New York University
Robert F. Wagner Graduate School
Of Public Service
How to Change the World: Advocacy Movements in the United States
UPADM-GP 269
Course Information:
Session Dates: 01/30/2015 to 05/15/2015
Class Time: Fridays, 2:00 – 4:45
Location: GCASL, 238 Thompson Street, Room 269
Instructor: Michael Thomas Duffy
Course Goals and Objectives:
How does someone go about changing the world? What can we learn from the past about what it
means to be an effective agent of change? This course will focus on several broad social movements in
post-war America, including: the movement for African-American civil rights, including the charter
school movement; the conservative movement, including the Tea Party; the Gay & Lesbian Civil Rights
Movement, including AIDS activism; and the Consumer Movement including the Food Consciousness
Movement. Finally, we will examine the idea of ‘social innovation’ and how social entrepreneurs are
starting up new organizations to effect change in the world.
There are three objectives for this course:
 To introduce and familiarize students with these social movements that span post-war
American history, putting each in its historical context;
 To use these movements to illustrate the variety of tactics and strategies employed by
advocates to advance social change including demonstrations, boycotts, legislation, regulatory
action, electoral politics, marches, voter referenda and social entrepreneurship.
 To help students understand how they can best affect the change that they wish to see in the
world.
Our exploration of these topics will take us out of the classroom and into New York City including visits
with a charter school, a think tank, several museums and the offices of a public relations firm.
Course Materials:
Books (available at the NYU bookstore)
Rules for Radicals, Saul Alinsky
The Social Movements Reader: Cases and Concepts, Jeff Goodwin & James Jasper
Parting the Waters, Taylor Branch
Whatever it Takes, Paul Tough
Give Us Liberty, A Tea Party Manifesto, Dick Armey & Matt Kibbe
The Mayor of Castro Street, Randy Shilts
And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts
How the Other Half Lives, Jacob Riis (edited by Sam Warner)
The Jungle, Upton Sinclair
Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan
Eating Animals, Jonathan Safran Foer
This Changes Everything, edited by Sarah van Gelder
How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, David Bornstein
Films / Videos (all are available through NetFlix)
Eyes on the Prize, America’s Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1985
Blackside, 1987
Waiting for Superman
Paramount Vantage, 2010
Ayn Rand and the Prophecy of Atlas Shrugged
Mad Universe, 2011
The Times of Harvey Milk
Black Sand Productions, 1985
Fed Up
Atlas Films, 2014
About the Instructor:
Michael Thomas Duffy
Lecturer in Public Administration
Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
New York University
Office Hours: By Appointment
Cell Phone: 917 239-3641
Email: MD150@NYU.edu
Michael Thomas Duffy is a manager with extensive experience in the public, private and nonprofit sector; currently he is the President of the Great Oaks Foundation. In this role he has
spearheaded the launch of a new network of charter schools in Newark, NJ, New York's
Chinatown, Bridgeport, CT and Wilmington, DE.
Duffy had previously served as Director of the Charter School Office for the New York City
Department of Education, working for three years under the leadership of Chancellor Joel Klein
to help expand the number of high quality charter schools operating in NYC. Prior to that, he
worked in Boston at two different charter high schools, one a start-up, the other a turnaround
of a troubled school.
Duffy’s efforts in education grew out of his work in the civil rights movement. In 1991
Massachusetts Governor William Weld appointed him to be the Chairman and Commissioner of
the Commonwealth's civil rights enforcement commission, a position that he held for six years.
In this role, Duffy pioneered the use of undercover investigations to enforce civil rights laws
barring race and age discrimination in hiring. During that time Duffy testified before Congress
several times and appeared at a White House conference on matters relating to the
enforcement of civil rights laws.
Duffy later served in the Governor's cabinet as the Director of the Office of Consumer Affairs
and Business Regulation where he oversaw the Division of Banks, the Division of Insurance, and
the Department of Public Utilities, among other agencies. In 1997 while the head of Consumer
Affairs, Duffy led an investigation into sub-prime mortgage lending, exposing unlawful practices
that victimized vulnerable homeowners. In 2005, Duffy was appointed by the Governor to serve
on the board of the Massachusetts Educational Finance Authority, a quasi-public agency that
finances student loans.
