See the The Common Theme Project (by Kathleen Hanna) presentation for details

1. Common Theme website: http://www.iupui.edu/common_theme
Common Theme Steering Committee Co-chairs:
Jane Luzar
Dean, IUPUI Honors College
ejluzar@iupui.edu
Julie Elkins
Asst. Vice Chancellor of Student Life and Learning
elkinsj@iupui.edu
Academic Affairs Faculty Fellow for the Common Theme:
Kathleen A. Hanna
Associate Librarian, IUPUI University Library
kgreatba@iupui.edu
• IUPUI Social Entrepreneur Network on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?&gid=3908151
• Oncourse Social Entrepreneurs Project Site: join by searching on "social entrepreneurs" in Oncourse, or by
contacting Kathleen Hanna at kgreatba@iupui.edu.
UPCOMING COMMON THEME AND RELATED EVENTS:
• Wednesday, September 28th Nonprofit Capacity Building Conference
IUPUI Campus Center 8:00am - 4:00pm
http://www.savi.org/savi/conference/
Co-hosted by IUPUI Solution Center http://www.iupui.edu/~solctr/
• Tuesday, October 11th Dewitt Jones, National Geographic photographer
Closing plenary keynote speaker: at CUMU Conference
http://www.cumuonline.org/conference/
11:00am, IUPUI Campus Center Room 450
Speaking on “Clear Vision!” http://dewittjones.com/media/CVad_2010.pdf
[This event is free and open to the public. Conference registration is NOT required.]
• Wednesday, November 9th David Bornstein
Author of How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas
Time/venue TBA
[This event is free and open to the public.]
CURRENTLY IN THE PLANNING STAGES:
• Student photography contest - Fall 2011
• Student social entrepreneurship competition - Fall 2012 thru Spring 2013

2. 2011 - 2013 IUPUI COMMON THEME: OVERVIEW
Kathleen A. Hanna, Associate Librarian
This is . . . about people who solve social problems on a large scale. Most . . . are not famous. They are not politicians or industrialists. Some
are doctors, lawyers and engineers. Others are management consultants, social workers, teachers, and journalists. Others began as parents. What
unites them is their role as social innovators, or social entrepreneurs. They have powerful ideas to improve people’s lives and they have
implemented them across cities, countries, and, in some cases, the world.*
The 2011 - 2013 Common Theme is inspired by the stories and principles described in the book How to Change the World:
Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas by David Bornstein. It is about ordinary people from extremely diverse
backgrounds and from nearly every continent who have applied social entrepreneurship principles in the areas of
education, medicine and health care, human rights, environmental issues, access to technology, literacy, sustainable
development, poverty and homelessness, small and micro-business development, women’s and children’s rights, and
infrastructure development.
Social entrepreneurship is a relatively new international movement, and now academic discipline, that is gaining
momentum in a global economy in which governments are unable to sustain efforts to develop solutions to a burgeoning
range of social problems. Bornstein defines social entrepreneurship as “. . . a process by which citizens build or transform
institutions to advance solutions to social problems, such as poverty, illness, illiteracy, environmental destruction, human
rights abuses and corruption, in order to make life better for many.” It goes beyond a business or a social activism
philosophy; it encompasses a multidisciplinary, holistic worldview. Social entrepreneurs “readily cross disciplinary
boundaries, pulling together people from different spheres, with different kinds of experience and expertise, who can,
together, build workable solutions that are qualitatively new.”
Change Your World: The Power of New Ideas will be part celebration and part challenge. The IUPUI campus and its
individual units are renowned for service learning and social outreach activities. This Common Theme will allow us to
recognize and celebrate our successes as well as challenge us to find new ways to make an impact in our community. It
will introduce the campus and community to local social entrepreneurs who are willing to share their stories and engage
students, faculty, and staff in events and activities that will encourage thought, debate, research, and innovation.
This multidisciplinary and multicultural Theme presents many opportunities for cross-campus research, interaction with
international students and faculty, and expanding study abroad programs. It generates myriad ways to incorporate service
and experiential learning at the campus, community, or global level by building on current partnerships and establishing
new ones that will evolve beyond IUPUI.
Our greatest strengths are our highly diverse and creative population, broad range of disciplines and partnerships, and
access to resources, which make IUPUI uniquely situated to engage in a Common Theme that has the potential to affect
social change both great and small, locally and globally, giving everyone the potential to truly be a changemaker.
*Bornstein, David. How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas. New York: Oxford UP, 2007.
Bornstein, David and Susan Davis. Social Entrepreneurship: What Everyone Needs to Know. New York: Oxford UP, 2010.

