Amidst today’s turmoil, a new project has come on the scene. An online educational tool and community called The School for Social and Cultural Change (SSCC). Initiated by PARC Media and RevolutionZ, SSCC’s central aim is to offer courses addressing what we want and how we get it and how to sustain ourselves. The courses offered focus mainly on analysis, vision, strategy, and skills suited to building movement insight and power and living well. As it grows, the SSCC hopes to provide a venue for cross-fertilization of different activism segments, different movements, and varying points of view.

During our opening session, SSCC offered four courses in January/February. SSCC’s second session in April/May features thirteen courses. We’re growing! All SSCC courses run for eight weeks, so there will be four eight-week sessions a year, with a month off between each session to set up new courses and sign up new students. Sign-ups for the April/May sessions are now open!

SSCC courses are quite inexpensive compared to most online schools — $60 low income, $100 full fee, and $160 high income, with the choice of how much to pay at the participant’s discretion. Over the long-term, the funds generated from SSCC could be substantial and could, therefore, aid faculty, grassroots organizations, campaigns, and projects.

SSCC courses cover many issues, including the dynamics of capitalism, economic vision, international relations, debate skills, political economy, ecology, popular music, political comics, strategy, and more. Here’s a list of our courses for the April/May session:

• Noam Chomksy & Marv Waterstone: Consequences of Capitalism (https://sscc.teachable.com/p/consequences-of-capitalism
• Kathy Kelly: Lay Down My Sword and Shield (https://sscc.teachable.com/p/lay-down-my-sword-and-shield)
• Ben Burgis: Logic for Left-Wing Debaters and Activists (https://sscc.teachable.com/p/logic-for-left-wing-debaters-and-activists)
• Patrick Bond: Political Economy and Political Ecology (https://sscc.teachable.com/p/political-economy-and-political-ecology-critical-perspectives-from-the-global-south)
• Eugene Nulman: Activism and Social Change (https://sscc.teachable.com/p/activism-and-social-change)
• David Swanson: How We Advance the Abolition of War (https://sscc.teachable.com/p/how-we-advance-the-abolition-of-war)
• Rob Driver: U.S. and British War Crimes and Propaganda (https://sscc.teachable.com/p/us-and-british-war-crimes-and-propaganda-everything-you-re-not-supposed-to-know)
• Sean Michael Wilson: Radical Reading: Political Comic Books (https://sscc.teachable.com/p/radical-reading-political-comic-books)
• Sandy Carter: Revolt and Transcendence in Popular Music (https://sscc.teachable.com/p/revolt-and-transcendence-in-popular-music)
• Andrej Grubacic: Societies Against the State: Politics, Theory, and Culture (https://sscc.teachable.com/p/societies-against-the-state-politics-theory-and-culture)
• Jon S. Uss: Encrypt by Any Means Necessary (https://sscc.teachable.com/p/encrypt-by-any-means-necessary)
• Michael Albert: Life After Capitalism (https://sscc.teachable.com/p/economic-vision)
• Michael Albert: Strategy for Societal Transformation (https://sscc.teachable.com/p/strategy-for-societal-transformation)

Each course features eight core lectures, sometimes text, sometimes video, and sometimes both. Most courses have additional optional readings. Every course provides the means for students to comment on lectures and other materials and for the instructor to respond. Students and instructors will also conduct at least one Zoom session a week, which will allow participants to engage with their respective teacher(s) and vice versa. After all, we hope SSCC will be used as a forum to make connections beyond our sessions!

In the future, SSCC hopes to involve other organizations and projects as course sponsors and partners in the hope that we could someday share in the revenue, expand our base of participants, and facilitate different constituencies engaging with one another, learning from each other at free events and gatherings online. Perhaps we could even hold in-person sessions in the future. That’s all up to us!

It is an ambitious plan, but one worth considering. SSCC is offering a unique opportunity. Let’s maximize its potential and carry our knowledge and connections into a post-COVID world. We believe SSCC offers a hopeful step toward creating a better informed and more mutually engaged and cooperative political left. You can find more details about SSCC at sscc.teachable.com. See you soon!