People and Communities

This guide provides a step-by-step process for teaching undergraduates about diverse economies and action research.

It is based on two courses taught as part of the Global Studies and Social Entrepreneurship (GSSE) program at the School of Global Studies at Thammasat University, Thailand. The first course focuses on in-class instruction and uses a team-based learning approach for the delivery of course contents. The second course takes place in northern Thailand as a 3-week community-based field immersion initiative during which students are housed with local hosts.

The guide includes tools to explore community livelihoods, to document community economies, and to mobilize people’s assets for social enterprise development. The lecture sequence roughly follows the resource kit Shifting Focus: Alternative Pathways for Communities and Economies by Cameron & Gibson (2001) and adapts it to the classroom setting.