ICNC offered a moderated online course on civil resistance in partnership with Rutgers University Graduate School, which took place from February 18, 2013 to April 5, 2013.

Click the following links to navigate:

• Applications, admission and course participants
• Course content
• Selected testimonials

Applications, admission and course participants

ICNC received close to 100 applications and accepted 42 participants. Among these 42 participants, 35 countries were represented including Latvia, Kenya, Germany, Uganda, New Zealand, South Africa, Guatemala, Israel, Brazil, Nigeria, among others. The course participants were mostly mid-level professionals that included lawyers, journalists, NGOs executives, development managers and civil society experts, as well as doctoral students and academics.

Course content

The online course consisted of an introduction module and seven thematic modules. Each thematic module was released at the beginning of the week and the participants and moderators engaged in different forums of the module throughout the week. A detailed course outline is provided below.

Module 1. Welcome and Introductions

Meet Your Course Facilitators
ICNC and Rutgers
Course Schedule
Course Requirements
Video Presentations
Tips for Online Learning

Module 2: Theoretical Foundations of Civil Resistance

Civil Resistance in Context
Fundamental Ideas
Common Misconceptions

Module 3: Historical Development of Civil Resistance

Centuries of Nonviolent Conflict
Core Dynamics of Civil Resistance
Nonviolent Action in the Islamic World
Movements Learn from One Another

Module 4: Tools of Conflict Analysis + Strategies and Tactics

Pillars of Support and Mechanisms of Change
Spectrum of Allies
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT)
A Force More Powerful: Nashville segment
Experience from the Thai/Burma Border

Strategic Planning and Tactical Choices
Principles of Strategic Nonviolent Conflict
Cultural and Creative Dynamics of Nonviolent Tactics
Experience from Palestine
Methods of Nonviolent Action

Module 5: Skills vs. Conditions and Tactical Innovation in Nonviolent Conflict

Conditions and Their Impact
Skills vs. Conditions
Tactical Innovation
People Power: The Game of Civil Resistance

Module 6: What about Violence?

Violent vs. Nonviolent Action
Radicalized, Extreme Violence
The Paradox of Repression and Backfire (Part 1)
The Paradox of Repression and Backfire (Part 2)
Radical Flank Effect

Module 7: The Role of Media in Civil Resistance

Civil Resistance and Conventional Media
Digital Tools and New Media
Citizen Journalism

Module 8: Final Evaluation

Final Quiz
Final Course Evaluation

Selected testimonials:

“Everyone was engaged and made interesting contributions; there was real debate in the forums, with the facilitators adding new ideas and summaries.”
-ICNC Online Course Participant, 2013

“I really enjoyed the range of different materials used to support learning. I really appreciated the opportunity to understand our own struggles.”
-ICNC Online Course Participant, 2013

“This was such an interesting course, full of material I didn’t know about, and new ideas, and really accessible.”
-ICNC Online Course Participant, 2013

“[I liked] learning from other students, and making potentially long- term contact with some of them.”
-ICNC Online Course Participant, 2013 

An ICNC moderated online course on civil resistance offered in partnership with Rutgers University Graduate School took place from April 23, 2012 to June 5, 2012.

Learn more by clicking on the topic links:

• Applications, admission and course participants
• Course content
• Selected course evaluation results
• What participants liked best about the course
• Selected testimonials

Applications, admission and course participants

ICNC received 56 applications and accepted 31 participants. Among these 31 participants, 12 countries were represented including Cameroon, Spain, Thailand, United States, Canada, New Zealand, Germany, Georgia, among others. Selected participants included graduate students, educators, activists, and civil society professionals.

Course content

The online course consisted of an introduction module and seven thematic modules. Each thematic module was released at the beginning of the week and the participants and moderators engaged in different forums of the module throughout the week. A detailed course outline is provided below.