3. DEFINITIONS OF SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Social entrepreneurship is a process by which citizens build or transform institutions to advance solutions to social
problems, such as poverty, illness, illiteracy, environmental destruction, human rights abuses and corruption, in order to
make life better for many.
Bornstein, David and Susan Davis. Social Entrepreneurship: What Everyone
Needs to Know. New York: Oxford UP, 2010.
Social entrepreneurs are individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems. They are
ambitious and persistent, tackling major social issues and offering new ideas for wide-scale change.
Rather than leaving societal needs to the government or business sectors, social entrepreneurs find what is not working
and solve the problem by changing the system, spreading the solution, and persuading entire societies to take new leaps.
Each social entrepreneur presents ideas that are user-friendly, understandable, ethical, and engage widespread support in
order to maximize the number of local people that will stand up, seize their idea, and implement with it. In other words,
every leading social entrepreneur is a mass recruiter of local changemakers—a role model proving that citizens who
channel their passion into action can do almost anything.
“What is a Social Entrepreneur?” Ashoka.org http://ashoka.org/social_entrepreneur
We define social entrepreneurship as having the following three components: (1) identifying a stable but inherently
unjust equilibrium that causes the exclusion, marginalization, or suffering of a segment of humanity that lacks the financial
means or political clout to achieve any transformative benefit on its own; (2) identifying an opportunity in this unjust
equilibrium, developing a social value proposition, and bringing to bear inspiration, creativity, direct action, courage, and
fortitude, thereby challenging the stable state’s hegemony; and (3) forging a new, stable equilibrium that releases trapped
potential or alleviates the suffering of the targeted group, and through imitation and the creation of a stable ecosystem
around the new equilibrium ensuring a better future for the targeted group and even society at large.
Martin, Roger L. and Sally Osberg. “Social Entrepreneurship: The Case for Definition.”
Stanford Social Innovation Review Spring 2007: 29 - 39.

4. FOR FACULTY
The IUPUI Common Theme Project is designed to promote campus unity, conversation, and collaboration across all
disciplines on timely issues that connect IUPUI to central Indiana and the world. The first Common Theme, “Consuming
Well for the Wealth of Communities, from IUPUI to the World,” spanned academic years 2009–2011 and focused on the
green economy, healthy communities, and sustainability. Each year the Common Theme Steering Committee also chooses
one book that supports the Theme and invites the campus and community to read and discuss it.
Change Your World: The Power of New Ideas [http://www.iupui.edu/common_theme]
focuses on social entrepreneurship, using David Bornstein’s How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs
and the Power of New Ideas as the campus common reader.
Social entrepreneurship is a process by which citizens build or transform institutions to
advance solutions to social problems, such as poverty, illness, illiteracy, environmental
destruction, human rights abuses and corruption, in order to make life better for many.
Important points about social entrepreneurship:
• Research into social issues or problems is essential.
• The people being helped are active partners in the process.
• It results in creative and innovative solutions to social problems.
• It can be used as basis for course-related projects, research, service
learning activities, student organization activities, and creating start-up
organizations or businesses.
• It may provide support or assistance for existing organizations,
including non-profits, socially responsible companies, or
government entities.
• Solutions can be applied locally, nationally, and globally.
• Assessing the impact of the work is a vital part of the process.
Special opportunities for academic units:
• Choose the definition(s) and aspects of the Common Theme that best
speak to your School’s vision, goals, objectives, and outcomes.
• Explore new avenues of faculty research and scholarship through social
entrepreneurship in the disciplines.
• Pursue additional funding and partnerships to expand current social entrepreneurship activities locally or globally.
• Seek new partnerships to develop new social entrepreneurship projects through campus support units such as the
Solution Center [http://www.iupui.edu/~solctr/], Center for Service and Learning [http://csl.iupui.edu/], Center
for Research and Learning [http://crl.iupui.edu/], and through internal and external grant sources.
• Use the Common Theme to complement existing IUPUI initiatives and activities, such as RISE, TRIP, and
community engagement.
• Develop special events, competitions, or conferences that support the Common Theme and enhance student
engagement across disciplines.
• Reconnect with your School’s alumni.

