Detailed Project Outline #1: Learning Lessons from Social Movements Summit
Overview of the project
Learning Lessons From Social Movements Summits are a flagship project of Idealist on Campus.
They are a forum for students and activists to deconstruct past social movements, and to
apply knowledge to current movements. By bringing together students and change agents in
intergenerational learning activities, the Summit strengthens town-gown relationships
between campuses and communities, and demonstrates the power of student led initiatives.
In May of 2002 Dartmouth College hosted the inaugural Learning Lessons From Social
Movements Summit, and in February 2003 Miami-Dade Community College hosted the second
Summit. In the summer of 2003, a new "Learning Circle" model for the Summit was launched when a small group
of activists gathered at the Highlander Research and Education Center in Tennessee.
Keynote speakers and panelists have included Winona LaDuke; photojournalist Al Crespo;
and Julie Chavez Rodriguez, a Program Officer at the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation.
Goals of the project
Members of the IOC community will:
Promote coalition building between students, faculty, administrators, non-profit professionals, and community members involved in socially conscious activities.
Promote the idea that all struggles for social justice are related.
Expand the scope of service oriented students to include tools employed by activists to address root causes of social issues.
Expose students who are involved in activism to the pressing needs of communities and the mutual benefits of good community service.
Promote intergenerational learning.
Bridge the activist town-gown gap.
Demonstrate the power of students to contribute substantially to the development and implementation of quality programming.
