Introduction to the Good Trouble Academy 2025
Hello! We are very pleased that you have chosen to explore this amazing opportunity that John R. Lewis College has to offer. Welcome to the Good Trouble Academy!
What is the Good Trouble Academy?
The Good Trouble Academy offers a pathway for students to become social change agents through a combination of academic classes, co-curricular programming at College Nine and John R. Lewis College Links to an external site., and student-initiated opportunities. The design of the academy is based on the Five Pillars of our college, rooted in the life and work of John R. Lewis.
Pillar 1: Students are Change Makers
Social change happens through complex, often incremental, activism. As a site of pedagogical praxis, the college combines the sharing and production of knowledge with reflection and action. Students learn to locate themselves in the arc of history. They learn that exemplary figures, whether public leaders or everyday people, have worked together, across difference and generations, with patience and perseverance, to create a better world. Our goal is that students become, and continue to be, the vanguard of such efforts.
Pillar 2: Commitment to Justice
John R. Lewis exemplified an unwavering commitment to recognizing the necessity of transformation among individuals, communities, and social structures. He stressed the need to confront -- with nonviolence -- racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, and other forms of dehumanization. Our goal is that students will be moved and empowered to intervene to create a more equitable and just world.
Pillar 3: Courageous and Interconnected Community
John R. Lewis often spoke of Beloved Community, reflecting a deep relationality, and interdependence. At John R. Lewis College, we strive to create a community in which diverse identities, opinions, and beliefs can thrive, where we uplift our shared humanity and recognize the indispensability of all life. Our goal is to foster a courageous and interconnected college community through the practice of transcommunality, a concept developed by UCSC Professor Emeritus John Brown Childs that draws from Kingian non-violence and the Haudenosaunee/Iroquois Confederacy.
Pillar 4: Empowering engagement
Often we frame university learning as “receiving” an education, as if it is a passive endeavor, rather than demanding an education, which reflects empowered engagement. This demand is of oneself, e.g., attending to metacognitive and reflexive work; as well as a demand of the institution, e.g., to meet its obligations of intellectual rigor as well as a duty of care. Beyond campus, there is civic engagement, the responsibility to contribute to the public good towards a better future for all. Engagement means empowering of all those involved in ongoing cooperative action, which in turn, can lead to transformation. Our goal is to empower our students to engage in these varied ways, from confronting our own foibles and biases, to seeing the work of societal change as a larger purpose beyond themselves.
Pillar 5: Sustaining Oneself in the Struggle
John Lewis wrote, “There is joy in searching for the truth, in finding what matters to you, and helping improve the world so that it is a more peaceful place.” He demonstrated how to be a resilient, lifelong agent of positive change in the world, someone who built a movement of love and nonviolence as a model of the world he sought to create. One’s own well-being, hope, and faith supports the ability to persevere in the face of adversity and suffering. Our goal is to provide students with the skills and ability to nourish and nurture themselves, to create a college community that embodies our values and aspirations.
The Good Trouble Academy is organized via a Canvas course to provide students materials to learn more about the themes and values of the Five Pillars and to reflect on those pillars while participating in academic and co-curricular activities that align with each of the five principles. Students track and record the experiences they engage in (class, club, internship, etc.) and are encouraged to reflect on their learning and understanding for the Five Pillars throughout their time at UCSC. As they near graduation, students are invited to complete the assignments on the Canvas course website documenting their relevant academic and co-curricular experiences and reflecting on how these experiences are aligned with the principles of the Five Pillars as well as how they enlivened their own educational experience at UCSC.
How is it beneficial to me?
The GTA supports students in building the skills, networks, and knowledge they seek to enact an education that is meaningful and relevant to them, one that is driven by their purpose and passion. Because the program encourages students to undertake experiential learning, engage with others within and beyond the campus, step into leadership roles, and undertake efforts to address contemporary problems, it helps students develop skills that prepare them for life beyond the university. These skills, often referred to as “power skills” or “21st-century skills,” include things such as problem-solving, teamwork, cultural competency, and communication to broad audiences and foster academic and career success. The GTA supports students to articulate their experiences in ways that render their accomplishments and aptitudes legible on the job market or the pursuit of graduate school.
You also receive the following:
- The Good Trouble Academy completion certificate
- A JRLC stole for your commencement ceremony
- Your name is added to our website of honors
What are the criteria?
We think it is imperative for our students to have both an experiential and a theoretical foundation related to the Five Pillars of our college theme: Social Justice and Community.
For Students Graduating in: Fall 2024, Winter 2025, Spring 2025, Summer 2025 and Fall 2025, to meet the minimum requirements of our Good Trouble Academy Certificate, you must complete the following:
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- Individual listing of experiential opportunities from this list Links to an external site. and/or academic opportunities from this list Links to an external site.that you completed (at least 1 example per pillar)* as described in the canvas course.
- One cumulative reflection addressing all 5 pillars covered in the canvas course, submitted through the canvas course.
* Please note that these lists provide a suggestion of what specific opportunities may fit under which pillars, but it is ultimately open to your interpretation. Categorize your opportunities based on what you took away from the experience and connect them to the pillar(s) you think best represent(s) them. This means that while a class may be on a specific topic that leans more towards one pillar, perhaps you made a stronger connection to a different pillar; if so, you may choose to place that academic opportunity under both pillars or a single pillar. Additionally, it is okay if one opportunity counts for multiple pillars, as long as you’re able to connect that opportunity to each of the selected pillars.
What are the steps?
- Read through each pillar module
- Engage with the optional other articles or videos within each pillar
- As students near their Graduation date, they are invited to submit the required assignments in the Certificate Application Module of the canvas course:
- Individual Listing of Experiential Opportunities and Academic Courses for GTA on the form provided.
- Final Reflection addressing all Five Pillars
For pathway and reflection examples, check out this slideshow:
How long will this take?
The Good Trouble Academy is at your own pace, whether you are a transfer student, new student, or continuing student, we encourage you to get started as early as you learn about it. No matter when you start, you will have the opportunity to take advantage of the myriad of experiential learning opportunities Links to an external site. and academic coursework Links to an external site. that are associated with the theme of Social Justice and Community.
We anticipate that this could span one’s entire academic career at the max and likely a minimum of one year’s worth of in-depth involvement would allow for completion of the Good Trouble Academy. We anticipate that it should take you approximately 1.5 - 4 hours to complete the Canvas submission process, depending on the time you need to list your involvement and to work on your reflection. Just think: a couple of hours or so of your time to reflect on your involvements gives you a lifetime of skills, knowledge, and ability to highlight for graduate school, your career, and your future as a leader in your community, family, or place of work!