People Power: Political Economy

This program will combine the study of an interdisciplinary critical analysis of who's got what, how, why, etc. (Political Economy), with a liberatory theory and practice of learning and study (Popular Education), with a methodology around moving our bodies, connecting them to our minds, cooperating with each other and playing games (Physical Education). That's PE times three!

This program is a series of interlinked classes where each quarter will feature one of these three P.E.s while the other two P.E.s offer support. Winter will focus on key questions and methodologies of Political Economy while while being complimented by Popular Education and Physical Education. See the fall program (focusing on Popular Education) here. And spring (focusing on Physical Education) here.

In winter we’ll dig into Political Economy and examine how recent generations of our families have been impacted by economic policies. We’ll capture some of these political economic stories as a way to paint an intimate portrait of the economy. Composing these stories and connecting them to political economic analysis will offer a way of illuminating everyday spaces within the economy. We will study storytelling as a popular education tool to connect our own lives to the larger social, political, and economic contexts of recent decades and to help us learn key political economy and research concepts. Students will work on a research paper as well as a political economic storytelling project. Projects could take a wide variety of forms: creative nonfiction, podcast, painting, photo essay, short film, creative writing piece, graphic short story, etc.

In this program everybody is welcome, and we will work together to enable maximum participation. The most important things you can bring to this program will be a spirit of cooperation, a desire to work with others, some skills of dialogue, active listening, and a desire to share joy, knowledge, and learning.

This program is coordinated with Greener Foundations for first-year students. Greener Foundations is Evergreen’s in-person 2-quarter introductory student success course sequence, which provides first-year students with the skills and knowledge they need to thrive at Evergreen. Students expected to take Greener Foundations should use CRN 20177 to register for a 2-credit Greener Foundations course in addition to this 14-credit program. 

First-year students who are not expected to take Greener Foundations or have been granted an exemption should use CRN 20176 to register for this program. Find more details about who isn't expected to take Greener Foundations on the Greener Foundations website.

Anticipated Credit Equivalences