Module 1. Welcome and Introductions

ICNC and Rutgers
Course Schedule
Course Requirements
Meet Course Facilitators
Video Presentations
Tips for Online Learning

Module 2: Theoretical Foundations of Civil Resistance

Civil Resistance in Context
Fundamental Ideas
Common Misconceptions

Module 3: Historical Development of Civil Resistance

A Century of Nonviolent Conflict
Core Dynamics of Civil Resistance
Nonviolent Action in the Islamic World
Movements Learn from One Another

Module 4: Tools of Conflict Analysis + Strategies and Tactics

Pillars of Support
Spectrum of Allies
Experience from the Thai/Burma Border
A Force More Powerful
Strategic Planning and Tactical Choices
Principles of Strategic Nonviolent Conflict
Cultural and Creative Dynamics of Nonviolent Tactics
Experience from Palestine

Module 5: Skills vs. Conditions and Tactical Innovation in Nonviolent Conflict

Conditions and Their Impact
Skills vs. Conditions
Tactical Innovation
People Power: The Game of Civil Resistance

Module 6: What about Violence?

Violent vs. Nonviolent Action
Radicalized, Extreme Violence
The Paradox of Repression and Backfire (Part 1)
The Paradox of Repression and Backfire (Part 2)
Radical Flank Effect

Module 7: The Role of Media in Civil Resistance

Civil Resistance and Conventional Media
Digital Tools and New Media
Citizen Journalism

Module 8: Final Evaluation

Final Quiz
Final Course Evaluation

Selected course evaluation results

How would you rate your learning experience in this course?

How would you rate the course instructors and their facilitation of the course?

What participants liked best about the course:

• The contemporariness of the materials
• The organization and structure was easy to follow
• The varieties of learning techniques
• The live webinars were really valuable
• The video intro and recap of the past unit was really helpful
• The feedback was useful and relevant
• The times when we connected via webchat and video conference were most engaging
• The forum interactions
• Excellent course materials
• Access to a cornucopia of new resources
• The wealth of knowledge provided through readings, presentations, and forum discussions
• Helpful nature of tutors’ comments
• Logical structure and development of course
• Respectful and friendly way of orchestrating and interacting with participants
• Interactive sessions with course instructors and other experts
• Instructors were all highly qualified, informative and accessible
• I  appreciated instructors’ weekly video updates. They made the course more personal
• The learning from other students, and making potentially long-­term contact with some of them

 

Selected testimonials

“The ability to discuss things in the forum was very valuable….This was such an interesting course, full of material I didn’t know about, and new ideas, and really accessible. I loved having a variety of media…I could put the reading into ibooks and have the links to the videos on YouTube. I thought it was so clever when the tutors gave short video feedback after the first week – it was very motivating and engaging. I really enjoyed the links to other materials provided by other participants – really interesting things I would not know how to find out otherwise. Finally the daily digest from the Forums was great – even when I had days when I didn’t get a chance to contribute it reminded and encouraged me to contribute.”
-ICNC Online Course Participant, 2012

“I found the facilitators very active and appreciated how they offered weekly video updates. It made the course more personal. I also liked the simulation exercise and how most of the materials were downloadable, such as the slides from the YouTube presentations.”
-ICNC Online Course Participant, 2012

“The other participants! Everyone was engaged and made interesting contributions; there was real debate in the forums, with the facilitators adding new ideas and summaries.”
-ICNC Online Course Participant, 2012

“This course was excellently conducted. The interactive sessions with our course instructors and other experts were fantastic and a unique opportunity to interact with specialists we might never otherwise have the opportunity to meet in person. The variety of materials — from readings, to lectures to the online simulation — were incredibly well chosen, informative, interesting and appropriate. It was also great to see our instructors in the weekly videos and hear their feedback and thoughts about the prior week’s segment and learn more about other.”
-ICNC Online Course Participant, 2012

“The triangle of personal-scientific-and-technical expertise. Thanks for your respectful and friendly way of orchestrating and interacting with us during the last six weeks. This was just amazing. The range of educational resources was stunning. Thanks for this inspiring mix and hints to follow up. I also really liked how precise everything was set up. Everything just worked out smoothly.”
-ICNC Online Course Participant, 2012

“I really enjoyed the range of different materials used to support learning. I also really appreciated the opportunity to link that into direct examples and try to understand our own struggles though the context of the theory.”
-ICNC Online Course Participant, 2012