While a resident of Massachusetts, Duffy twice was a candidate for public office and has
worked or volunteered on dozens of political campaigns. He has also held leadership positions
in the non-profit sector: he served on the Board of Directors of the Human Rights Campaign, for
several years as its co-chair; he was also the Executive Director of the AIDS Action Committee of
Massachusetts and currently serves on the Vestry of St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church.
Duffy has a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at
Harvard University where he wrote his thesis on business support for child day care. He
graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Trinity College in Connecticut with a degree in Economics. As an
undergraduate, Duffy interned in both the Connecticut Legislature and the British Parliament.
Grade
Your grade in this course is based on three components:
1. Class Participation – 10% - Your active participation is important in this intensive,
discussion-rich, seminar. In addition to attendance, I will be looking for you to have read
and thought about the readings & films and actively participate in class discussions.
2. Activity – 25% - Throughout the semester, groups of students will engage with and research
one of the movements studied and will teach the class a 30-minute lesson, based on what
they have learned. Grades for this activity will be based in part on an assessment given by
the rest of the students in the class.
3. Quizzes on the Reading – 25% - Quizzes on the assigned reading will be given at the
beginning of class throughout the semester. Except as arranged in advance with the
instructor, students will not be able to make up quizzes that they miss.
4. Final Paper – 40% - Drawing on the social movements studied, students will identify a policy
problem and then advocate for a tactic that will advance social change, including the
formation of a new social enterprise. An outline of your proposal for the final paper will be
due on March 13th; this 15-page paper is due at the beginning of class on May 15th.
Assignments:
Introduction
January 30
Outline of the course, review of the syllabus and definition of what constitutes a social
movement
Assigned Reading: Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals, Chapters “Prologue” and “The
Purpose”; Jeff Goodwin, Social Movements Reader, pp 3 – 14.
February 6
General Principles
Assigned Reading: Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals, Chapters “Word about Words”
“Education of an Organizer” “Communication” and “Tactics”; “Occupy Wall Street Turns
a Corner”, Michael Greenberg, New York Review of Books, November 18, 2011; This
Changes Everything, Occupy Wall Street and the 99% Movement, edited by Sarah van
Gelder, pages 22 – 73; Jeff Goodwin, Social Movements Reader, pp 411 – 422.
African-American Civil Rights Movement
February 13
Introduction to the African American civil rights movement
Taylor Branch, Parting the Waters, pages 127 – 155; Assigned Viewing: Eyes on the Prize,
Volume 1, “Awakenings 1954-1956”. Goodwin, Social Movements Reader, pp 15 - 23
Activity Presentation #1
February 20
Boycotts, Marches and mass demonstrations
Assigned Reading, Taylor Branch, Parting the Waters, pages 156 – 203 & Chapter 22
“The March On Washington”; Assigned Viewing: Eyes on the Prize, Volume 5, “No Easy
Walk 1961 – 1963”; This Changes Everything, Occupy Wall Street and the 99%
Movement, edited by Sarah van Gelder, pages 1 – 21; Goodwin, Social Movements
Reader, pp 251 – 263.
February 27
How charter schools work & the connection with civil rights
Assigned Reading: Whatever It Takes, Paul Tough, Chapters 1, 2, 4, 5, 8 & 9; Assigned
Viewing: Waiting for Superman, 2010 documentary film; “Freedom’s forked road”
Boston Globe, April 5, 2011.
Class will convene at the offices of the Great Oaks Foundation, 222 Broadway, 19th floor,
for a discussion with Kia Childs, the Great Oaks Charter school’s Executive Director and
Christina Grant the Superintendent of Schools for Great Oaks.
Conservative Movement
March 6
Introduction to the Conservative movement & Campus activism
Assigned Reading: The Road to Serfdom, F. A. Hayek, Introduction pp 1-33; William F.