5. FOR STUDENTS
The IUPUI Common Theme Project is designed to promote campus unity, conversation, and collaboration across all
disciplines on timely issues that connect IUPUI to central Indiana and the world.
Change Your World: The Power of New Ideas [http://www.iupui.edu/common_theme] focuses on social
entrepreneurship, using David Bornstein’s How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of
New Ideas as a campus book.
Social entrepreneurship is a process by which citizens build or transform institutions to
advance solutions to social problems, such as poverty, illness, illiteracy, environmental
destruction, human rights abuses and corruption, in order to make life better for many.
Important points about social entrepreneurship:
• Research into social issues or problems is essential.
• It results in creative and innovative solutions to social problems.
• Those being helped are active partners in the process.
• Solutions can be applied locally, nationally, or globally.
• Assessing impact of the work is a vital part of the process.
We invite students to:
• Read How to Change the World and use supplemental resources from the
Common Theme website, University Library, and other sources to enhance
your assignments, projects, research, student organization or personal
activities.
• Get involved in Common Theme activities on campus and in the
community, such as author David Bornstein’s visit to IUPUI in
November.
• Use your skills, talents, and passions to support social entrepreneurship organizations or activities on campus and
in the community.
• Get involved in campus research, international study, and service experiential learning opportunities.
• Encourage your school or student organization to develop special projects or events related to the Common
Theme that will engage the campus and local community.
• Join or start a local chapter of a national organization, such as:
AIESEC http://www.aiesec.org/
Changemakers http://www.changemakers.com/
Compass Partners http://compasspartners.org/
Net Impact http://netimpact.org/
Youth Noise http://www.youthnoise.com/
Youth Venture http://www.genv.net/

6. SAMPLE SOCIAL ISSUES
Economics
Poverty
Homelessness/affordable housing
Access to healthy food choices
Sustainable development
Socially responsible business practices
Education
Access to education
Literacies
Graduation rates K-12
Healthy school lunches
Physical education/fitness
College readiness
Environment
Climate change
Sustainability
Clean energy
Recycling
Access to clean drinking water
Food and agriculture/famine
Health & Safety
Crime and violence
Access to health care
Mental health
Public health/pandemics/epidemics
Impaired driving
Premature births/infant mortality
Human Rights
Child abuse
Domestic abuse
Rape/incest
Human trafficking/slavery
Bullying
Civil rights/discrimination
LGBT rights
Disability rights
War/genocide
Censorship
Women’s rights
What others are you passionate about?

7. IDEAS FOR INTEGRATING THE COMMON THEME
• Develop project- or problem-based learning initiatives, perhaps using a specific cohort and across courses in the discipline.
For example, students research a social issue and possible solutions in a 100- or 200-level course and then pilot one of those
solutions with a community partner during a 300- or 400-level course.
• Study historical or contemporary social entrepreneurs in your discipline. Examples: Florence Nightingale, Horace Mann,
Susan B. Anthony, John Muir, Maria Montessori, Muhammad Yunus, Blake Mycoskie.
• Compare and contrast solutions to similar problems in two different cultures or countries. For example, train platform
schools in India that strive to reach impoverished children who are unable to attend school (see PBS’s The New Heroes
http://www.pbs.org/opb/thenewheroes/) and the local initiative, School on Wheels
http://www.indyschoolonwheels.org/, which provides tutors for homeless children in Indianapolis.
PBS also has some online teaching tools: http://www.pbs.org/opb/thenewheroes/teachers/index.html. Although
geared for grades 6 - 12, there are links to resources and a couple of fun interactive tools that could help get the ball rolling
in the classroom: http://www.pbs.org/opb/thenewheroes/engage/.
• Locate alumni who have become non-profit social entrepreneurs or are active in socially responsible companies. Bring them
into the classroom or to campus or partner with them on specific projects.
• Introduce students to the professional literature by using journal articles about how social entrepreneurship is taught or
applied in your discipline.
• Draw parallels between the characteristics of social entrepreneurs (see Bornstein, Chapter 18) and:
Principles of Undergraduate Learning
Principles of Graduate and Professional Learning
Mission of your School
Professional standards of your discipline
Learning styles
• What are your students already passionate about (besides finding a parking space)? Are they involved in activities with social
entrepreneurship organizations outside of the classroom or with a student organization looking for new ideas? Are they
interested in starting a student chapter of a social entrepreneurship organization?
• Subscribe to a social entrepreneurship blog or Facebook page and critique posts, gain ideas for research papers, or contribute
(thoughtful) posts or questions.
• Interview a local social entrepreneur and record the oral/video history of his/her organization or business.
• Social entrepreneurship relies heavily on creativity and innovation. Emphasize how developing these skills will be
advantageous to students regardless of career path.
• Identify a local current event of interest as a result of an ongoing social problem, such as the recent suspicious arson fires on
Indianapolis’s east side and the blight of vacant homes, and critically evaluate possible solutions that include multiple aspects
of the event/problem (economic, legal, social, etc.).

