The University of North Carolina Greensboro
Course Number: BUS/ENT 540
(Also listed as SWK/ENT 540, CST/ENT 540, WGS/ENT 540)
Course Title: Social Entrepreneurship: Justice and a Green Environment
Credits: 3 hours
Prerequisites: Upper division students (seniors) and graduate students
For whom planned: This course is planned for upper class undergraduate and graduate
students from all majors.
Instructor information:
Channelle James, Business Administration, cdjame2@uncg.edu
Kathy Jamieson, Women’s and Gender Studies, KMJAMIES@uncg.edu
Spoma Jovanovic, Communication Studies, spomajovanovic@uncg.edu
Cathryne Schmitz, Social Work, CLSCHMIT@uncg.edu
Catalog Description: Interdisciplinary course in social entrepreneurship. Exploration of
models for designing and implementing entrepreneurial projects which respond to social,
economic, environmental, and justice issues. Introduction to direct action and evaluation.
Long Description: This is an interdisciplinary course designed to expose upper class
undergraduate and graduate students to social entrepreneurship and multiple models for
designing and implementing entrepreneurial projects that respond to social and economic
issues. As social entrepreneurs, teams of students will investigate environmental
concerns, identify related issues of justice, create and inspire a model for direct action,
and assess the potential impact of this action on the community and society at large.
Students are expected to assess diversity, oppression, and justice issues in the target area,
drawing relationships locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.
Our goal is not only to teach about social entrepreneurship but also to actively engage
students in social entrepreneurship. As such, we see service-learning, where community
action and academic study are linked so that each strengthens the others a vital pathway
for students to build deep relationships with community members. Through explicit
discussion and reflection on service-learning, we will underscore the need for citizen
engagement as students prepare for and initiate social change as they develop their social
entrepreneurship competencies.
Student Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of this practicum course, students will
be able to:
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1. Identify and compare models of social entrepreneurship and the key issues
that social entrepreneurs face;
2. Explore the characteristics of social entrepreneurs and communities and
organizational characteristics that support social entrepreneurship;
3. Critically examine economic, social, and political systems and power
dynamics as related to social entrepreneurship and the community served;
4. Analyze and synthesize relevant principles, theories, and concepts;
5. Explore the impact of social entrepreneurship in local and global contexts; and
6. Identify an inherently unjust equilibrium in the area of the environment,
identify the opportunity in this equilibrium, and develop a social proposition
that has potential for significant impact, through collaborative work across
disciplines. Exhibit strong written and oral communication strategies to coherently,
clearly, and thoughtfully present ideas.
Teaching Strategies:
Interdisciplinary Team Project:
In order to best understand complex social, economic, and political questions an
interdisciplinary approach is used for the course team project. As students work on the
project they should rely on the development of a coordinated and collaborative team.
Students will organize interdisciplinary teams for the project, with the assistance of the
instructors. During the semester as students are introduced to course topics, your team
will work to complete a project that relates to social entrepreneurship and one of the
topics discusses in class. Early in the semester, student groups will submit proposals
clarifying their project topics. The focus of each project should include the main themes
of the course: social justice, sustainability, the green environment. At the end of the
semester student projects will be graded as a team, and peer evaluations will contribute to
the assessment of individual performance. Teams will submit a 7 page paper that
describes their project and its impact in terms of social entrepreneurship. Please see
Blackboard for more information on the format for submitting your project.
Community Presentation:
At the end of the semester students groups will deliver a professional presentation
highlighting their interdisciplinary team project. Students should invite to this
presentation a representative of the community partner used as a focus for project
development. The community partners will be asked to evaluate the proposal of the
group in terms of quality, effectiveness, usefulness, and presentation. Please see
Blackboard for more information on the format for submitting your project.
Student Blog:
Each Student group will create and maintain a course blog. Students can use a variety of
blogging applications as long as they provide the instructors with an address to the blog.
Students will be provided with very broad topics to get them started on producing their
blog contributions. The blogs should be well structured and well written, following
reasonable rules for grammar and editing. All members of the group blog should
contribute for each entry, as failure to participate will have a negative effect on your
grade. Group contributions no doubt will include competing views. Keep in mind the
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need for respect for the diversity of people who will view your blog. Good sources for
Blog applications include:
www.blogger.com
http://www.photoblog.com/ (allows photo sharing with Blog)
http://www.weebly.com/
Reading/Reaction
Students are expected to complete the readings and to be able to clearly reflect
academically and personally on the readings. The reflections should be submitted
through Blackboard in the discussion area. Please write committed and complete
reflection entries that communicate your sincere effort to understand course materials.
Reaction entries should be well written, following reasonable rules for grammar and
editing.
