College students tackle activism in the classroom

Students at Brandeis University learn about activism by getting involved in hands-on projects with groups like Habitat for Humanity

July 5, 2001
Web posted at: 4:18 PM EDT (2018 GMT)

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From Kathy Slobogin
CNN

(CNN) -- Have you ever wanted to change the world? Did you ever think you could learn how?

Eleven students at Brandeis University in Massachusetts are giving activism a try through a unique class where they learn how to bring about effective social change.

Not only is the curriculum for this class different from regular pen and paper college courses, the classroom itself is revolutionary. The students board a bus for a rolling tour of America's hot spots of social change. It's a journey that takes them from civil rights landmarks like Selma, Alabama to a Habitat for Humanity construction site in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

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Student Tameka Pringle says this kind of learning experience is invaluable.

"I was thrilled with the idea of going around and studying and getting hands-on skills as opposed to just sitting in classrooms and being fed knowledge," she said.

In Baton Rouge, the students pick up shovels and hammers to help renovate houses for low-income homeowners. They are learning the philosophy behind the international, non-profit Habitat for Humanity's mission: To build affordable, decent shelter for those in need of a home.

The students are also learning a lesson about working with people who will actually benefit from what they do.

"We realize, you know, it's not about the theory. It's about the people," said Suzy Stone, a student in the course.

"It's about getting down to the level of where we're working on a one-on-one individual basis with some of these people. It's really nice."

The tour is the brainchild of David Cunningham, an assistant professor at Brandeis, who feels many students today are overhwelmed at the prospect of finding a way to make a difference.

"What I found over the last few years working with college students is they have the sense -- what I like to think of as a vicarious nostalgia -- about the 60s and even the early 70s about what activism meant, and how social change occurs," Cunningham said.

Cunningham's goal for the course is that students learn their own brand of activism. He encourages the students to see that the road to social change isn't always crowded with organized protests.

Cunningham says students are learning there are many different ways to trigger social change

Recently the bus came to a stop in Mississippi so the Brandeis students could learn more about The Algebra Project.

A project originally founded in Boston in 1982 by Bob Moses, The Algebra Project pairs civil rights leaders with children in schools around the nation who need help learning math. The goal is to give all students the conceptual understanding of higher mathematics needed for entrance into college.

"It's almost not revolutionary," said one Brandeis student. "... not trying to create a big social movement, almost, but just (effecting change) through a little program to teach kids math."

"I think it's broadened their (Brandeis' students) sense that they don't have to be out there protesting on the streets with placards or with their fists raised, and that they can work within the system sometimes or even outside of the system with organizations that are trying to make a difference," said Cunningham.