Social Justice Organizations: Framing Good Works

Dr. Jimmy Davis: jimmy.davis@belmont.edu

July 8-August 9, 2018

Experience London as the natives do, by living for a month on the South Bank in walking distance of The Tower, the Thames, St. Paul’s, Borough Market and the Houses of Parliament. A center of theatre, art, culture, banking, music, media, fashion, and science: you name it, London has it. We’ll also explore other parts of England with course-specific and group day excursions as well as a four-day trip to Scotland. Join us as together we find out why Samuel Johnson famously said, “the man who is tired of London is tired of life.”

Using organizations in London and the UK as our source book, in this course we will explore the messages and methods used by social justice organizations to advance their causes. Poverty, the well-being of children and the elderly, the environment, and fairness in the legal system are just a few of the issues advanced by these organizations. Each of these complex issues must be “framed” for relevant audiences in ways that help them understand, and respond appropriately to, the needs of the disadvantaged. Our job will be to figure out how this is done by select British social justice organizations and how it might be done better, considering the impact of the different cultural contexts in which these messages are framed. In the end the purpose of the course is to make the students who take it stronger “message-framers” for the organizations and causes they hold dear.

Areas of credit for which this course can be taken:

• COM 3950—major/minor credit in Communications and related disciplines; approved for Social Justice minor
• COM 3950 (JCS)—for COM 3015 Jr Cornerstone or General Education requirements in Social Science

DID YOU KNOW? All study abroad courses have a special tuition rate of 1/3 the cost of normal tuition.  For every 3 hours of study abroad credit you register for, you pay for only one hour. This helps to off-set the cost of the trip. The cost of going on a 6 or 9 hour trip is about the same or less than taking those courses here on campus in the summer.