Final/Reflection Paper (for undergraduate students)
At the end of the semester students will submit a final paper, reflecting a conclusion of
final learning from the course. How has your thinking changed about the world, your
community, your education, and your future based on the activities, discussions, readings,
and practical experiences from the course. The paper should be between 7 to 10 pages.
As with all assignments students should write clearly and effectively. You will receive a
detailed information sheet to assist you with this assignment from the instructors of the
course. You should use APA style to document your sources for this assignment. Your
sources are an important part of developing your thesis for the assignment. You are
expected to use a wealth of references that include readings from the course and sources
from your own collection of readings including those familiar to your academic area or
discipline.
Conference Paper (for graduate students)
The culminating project for graduate students will be an individually prepared 20-25 page
paper derived from your class project and experiences suitable for presentation at an
academic conference. Alternatively, you may be asked to contribute to a co-authored
manuscript with the course instructors. The final decision about the final project format
will be determined prior to the mid-term break. Instructors will host a workshop for
graduate students after mid-term break to provide guidance and assistance with this
project.
Evaluation Methods and Guidelines for Assignments
The following questions will be included in a course rubric in order to make
grading easy to understand for faculty and students:
Is the work reflective of an interdisciplinary understanding?
Does the work articulate a particular social problem?
Does the work advance a critical understanding of the problem?
Does the work effectively integrate scholarly literature throughout?
Does the work offer ways to address the social problem?
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Does the work account for the difficulty of shifting relations of power in the process
of advancing change?
What is/will be the impact of the student team work product?
Do the authors adhere to APA or some other scholarly style guide?
Assignment
Interdisciplinary Team Project:
Points
Community Presentation:
10
Student Blog:
15
Reading/Reaction
15
Attendance
15
35
Final/Reflection Paper or Conference Paper 10
Total Points Possible
100
Grading Scale
Undergraduate
A+
97 and above
A
93-96
A90-92
B+
87-89
B
83-86
B80-82
C+
77-79
C
73-76
C70-72
D+
67-69
D
63-66
D60-62
F
Below 60
Graduate
A
94-above
A90-93
B+
87-89
B
83-86
B80-82
C+
77-79
C
73-76
F
Below 60
Attendance
Attendance is required at all sessions. Students can receive up to 1 point per session for
attendance and participation (total possible: 15 points).
Required Texts
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•
Pollard, D. (2008). Finding the sweet spot: The natural entrepreneur’s
guide to responsible, sustainable, joyful work. White River Junction, VT:
Chelsea Green.
• Jones, V. (2008). The green collar economy: How one solution can fix our
two biggest problems. New York: HarperOne.
Additional ReadingsAdditional readings will be posted on Blackboard and discussed at
the beginning of the semester. Chapters from the following books and/or journal articles
and web sites will be selected by the instructors for inclusion in the final syllabus:
• Bornstein, D. (2007). How to change the world: Social entrepreneurs and
the power of new ideas (updated edition). New York: Oxford University
Press.
• Dees, G., Emerson, J., and Economy, P. (2001). Enterprising Nonprofits: A
Toolkit for Social Entrepreneurs. Wiley Press.
• Eagly, A. H., Johannesen-Schmidt, M. C., & van Engen, M. L. (2003).
Transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles: A metaanalysis comparing women and men. Psychological Bulletin, 129 (4), 569591.
• Edwards, A. R. (2005). The sustainability revolution: Portrait of a
paradigm shift. Gabriola Island, BC, Canada: New Society Publishers.
• Elkington, J., Hartigan, Pl, & Schwab, K. (2008). The power of
unreasonable people: How social entrepreneurs create markets that
change the world. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing.
• Kouzes, J. M. & Posner, B. Z. (2002). Leadership the challenge (3rd
ed.).San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
• Nicholls, A. (2006). Social Entrepreneurship: New Models of Sustainable
Social Change. Oxford University Press.
• Polak, P. (2008). Out of poverty: What works when traditional approaches
fail. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
• Sustainable Communities Network. Available at
http://www.sustainable.org/
• Sustainability Institute. Available at http://www.sustainer.org/
• Wei-Skillern, J. C., Austin, J. E., Leonard, H. B., & Stevenson, H. H.
(2007). Entrepreneurship in the social sector. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Sample Topical Outline
Topic
Innovation in Social
Entrepreneurship
Readings
Brooks, chapter Four – Business models for
Social Entrepreneurship
Schumacher, E. F. (1973)."Buddhist
Economics" and "Social and Economic
Problems Calling for the Development of
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Activities/Projects’
Project: The Chopsticks Project
Blog Topic: Discuss the central role of
innovation in social entrepreneurship
Intermediate Technology," in Small is
Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered.
Harper and Row Publishers. (p. 50-59, 161179).
