needs assessment and evaluation based on communities’ lived experience, program design, theory of change and logic models, strategic and business planning, organizational structure and capacity building, governance, and communications.
This course examines the role of the nonprofit sector (also called the third sector or voluntary sector) in the United States, its historical evolution, and the responsibilities, opportunities, and challenges facing nonprofit organizations today, especially as they relate to civil society and public policy concerns. This course explores current trends and debates in the nonprofit sector such as the use of evidence-based practice, business-oriented models, controversial services, tax policy, the nature and legitimacy of nonprofit advocacy, the growth of social entrepreneurship, and the sector’s relationship with complex historical legacies in the U.S.