Chicago ‘27 Institute on Teaching Social Action

Sunday, August 8, 12:30pm-6:30pm and Monday, August 9, 8:30am-3:30pm (Central Time)
Registration Fee: Free with SSSP conference registration

Register for the Chicago ’27 Institute on Teaching Social Action. This two-day, in-person institute in Chicago will be hosted by the Society for Study of Social Problems (SSSP) at the Palmer House (Hilton) Hotel, and will begin on the last day of the 2027 Annual Meeting (Sunday, August 8) and end on Monday, August 28th. The Institute will introduce faculty and teaching staff to an experiential learning approach for incorporating social action campaigns into either a semester-long course or co-curricular workshop series. In this transformative experiential learning model, students develop and launch a social action campaign of their choosing during the semester the course is taught.

The student campaigns seek to change a rule, regulation, norm, or practice of an institution, whether on campus or in the community. While not all of the student campaigns are successful, many have been and those that haven’t succeeded have still taught valuable lessons to those who led them and those who were engaged in one form or another.

Our long-term goal is to mainstream this model for teaching active democracy. The world needs more people who have developed their knowledge and skills in bringing about positive change through real world experience.

Note: we ask that attendees fully participate in our community of practice by making the following commitments.

Register online or when you register for the Annual Meeting. Questions may be directed to Dr. Sarah-Jane Brubaker at sbrubaker@vcu.edu.