Taking it to the Streets

The students of Sandy Stone’s Political Activism course were excited and enthusiastic about the concept of an interactive course using the abundant ActLab resources. 344M consists of a mÈlange of University of Texas students looking to fill an upper-division degree requirement. But this course is unlike any other upper division course offered at the University. In January the course began with several exercises involving the process of “non-thinking.” Sandy Stone took a unique and invented approach to brainstorming ideas for interventions. A core element to this class was freedom. Sandy allowed everyone to think, speak and act freely. Although, this concept is somewhat disorienting for most collegiate students, it was necessary to promote a community of ideas and a progressive learning environment. We began as a class with different ideas and hopes for the class and ended as a cohesive and united front understanding if not supportive of others ideas and goals. We attended each other’s interventions, which you can read more about on our Concepts page. Interventions addressing excessive cell phone usage, physical abuse, and the war in Iraq, all created outlets and avenues in which we were able to convey our concerns and frustrations and hopefully invoke others to take action.