Grassroots Democracy: Leadership and Power
(WMST/SOSC 17)
Jackie Reza & Nicky González Yuen, Instructors

Welcome!  This class is a comparative study in grassroots organizing, leadership and the development of popular power. Over the course of the quarter, we will look at how ordinary people historically have worked together to create more just communities that bettered their lives. We will look at how people emerged or were nurtured in these communities to provide the leadership necessary to create cohesive movements for social change.

The learning method for this class will include traditional academic study, civic engagement field work, and personal exploration. Traditional academic study is vital to have a sound theoretical framework when studying social justice and social change; civic engagement in important because work in "the field" gives you an opportunity directly to see and engage with real humans dealing with issues of power and powerlessness in concrete settings; personal exploration balances these approaches and provides an opportunity to apply your learning directly to your own life and experiences. The combination will give you a richer understanding than any one approach alone.

Campus Camp Wellstone Retreat: Also, this class will entail 3 days of class "retreat/workshop" time during which we will be joined by other members of the Foothill-De Anza community who are engaged in social movement and social change organizing right here on our campuses as well as within our local communities. These days will be broken up into two times:

• Friday April 30 from 12 noon overnight to Saturday May 1 at 5:30 pm- Santa Cruz Mountains.  And then a follow up date on
• Friday June 11 from 9 am to 5 30 pm at De Anza College.

Team Teaching: This class will be team taught by Nicky Gonzalez Yuen and Jackie Reza. Both instructors will generally be in class each day and at the class workshops/retreats. Grading will be divided with each instructor grading particular assignments or portions of particular assignments. See the grading page of the syllabus for specifics. Each instructor will hold regular office hours. Though both instructors can respond to questions about class business, questions about assignments will be best addressed to the instructor responsible for grading the particular assignment.

Please read the class syllabus for details about the course operates.

We hope you will enjoy this class. Please be in touch with either of us with any questions or concerns you have.

Nicky González Yuen, Ph.D, JD
Instructor and Dept Chair, Political Science Dept.

Jackie Reza, Ed.D
Instructor, Counseling and Women's Studies

"If a teacher does not involve himself, his values, his commitments, in the course of discussion, why should the students?"-- Paul D. Wellstone, Professor of Political Science, Community Organizer, United States Senator (1944-2002)