This document provides information about the "Making Change Happen" program at Evergreen State College, including its objectives, course of study, readings, and evaluations. The program focused on human development, organizational change, and questions around social justice. Over three quarters, students explored these topics through various lenses like systems theory and leadership. They studied texts on culture, identity, and the social contract. Students were encouraged to participate in experiential learning like a field trip to a social justice retreat center. According to an evaluation, student Robin demonstrated strong critical thinking, writing, and understanding of course concepts through her engagement with readings, projects, and internship throughout the year-long program.

1. Making Change Happen
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Description
Faculty: Marcella Benson-Quaziena, Ph.D. and George Freeman, Ph.D.
Students in Making Change Happen developed knowledge in human development and organizational change.
The guiding questions of this program were framed in terms of democracy, social justice, welfare, civil rights,
and personal transformation and transcendence. We examined the psychology of change, what role
transcendence plays in our ways of thinking about change, and how equity and justice are served. This program
explored these questions in the context of systems theory, multicultural and anti-oppression frameworks,
leadership development, and within the context of the civil rights movement. The stance of the program was a
belief that the personal is political and vice-versa so we have to understand what experiences inform our stance
towards change.
The objectives of the program were: 1) To develop the ability to balance action in the world and self reflection;
2) To develop awareness of self in relation to change and opportunities for change; 3) To gain a greater
understanding of human development from Western and non-Western perspectives; 4) To better develop critical
thinking skills as expressed through public presentation and written work; 5) To develop proficiency with web-
based communication tools; 6) To develop better collaborative learning skills through work groups, seminar,
and group and individual exercises; 7) To discover one’s potential as an agent of change at both the individual
and group level.
The focus fall quarter was on the self, particularly from a cultural and autobiographical perspective, as these
experiences inform our world view. Fall quarter texts included: Patricia Miller’s Theories of Development;
Barbara Rogoff’s The Cultural Nature of Human Development; James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time; Ken
Wilber’s No Boundaries: Eastern and Western Approaches to Personal Growth; Gloria Anzaldua’s La
Frontera/Borderlands; andMaya Angelou’s I know why the caged bird sings. Winter quarter the program
shifted to a study of the individual in relationship to groups. Beginning with the Social Contract by Jacques
Rousseau, students developed an understanding of the permutations of the social contract through history and
across marginalized groups. Our readings included: Readings for Diversity and Social Justice: An Anthology on
Racism, Sexism, Anti-Semitism, Heterosexism, Classism, and Ableism; Jane Lazarre’s memoir Beyond the
Whiteness of Whiteness; Charles Mills’ The Racial Contract; and Carole Pateman’s The Sexual Contract. We
finished the quarter using Russell’s textBeyond Ramps: Disability and the End of the Social Contract. Spring
quarter delved into a larger systems level approach to social justice and change. Students prepared for the
quarter by reading one of the following three books: The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon; The Albino
Album by Chavisa Woods; and The Girl who Fell from the Sky by Heidi Durrow. The other texts reflected the
title of the program, Making Change Happen: Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky; Leadership for a better
world by Susan Komives and Wendy Wagner; The Occupy Handbook by Janet Byrne; Challenging Authority:
How Ordinary People Change America by Frances Priven; and ending the program was Blessed Unrest: How
the Largest Social Movement in History is Restoring Grace, Justice, and Beauty to the World by Paul Hawkens.
Students were encouraged to complete a field trip for a series of in-class workshops, lectures and cultural events
in the milieu of the rural South by going to The Highlander Research and Education Center near Knoxville,
Tennessee. While there students expanded upon their knowledge of social activism and steeped themselves in
the ongoing history and current movement of social justice. Those students attending this retreat prepared

2. themselves by reading: Action Inquiry: The Secret of Timely and Transforming Leadership by William Torbert;
and Highlander: An Approach to Education Presented through a Collection of Writings.
In addition, full time students read the following texts fall quarter: James Hillman's The Soul’s Code: In Search
of Character and Calling; Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell; and Fedorko's The Intern
Files. The additional objectives included developing a greater fluency with qualitative and quantitative research
methods and developing an historical perspective of the major forces of psychology from Psychodynamic to
Humanistic. During winter and spring quarters they developed a more in-depth understanding of
communication skills, psychopathology and personality theory through the following: Wayne Perry's Basic
Counseling Techniques: A Beginning Therapist's Tool Kit; Louis J Cozolino's The neuroscience of
psychotherapy; Albert Ellis and Abrams' Personality Theories: Critical Perspectives; Rollo May’s The
Discovery of Being; Irvin Yalom’s Creatures of another day; and Understanding psychopathology: An integral
exploration by R. Elliot Ingersoll and Andre Marquis. Students had the choice of completing an independent
project or an internship during winter and spring quarters.
Evaluation
Written by: George Freeman, Ph.D.
This winter quarter Robin entered our program, Making Change Happen as a returning student having finished
her Bachelor of Arts. Entering a program during winter quarter can be a challenge. Robin immediately fit into
the flow of our program making friends, working well with her small group and adapting quickly to our
pedagogical style and structure. Her work throughout the quarter demonstrated her solid foundation and ability
to do advanced work in an unfamiliar discipline. Her independent work was consistently very good in quality.
Her relationship to her group was one of leadership and support.
Through her weekly responses to the reading, Robin provided a clear discussion of the material. Throughout
winter and spring quarters Robin developed greater fluency in her voice and a strong grasp of the material. Her
work matured, as did the quality of her thinking and synthesis. Robin is a very good writer and she dedicated a
good deal of time to crafting a well written response. Her critiques of the reading presented her understanding
of the main concepts and her ability to provide a critical analysis of the themes. Her responses to other’s
critiques were thoughtful and considerate as well as dedicated to their growth and change. She created an actual
exchange of ideas through her comments to her colleagues. Robin provided an excellent discussion of her
development of a cross-cultural presence and identity through her cross-cultural narrative and her affinity
paper. Robin’s cross cultural narrative and her affinity-based paper both amplified Robin’s desire to move
towards greater cultural sensitivity, awareness and an ownership of her identity. Each was particularly well
written and provided good examples of her drive and desire. Likewise her research and paper presentation for
her group project on racism with a focus on the Native American experience brought forward both her personal
and academic development demonstrating her strong understanding of these themes. Her work was well written
and researched. Her component of the group presentation was excellent. Her diversity reflections demonstrated
her understanding of the “other” and articulated how cultural differences impact lived experiences. Her work
with the readings on the Social Contract represented the work of a scholar. As the year progressed Robin's
understanding of the central themes of the program regarding social justice, diversity and the areas of
psychology we studied exemplified the quality of her intellect and dedication to her studies. Her group's final
community scanning project for spring quarter was well constructed and on Robin's part well researched and
presented. The sheer amount of work she completed for this project was exemplary and a model for all students.
Her review of our reading in psychology demonstrated an excellent understanding and synthesis of the work in
personality theory and communication skills. Robin’s research-based articles supported her ability to conduct
library research using peer reviewed psychology journal articles. Her summaries were well written using a clear
voice. She advanced her understanding of personality, psychotherapy, ethics, assessment, and

