Berkeley Changemaker Courses

Spring 2021 Courses 

UGBA C12 "The Berkeley Changemaker"(link is external) and L&S C12 "The Berkeley Changemaker"(link is external)

Class #33085 and 33048

This course is rooted in the belief that all Berkeley students are in the process of becoming Berkeley Changemakers. Changemakers make their impact everywhere on the campus intellectual landscape – through scientific breakthroughs, artistic imagination, social action projects, and entrepreneurial ventures. It is a course for entering students, who will learn to employ creative and critical thinking to imagine better futures, and then develop leadership skills to mobilize others to help create them. The ultimate goal of the course is to help incoming students discover their own identity as Berkeley Changemakers through shaping their educational experience at UC Berkeley.

Political Science 198: Berkeley Changemaker^TM: Topics In International Ethics(link is external)

Class #23807

As BERKELEY CHANGEMAKERSTM, how do we apply ethics to critical policy questions? Designed for students who have had, or are currently taking, PS 124C Ethics and Justice in International Affairs, this 1 unit course allows a small group of students to select and engage deeply with a critical policy question that emerges from the course. Working in groups to develop a specific question, you'll craft solutions grounded in the ethical theories of the course while gaining a new perspective on how to lead change by engaging with the practical implications of implementation. This course also features practitioners in areas such as humanitarian intervention, international criminal justice, etc. who provide their perspectives on both the ethics and courses of action required for implementing change.

The Berkeley Changemakers' inclusive curriculum activates your passions and helps you to develop a sharper sense of who you want to be, while providing you the tools to take those next steps. Our curriculum focuses on critical thinking, communication, and collaboration complemented by an emphasis on creativity, community, and belonging. 

In conjunction with PS124C, the two courses meet the following requirements: 

• Meets International Studies, L&S Breadth
• Meets Philosophy & Values, L&S Breadth
• Meets Social & Behavioral Sciences, L&S Breadth
• Meets the Human Rights Course Thread

COLWRIT R4B 016: Berkeley Changemaker™: Writing the Change We Seek(link is external)

Class #25292

U.C. Berkeley has long been a place for innovative ideas and creative, out-of-the-box discovery. What role might you play on campus, in your communities and beyond as a passionate writer and thinker?

In this special R4B course, in collaboration with The Berkeley Changemaker™ series, we’re going to roll up our sleeves and get into the thick of some of the most interesting and complex issues of our time. We’ll explore the extraordinary opportunities and ethical quandaries of CRISPR and bioengineering. We’ll look at big tech and social entrepreneurship in the Bay Area, balancing connectivity and access against privacy and the flood of misinformation online. We’ll learn about social justice in a time of polarization; environmental threats and opportunities for impact; public health and the rebuilding of trust in science; internet culture and personal identity; street art and social change; distance learning and the rethinking of what a liberal arts education can be.

Most importantly, this course is increasingly choose-your-own-adventure: what are the issues and ideas that most motivate you? We’ll engage with an array of inspiring and provocative talks by thought leaders across U.C. Berkeley. We’ll play with new tools and practice some vital skills: gaining confidence as a writer; learning to navigate digital resources; mapping ideas with visual thinking; learning to flexibly listen while interviewing others; persuading and engaging peers with public speaking; designing dynamic slides and an interactive writing website of your own. We’ll return to this core question: what does lasting change look like — and how might your own writing serve as a means to enact it?

This Reading, Research, and Composition Course satisfies Part B of the College of Letters & Science's Reading and Composition Requirement(