The Center for Equality and Social Justice is very excited to offer a one-day workshop for interested faculty and staff, and if room allows, graduate students.
Briefly, the Op-Ed Project is designed to train experts to take thought leadership positions in the country. The goal is to help those of us in university settings translate our expertise to change minds and the the world. This is at the core of CESJ’s mission. Each day’s workshop will be a full day of training, plus lunch. Each day will hold 20 people, and they will be here for 3 days. As you can see, after the workshop, participants will have ongoing access to The OpEd Project national network of journalist mentors, for individual feedback. As we think about changing the world toward one of greater social justice, the best way we can do that is by contributing our voices to the conversation. This workshop will help us do that more effectively.
What is The OpEd Project?
The OpEd Project was founded to ensure a wider range of voices shape the news, our history and our future. Our near term goal is to increase the volume of women thought leaders participating in key commentary forums— where public thought leadership begins—to a tipping point. Partnering with universities, think tanks, non-profits, and corporations, we target and train underrepresented experts (especially women) to take thought leadership positions in their fields (op-eds and more); we connect them with a national network of high-level media mentors; and we vet and channel the best new experts and ideas directly to media gatekeepers across all platforms. We use op-ed (which we define broadly, to mean an idea of public value in any media platform) as a strategic metric of concrete results.
OpEd Project Program: Write To Change The World
The OpEd Project’s highly dynamic curriculum is built on time-tested models of transformational learning, thinking with purpose, and changing minds. Games, high-stakes scenarios and live “thought experiments” will challenge participants to think in new and bigger ways about what they know, why it matters, and how to use it. We’ll explore the source of credibility and how to establish it (quickly); the patterns and elements of persuasion; the difference between being “right” and being effective; how to preach beyond the choir; how to escape a pigeonhole; how to address opposition and build consensus; and how to think bigger.
Each participant will learn to make a bold case for their ideas, whether in an op-ed in print or online, on TV, at a PTA meeting, before a board of directors, to potential funders, or on the steps of Congress. Participants in full-day or longer programs have ongoing access to The OpEd Project national network of journalist mentors, for individual feedback on their op-ed drafts.
Why This Matters
The voices and ideas we hear most in the world come from only a small fraction of society. What could we accomplish if together we invested in all our brain-power?
Details
The workshops will be October 11-13, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm.
TO REGISTER, go to: https://goo.gl/forms/
Spots will be limited, so register soon. Everyone should register, and if spots become filled, I will let you know. When necessary, preference will be given to CESJ Affiliates, but everyone is welcome to submit a registration. Also, they especially focus on increasing the number of women who are thought leaders, and GWS Affiliates are especially encouraged to apply.
