About the Course Calendar (updated 4/10/16)

Assignments and readings are due on the day they are listed. For example, Braun should be read for 1/21. The calendar is subject to change, so please be sure to check it daily.

week 1: Beginnings / Course Themes

T 1/19: Introduction to the course, the fellows, and the Beautiful Social Research Collaborative; Tim Brown on play

Assignment for Thursday, 1/21
Please read and be prepared to discuss the reading by Braun and the Beautiful Social Field Guide. All articles can be access on the Readings page.

After reading Braun, I’d like you to consider the following questions: How have you tried to make yourself unique in ways that are meaningful to you? When have you tried to get out of your comfort zone and what was the impact (choose 3 or so examples)? What is (or what would you want to be) your purpose in life? Write your answers to these questions in a GoogleDoc, which you can access in class. You will not be asked to share your responses if you don’t want to.

Click through the course web site, getting familiar with the layout and read the Syllabus carefully. Come to class with any questions you might have.

If you do not yet have a Twitter account, please sign up for one at http://twitter.com. Twitter works best (especially for our purposes) when the username is professional and you are authentic. For example, my username is: billwolff (http://twitter.com/billwolff), and I use my full name to show who I am. My account is unlocked. Please sign up with a professional username and keep your account unlocked. We’ll be using Twitter in a professional way so there is no need to keep anything private. Make sure you have your username with you. The shorter the username the better and please avoid underscores (_); they are hard to type on smartphones.

Create an Instagram account, as well, if you don’t yet have one using the same professional criteria as described for Twitter.

H 1/21: Braun; BSocial Field Guide
Hand out the Social Media Assignment

Assignment for Tuesday, 1/26
Please read pages xiii-66 in Nardella’s book. Find her organization online and check out their various online spaces.

Read through the Social Media assignment, start following your classmates on Twitter and Instagram, and begin live-tweeting/Instagramming your work.

You should have received an email from me with a link to a survey. Please complete that survey by noon on Friday, 1/22. If you did not get the email or have lost it, please email me.

And, of course, enjoy the snow!! I know I’ll be out in it with my wife and our youngsters sledding and building snowmen. . . .

week 2: Social Justice Work

T 1/26: Nardella, pages xiii-66
Intro to Clients, Fellows panel
H 1/28: Nardella, pages 67 – 105
Client placement reveal

week 3: Social Justice Work

Assignment for Tuesday, 2/2
Please read Nardella, pages 115 – 194 and the article by Aaker and Smith, which can be found on the Readings page.

T 2/2: Nardella, pages 115 – 194; Aaker and Smith
Hand out Project Team Assignment
Hand out Story of Learning Assignment

Assignment for Tuesday, 2/4
Please read Nardella, pages 199 – 256, and watch Sinek’s TED talk, “How great leaders inspire action:

H 2/4: Nardella, pages 199 – 256; Sinek: How great leaders inspire action on TED;

week 4: Thinking about why people do what they do

T 2/9: Zengestrom on social objects; Vaynerchuk, Selections from The Thank You Economy; discussion-questions-2-9-16.pdf
H 2/11: Group Work
Project Team Identity Page due by 11:00pm

week 5: Site Visits

T 2/16: class canceled, though you may meet with your teams
H 2/18: class canceled, though you may meet with your teams
Client Background Research Blog Post due by 11:00pm

week 6: Site Visits and Book Club

Assignment for 2/23
Read through the comic “Bloom Like an Artist” by Ida Eva Margrethe Neverdahl, watch John Waters’ 2015 Commencement Speech to the Rhode Island School of Design, and read Why You Should Give Yourself Permission to Screw Up and think about how you might bring these messages to your client’s project. I’d also like you to read through each of the project team identity pages. Come to class with 5 ways you personally think could be done to make your page appealing textually, hypertextually, and visually. And come to class with 5 things you personally took away from your meeting with your client.

T 2/23: “Bloom Like an Artist” by Ida Eva Margrethe Neverdahl; Waters’ Commencement Speech, and Permission to Screw Up; reflect on the site visits; discuss ways to improve your identity page
H 2/25: discuss your group’s chosen book
Discuss Story of Learning part 1

week 7:

T 3/1: More work on book review blog post
Book Review Blog post due by 11:00pm
H 3/3: Creative play for group project
F 3/4: Story of Learning Part 1 Due

week 8: Spring Break 3/7 – 3/11

week 9: Assessment Conferences

T 3/15: Class cancelled for conferences, but you may still meet with your teams
H 3/17: Class cancelled for conferences, but you may still meet with your teams

week 10: Storytelling Updated 3/3

Assignment for 3/22
Please read Davis’s essay on narrative and storytelling, and then Glisson and Fosl (in that order) on the use of storytelling to enact change. If possible, bring printed copies with you.

Tweet THREE questions or thoughts you have about the texts as you are reading them, and respond to at least TWO of your classmates’ tweets. In other words, I’d like you begin to engage in discussion about the texts on Twitter and not just tweet thoughts out there. Remember to use the course hashtag #bsocials16.

In class on Tuesday, we will be discussing these texts in great detail, so please be prepared to discuss them. You might also go back and see what Nardella, Aaker & Smith, and Vaynerchuck had to say about the importance of stories, as well, because those texts will certainly come up in discussion. The texts will also be used, in part, to inform what we are doing on Thursday (and your team projects overall).

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Have a great weekend!

T 3/22: Davis; Fosl; and Glisson on Storytelling; Storify on Storytelling

Assignment for 3/24
Please read Vaynerchuck’s “The Characteristics of Great Content and Compelling Stories.” In class we’ll be meeting with project teams to, in some part, discuss stories and your projects.

H 3/24: Vaynerchuk on Storytelling; finding stories in your organizations

week 11: Group Work

T 3/29: Janis on Groupthink
H 3/31: Group Work

week 12: Group Work

T 4/5: Tufte on PowerPoint and effective presentations
Hand out Beautiful Social Blog Post assignment
H 4/7: Group Work

week 13: Group Work

T 4/12: Group Work
Hand out Final Projects Assignment
H 4/14: Group Work

week 14: Group Work

T 4/19: Group Work
H 4/21: Group Work

Saturday, 4/23: Our #bsocials16 Video due by 11:00pm on Twitter

week 15: Showcase and Reflections

T 4/26: Course evals; Group Work
H 4/28: End of semester showcase; reflect on semester; party
Client Case Study due by 11:00pm

Wednesday, May 4: Final Stories of Learning Due by 11:00pm