F1HH 4305 - Advocacy: Philosophy and Practice

OUR OBJECTIVES

• Develop a keen understanding of the history, philosophy, tools, and current methods of advocacy with reference to key texts and case studies.
• Appreciate the capacity of organizing communities and nonviolence strategy in advocacy campaigns targeting policy-makers and transnational companies.
• Identify your interests and refine your skills as an advocate, amplifying your natural talents and developing new ones.

OUR STRUCTURE

The class is intended to strike a balance between the presentation of key ideas, the consideration of personal and professional advocacy experiences, and the exploration of emerging trends and problems.
You will form small working groups of 4-5 students, in which you will plan and execute an advocacy research project with guidance from our organizational partners.
In addition, you will each write a 5-page personal reflection on an advocacy problem of special interest, drawing upon the texts of the class.

OUR METHOD
The course applies a Flipped Class-room model through the virtual educational platform moodle. Students will have access to the educational materials such as reading materials and pre-recorded videos where the instructor will explain key concepts of each learning unit, as well as forums to share reflections, doubts or any other comments about the course. Additionally, 4 virtual meetings will be organized to introduce and follow-up the course and the individual and group assignments.

In parallel, the in-person sessions will be interactive spaces to reflect and discuss around the content provided in the reading materials and pre-recorded videos. The instructor will facilitate the discussions, introduce new concepts, provide best practices from real examples and propose experiential activities to enrich the learning experience.

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the course, the students will be able to:

- Develop a keen understanding of the history, philosophy, tools and current methods of advocacy with reference to key texts and case studies.
- Appreciate the capacity of organizing communities and nonviolence strategy in advocacy campaigns targeting policy-makers and transnational companies
. - Identify your interest and refine your skills as an advocate, amplifying your natural talents and developing new ones.

Professional Skills: 1. Understand and employ methods of public narrative in an advocacy campaign.
2. Envisioning and design effective advocacy strategies based on theory of changes
3. Understand and employ methods of powermapping.
4. Use digital technologies to reinforce an advocacy strategy.
5. Recognize key concepts from the history of advocacy, including dialogue, community organizing and intersectionality.
6. Develop corporate advocacy strategies while identifying choke points in supply and investment chains
7. Integrate political communication, social mobilization and advocacy strategies
Link to the syllabus: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IFTWKbav2-DdpuwlMJqJxInnVzfzvM2h/view?usp=sharing

Felip DAZA,Lex PAULSON

Séminaire

English

Spring 2022-2023

Assessment TBC :

4-6 page personal essay (40%) => please add a word count range + deadline for submission
small-group research assignments (40%) => please add format and the deadline for submission
in-class participation (10%);
participation in virtual debates and sessions (10%)

This process will be structured at 3 levels:
1) Online group sessions: At least 2 virtual meetings (minimum 2h) will be organized to:
i) welcome and introductory online session to learning goals, skills, program and methodology, as well and solve doubts and questions about the assessment system (week 1)
ii) Introduction to the individual task assignment and solving questions (week 4)
iii) introduction to the working group task assignment and solving questions (week 8)
iv) follow-up session on working group assignment (week 10)

2) Individual and personalized feedback to individual assignments: writing feedback of the assignment submitted through the moodle platform;
3) Group feedback during the last presential session of the program: the facilitator will provide key inputs to the final research presentation. Also, each working group will receive writing feedback of their final research work.
Moreover, the instructor will provide a guidance document to partner organizations to ensure systematic mentoring and feedback to each working group.