3. psychopathology. Her ability to apply the theoretical in a real life situation is equally evident in her application
of theory through our communication skills component of the program and in the completion of this year's
assignments. Her dream analysis, psychotherapy articles, and playlist demonstrated a good understanding of the
themes of the program and the central concepts of our reading. Robin’s review of their two films demonstrated
a solid understanding of the symbolic and representational material of the film. Her use of radio interviews to
gain a better understanding of the interview process supported her growth and change this year. In working with
her "client" she demonstrated a growing confidence with reflective listening and the use of theoretical models to
understand the client's behavior and appropriate interventions.
Robin completed the community scan assignment and secured an internship with Out of the Woods working
with a homeless population. Her journal demonstrated an effective use of her time and continued development
and support of the organization. During the internship and through the communication practicum she
demonstrated her good use of active listening skills. Her supervisor, Mr. Brett Rader provided the following
evaluation:
Robin was an intern at Out of the Woods family shelter for two quarters (Winter & Spring 2015) for over 10
hours a week. She was able to gain hands on experience in the following areas, which were her focus.
Grant writing and process
During the course of Robin’s internship, she had the opportunity to see how the grant writing process worked
within a small non-profit organization. She was able to attend a couple of meetings where the guidelines for
grants from different city and county, federal grant requests for proposals were reviewed. She also go to see
what the process looked like as well as get a background of some of the benefits and shortfalls of the grant
writing process.
We had several in-depth discussions on the overall system of homeless support. We looked at how Federal
funding is being stretched thin across agencies helping the homeless and how direct federal and state services
are dwindling. We discussed how a shift in social services moved from the public sector to the private sector
occurred and the effect it had on non-profit agencies trying to maintain levels of service with less government
assistance. Robin also conducted some independent research on the topic of grant writing to better understand
some of the requirements for receiving funding.
Case Management
Over the course of the time that Robin spent at the shelter, she was able to see firsthand how case management
worked. She was able to sit in on a case management session with the permission of some of the clients at the
shelter. She also got a background in what issues arise when doing case management with families and how we
work with the families to find solutions to these issues. She was able to see how each case was different and
need to be handled individually. She was able to navigate a proper course of action and see how sometimes
adjustments need to be made in the case to make them successful.
Community Outreach
Robin was interested in see how different organizations work together in the community, both non-profits and
government entities. She was able to attend a number of meetings like the HOME Consortium, South Sound
Volunteers Coordinators, and Homeless Taskforce which all work to bring local non-profits together. All of
which bring these parties together to discuss issues facing our community. We also discussed the different
agencies and resources Out of the Woods uses to help its clients achieve independence and stability. Robin was
able to meet some of the key community members who are working on the issue of homelessness.

4. Over all Robin got an in-depth perspective on how a small non-profit works and operates. Beyond the
superficial nature she was able to get to the heart of the issue of homeless families. She was able to examine her
own assumptions and conclusions about homelessness. She was very open to new concepts and ideas as they
arose and made a great effort to explore these ideas further in independent research. She has a great foundation
already to work from to become a great agent of change in the community.
Robin also attended the Highlander Research and Education Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. She was an
engaged member of the community, open to all the experiences of the field trip, and was clearly moved by the
experience towards both an intellectual and an emotional understanding of social change and what it takes to be
an agent of change.
Robin presented an exceptionally well organized portfolio that represented the high standards she holds for
herself. Over the course of the past two quarters witnessing Robin's personal and academic growth has been
exciting. Arriving with substantial work history and a Bachelor of Arts degree she successfully built on this
foundation with the material of the program. Her dedication to social justice and equity along with a more
powerful understanding of identity politics is a formidable force. Congrats, Robin on such a stellar year.