48-1105 50 Years of Civil Rights in Chicago

Fifty years ago, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. embarked on his “northern campaign,” which brought the civil rights movement to Chicago. In your freshman year, 2015-16, the 50th anniversary will be commemorated by the key players in that struggle who are still working for change - Rainbow/PUSH, the Jewish Council for Urban Affairs, the Community Renewal Society (including The Chicago Reporter and Catalyst Chicago) - activist organizations that made history in 1965-66, and are still wrestling with issues of racial, economic and social justice, half a century later. It is true today, as it was then, that “The Whole World is Watching”. Students in this course will work in teams to interact with the people and institutions that made our city an international focus for social change. They will use public relations techniques to document and communicate the past and current state of civil rights in Chicago. The ultimate course deliverable will be an online website that tells this story, in words and pictures, from our students to other youth aged 18-20 - filling a niche that might otherwise go undeveloped in the city’s 50th anniversary celebration.

3 Credits
FE