Buckley, God & Man at Yale, “The Revolt Against the Establishment”, Introduction,
Foreword, Preface & Chapter 1 through page 17; Social Movements Reader, pp 96 –
104.
Activity Presentation #2
March 13
What are the tools the Tea Party uses to advance its agenda?
Assigned Reading: Tea Party Manifesto, Armey and Kibbe, Prologue, Chapters 1 & 2;
Social Movements Reader, pp 146 – 160; Assigned Viewing: Ayn Rand and the Prophecy
of Atlas Shrugged. An outline of your proposal for the final paper will be due, including
your proposal for the J.M.K. Innovation Prize.
Spring Break – no class on March 20
March 27
How have ‘think tanks’ been used to advance the agenda of the Conservative
movement?
Assigned Reading: Tea Party Manifesto, Armey and Kibbe, Chapters 3 & 4, Appendix 1
through 9; The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism, Skocpol &
Williamson, Introduction and Chapters 1-4; “The Provocateur” NYTimes, 4/13/12
Class will convene at the offices of the Manhattan Institute, 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, for a
meeting with its President, Larry Mone, to discuss his work leading one of the nation’s
preeminent free-market think tanks.
Consumer Movement
April 3
Introduction to the consumer movement
Assigned Reading, Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives, Introduction and Chapters 1 & 5;
Upton Sinclair, The Jungle, Introduction, Chapters 11, 12.
Activity Presentation #3
April 10
The consumer movement, food consciousness and environmentalism
Assigned Reading: Michael Pollan, Omnivore’s Dilemma, Chapters 8 – 14, Jonathan
Safran Foer, Eating Animals, chapter entitled “Hiding / Seeking”; Assigned Viewing: Fed
Up, one of the producers of the film, Katie Couric will come to class as a guest lecturer.
April 17
Telling the story – journalism & muckraking
Assigned Reading, This Changes Everything, Occupy Wall Street and the 99% Movement,
edited by Sarah van Gelder, pages 74 – 76; Assigned Reading: Upton Sinclair, The Jungle,
Chapters 13 & 14; Ralph Nader, Unsafe at Any Speed, Chapter 8, “The Coming Struggle
for Safety”.
Class will convene at the Tenement Museum in the Lower East Side, 103 Orchard Street
at 1:30.
LGBT Movement
April 24
Introduction to the LGBT rights movement
Assigned reading: Linda Hirshman, The Triumphant Gay Revolution; “Love on the
March” Alex Ross, The New Yorker, November 12, 2012; Assigned Viewing: The Times of
Harvey Milk, 1984 documentary film.
Activity Presentation #4
April 30 Deadline for applying to the J.M.K. Innovation Prize
May 1
Campaigning for office, ballot referenda and legislative strategy
Assigned Reading: Randy Shilts, The Mayor of Castro Street, Parts I, II, III & IV; Social
Movements Reader, pp 36 – 41.
Class will convene at the offices of the public relations firm Edelman, located at 250
Hudson Street, for a meeting with Brian Ellner, who coordinated legislative efforts to
enact marriage equality in New York state.
May 14
The AIDS crisis of the 1980’s
Assigned Reading: Randy Shilts, And the Band Played On, Part IV “The Gathering
Darkness” & Part V “Battle Lines”; “City’s Graphic Ad on the Dangers of H.I.V. Is Dividing
Activists”, NYTimes 1/3/11.
Class will convene at the Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue in Upper
Manhattan at 4:00 PM. Admission is free with your NYU student ID. We will first view
the exhibition on social activism in New York City followed by a lecture at 5:00 pm by
the New School's Dr. Claire Potter in examining the role that New York City activists
played in the national response to the AIDS epidemic.
Immediately following, students are invited to the instructor’s home for a reception to
mark the close of the semester.
Conclusion
May 15
Lessons learned: How can you change the world?
Review of the material covered in the course; This Changes Everything, Occupy Wall
Street and the 99% Movement, edited by Sarah van Gelder pages 77 – 84; Social
Movements Reader, pp 411 – 422. How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and
the Power of New Ideas, David Bornstein, read in its entirety. Final paper due in the
beginning of class.