Does Social
Entrepreneurship
Really Work?:
Measuring the impact
of social
entrepreneurship
Bornstein, D. (2007). “The Light in my Head
Went On.” In How to Change the World:
Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New
Ideas. Oxford University Press. (pp 21-40)
Martin and Osberg, Social Entrepreneurship:
the case for definition. Stanford Social
Innovation Review
http://www.ssireview.org/imiges/articles/2007
SP_feature_martinosberg
Activity: What do financial
statements tell us about social
entrepreneurship?
Blog Topic: How is social
entrepreneurship different from other
types of entrepreneurship?
"Scaling Social Impact" by J. Gregory Dees,
Beth Battle Anderson, and Jane Wei-Skillern,
Stanford Social Innovation Review, Volume 1,
Number 4, Spring 2004.
A different kind of
globalization: How
social
entrepreneurship
connects us to the rest
of the world.
Green Business in a
Green Economy:
Transforming the
Economic Base of
North Carolina
Saxenian, A. “From Brian Drain to Brain
Circulation: Transnational Communities and
Regional Upgrading in India and China”
Studies in Comparative International
Development, Vol. 40 No2 (2005), PP.35-61.
Castells, M. (1997). “Social Movements
Against the New Global Order,” in The Power
of Identity. Blackwell Publishers. (PP69-83).
Dixon, S., and A. Clifford. 2007.
Ecopreneurship – a new approach to managing
the triple bottom line. Journal of
Organizational Change Management 20 (3):
326-345.
Rosenberg, A., and M.B. Dockendorf. 2006.
Green entrepreneurship. Kauffman Center for
Entrepreneurial
Leadership Clearinghouse on Entrepreneurship
Education Digest 6 (12).
North Carolina Green Industries Report
http://ncgreenindustrycouncil.com/files/NCGI_
EcoImpact2005.pdf
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Activity: Where in the World is
Carman Sandiego?
Blog Topic: And our next president
is…….
Discuss how the election of Barack
Obama will have an impact of our
opportunities to act as social
entrepreneurs.
Project: Finding Green North Carolina
Blog Topic: Do you believe that North
Carolina is a good place to develop an
economy based on Green
Entrepreneurship?
Communicating Your
Entrepreneurial Ideas
Rechelbacher, H. M. (2008).Minding Your
Business, Chapter 10
Entrepreneurship As
Democratic Work
Rechelbacher, H. M. (2008). Minding Your
Business, Ch. 12-14
Social Movement Reading
Communities-Collaborative
Spaces and Inclusive
Decision Making
Readings: To be determined
Entrepreneurial
Thinking
Finding your Sweet Spot
Social work and
environmental issues
Hoff, M. D. & Polack, R. J. (1993). Social
dimensions of the environmental crisis:
Challenges for social work. Social
Work, 38 (2), 204-211.
Marlow, C. & Van Rooyen, C. (2001). How
green is the environment in social
work? International Social Work, 44
(2), 241-254.
Mary, N. L. (2008). Social work in a
sustainable world . Chicago: Lyceum.
Levison, J.C. (2007). Startup Guide to
Guerrilla Marketing: A Simple Battle
Plan for First-Time Marketers. New
York: Entrepreneur Media. (select
readings)
Guerilla Marketing:
Delivering the
message on a small
budget
Exploring
microeconomic
models
International
innovation to respond
to community need
KIVA: Loans that change lives.
http://www.kiva.org/
Creating change
Senge, P., Smith, B., Kruschwitz, N., Laur, J.,
& Schley, S. (2008). New York:
Doubleday.
Hero rats.
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/tanz
ania605/video_index.html
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Project: Storyboarding
Blog: What communication methods
and messages would you recommend
for your social entrepreneurship
project and why?
Project: Social Movement Jeopardy
Blog: What have social movements
created that social entrepreneurs can
take to the next level.
Project: Communication Styles
Matrix
Blog: Reflect on your primary
communication style and what you
need from others to be successful at
work.
A variety of self-assessment projects
to determine individual focus and
team design.
Project: Design an interdisciplinary
community development model
Project: Design a marketing plan or
activity designed to create awareness
of an important social good.
Blog: What are the Pearls and Pitfalls
of marketing for the social
entrepreneur?
Web investigation of national and
international models; NASW video
Academic Integrity Code: Students are expected to adhere to the UNCG Academic
Integrity Policy, discussed in the first class and linked from the syllabus. See
http://studentconduct.uncg.edu .
Attendance Policy: The student is expected to contribute to the online discussions at
least weekly and attend all class meetings. The only exceptions to this policy are
University-sanctioned “excused absences” (death in the family, fire, flood, famine, etc.).
If you need to miss class due to one of these reasons, contact an instructor in advance of
the class session..
Disability: If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please
see your instructor privately during office hours the first week of class to dicuss.
Additional Requirements:
none
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