The Center for Community Engagement invites Austin-area residents to participate in The Community Classroom: A Space for Learning and Advocacy, which offers low-cost, six-week classes designed to equip participants with the advocacy skills they need to make a positive difference in their neighborhoods.
The classes are taught each semester collaboratively by UT faculty, staff and community partners. Listed below are the three classes that are open for enrollment this fall.
The Art of Building Social Impact
This six-week intensive course is an intimate learning experience, providing space, time and educational resources to those pursuing paths of leadership in community building, nonprofit spaces or social-impact-oriented work. The course explores identity, collaboration, sustainability and entrepreneurialism. Participants will learn to create, audit and adapt strategic plans for small businesses, creative projects and community-oriented spaces.
Instructors: Jane Hervey, founder of BossBabes ATX.
Dates and Times: Tuesdays, 6:30-8;30 p.m., Oct. 1-Nov. 7
Location: BossBabes Headquarters, 906 Springdale Rd., Bldg. 4, Unit 102
Offerings include:
- Access to UT School of Business resources and Texas Grant Resource Center
- A small, interactive classroom environment
- In-depth knowledge about telling your story
- An introduction to self-organizing and business building
- Skills for creating structure for your social impact projects, programs or organizations
- Evening classes and curriculum designed for busy working adults
Registration is $55 (fee waivers are available for those who need it). Deadline for registration is September 18. For more information, contact Stephanie Lang: stephanielang@austin.utexas.edu
Register online.
Creating, Preserving, and Telling our Stories
This class will focus on cultural preservation and historical documentation for Austin’s rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods. Participants will have access to information about and research on historically Black communities in Austin and will learn how to contextualize these histories, archive materials and present them through an artistic lens.
Instructors: Stephanie Lang, cultural preservationist at UT’s Center for Community Engagement; Rachel E. Winston, Black Diaspora Archivist, UT Austin
Dates and Times: Thursdays, 6-8 p.m., Oct. 17-Nov. 21
Location: Sid Richardson Hall, 2300 Red River St. (parking available in Lot #38)
Offerings include:
- Access to the Texas Grant Resource Center
- Information gathering and analysis skills
- A small, interactive classroom environment
- In-depth knowledge about telling your story
- An introduction to self-organizing and business building
- Skills for creating structure for your social impact projects, programs or organizations
- Evening classes and curriculum designed for busy working adults
Registration is $45 (fee waivers are available for those who need it). Deadline for registration is October 16. For more information, contact Stephanie Lang: stephanielang@austin.utexas.edu.
Register online.
Race in America
Round Rock-area residents are invited to participate in The Community Classroom: A Space for Learning and Advocacy, which offers low-cost series of classes designed to equip, empower and engage participants in critical conversations concerning equity, access and community advocacy.
Developed by UT Austin’s Center for Community Engagement, the classes are taught each semester collaboratively by UT faculty, staff and community partners. This fall the community of Round Rock and surrounding central Texas is invited to participate in the course, Race in America, a 4-week exploration of contemporary race relations in America, since President Trump took office in January 2017.
This course will take a deep dive into this country’s racial ecosystem with a particular focus on how the current political and social climate centers race.
Instructor: Dr. Leonard Moore, Vice President of UT Austin’s Division of Diversity and Community Engagement and Professor of History (with guest lectures to support).
Dates and Times: Mondays, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Oct. 7-Nov. 4
Location: Round Rock High School (Auditorium) | 201 Deep Wood Dr, Round Rock, TX
Offerings include: By the end of the course, participants will have the tools to:
- Engage in a fair-minded and intelligent conversation or debate on race
- Remain resilient in the face of opinions and viewpoints you don’t agree with
- Enhance awareness and understanding of the role of race in business, law, and policy
- Develop an appreciation for different perspectives
Likewise, participants will be exposed to the following:
- Access to UT libraries and resources
- Programming through the Center for Community Engagement
- Information gathering and analysis skills
- A small, interactive classroom environment
- Knowledge about national and local racial history
Registration is $55 (fee waivers are available for those who need it). Sign up here: http://bit.ly/2klSB2e-RT. Deadline for registration is October 3. For more information, contact Stephanie Lang: Stephanielang@austin.utexas.edu