Embargo Period

5-8-2019

Degree Name

MA in Intercultural Service, Leadership, and Management

First Advisor

Ryland White

Abstract

This paper examines the creation of the If Men Project, a healthy masculinity training curriculum aimed at young men. The If Men Projectseeks to create a better world by helping young men find a stronger sense of their own identity in a way that creates positive relationships with everyone around them. In short, it helps young men be good men.

The paper will track the creation process from my own social justice journey, through the conception of the project, the design of the training, multiple implementations of it, and finally to the reflections and learnings that came from this capstone project.

Ideally this paper will serve multiple purposes for the reader. First, it will show the personal journey of one social justice trainer, including the challenges, successes, and learnings along the way. Second, it will offer an example of a social justice training that seeks to create change by targeting members of a privileged group early on, in a way that seeks to enlist them as allies and proponents of equity. As I believe this type of training to be uncommon, having this example and a consideration of its applications will be a valuable addition to our collective pool of knowledge. Third, it will provide insight for other trainers and social justice workers into ways that they can adapt their own work to better serve different target populations, and when this might be valuable to do. Finally, it is my sincere hope that this paper will, through reflections on my own learnings, give all readers some ideas that they can bring into their own lives and relationships to help on their own journey of personal growth.

Disciplines

Civic and Community Engagement | Elementary Education | Gender and Sexuality | Other Social and Behavioral Sciences | Politics and Social Change | Secondary Education

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