8. CHAPTERS OVERVIEW
Chapter 1: Restless People
General background information on social entrepreneurship. Notable: more assessment is
needed to ascertain the impact of social entrepreneurship activities on society.
Chapter 2: From Little Acorns Do Great Trees Grow
• Main focus: Education
Gloria de Souza - teacher; experiential education
India
• Others that may find this chapter of interest:: Political Science, SPEA
Chapter 3: The Light in My Head Went On
• Main focus: Engineering & Technology
Fábio Rosa - agricultural engineer; rural electrification (incl. solar)
Brazil (in an area similar to Mississippi Delta)
• Others that may find this chapter of interest: Business, Earth Sciences, Journalism,
Political Science, SPEA, World Languages & Cultures
Chapter 4: The Fixed Determination of an Indomitable Will
• Main focus: Nursing
Florence Nightingale
U.K.
• Others that may find this chapter of interest: History, Mathematics, Medicine, Sociology, student veterans, Women’s Studies
Chapter 5: A Very Significant Force and Chapter 6: Why Was I Never Told about This?
Background information on the founding of Ashoka by Bill Drayton (U.S. ). This chapter should appeal to all disciplines.
Chapter 7: Ten-Nine-Eight-Childline!
• Main focus: Social Work
Jeroo Billimora - social worker, child advocate; founder of Child Helpline International
India
• Others that may find this chapter of interest: Computer Science, Education, Medicine, Political Science, SPEA
Chapter 8: The Role of the Social Entrepreneur
• Describes how a single passionate individual can be a force for social change.
• This chapter may appeal to: African-American Studies, American Studies, Business, Education, History, Medicine, Social
Work, Sociology, SPEA, Women’s Studies
• U.S. historical figures mentioned:
William Lloyd Garrison (abolition) and John Woolman (Quaker abolitionist)
Gifford Pinchot (environ. conservation and mgmt)
Horace Mann (public education reform)
Susan B. Anthony (women’s suffrage)
Jane Addams (social welfare, juvenile justice)
Asa Philip Randolph (labor rights for African -Americans)
Ralph Nader (consumer protection)
Mary Lasker (National Institutes of Health)
Ellison C. Pierce (anesthesia safety)

9. Chapter 9: “What Sort of a Mother Are You?”
• Main focus: Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, Medicine, Nursing
Erzsébet Szekeres - parent, advocate for disabled children/young adults
Hungary
• Others that may find this chapter of interest: Education, Health & Rehabilitation Science, History, Physical Education,
Political Science, Psychology, Social Work, SPEA, World Languages & Cultures
Chapter 10: Are They Possessed, Really Possessed, by an Idea?
• Great entrepreneurs and ideas survive the “knockout test”
Do you possess creativity in goal-setting and problem solving?
Do you exhibit entrepreneurial qualities?
o Are you “possessed by the idea”?
o Are you on top of the “how-to” questions?
o Are you realistic?
Social impact - how many people will be affected by the idea and how significantly?
Ethical fiber - trustworthiness is key
• Social Entrepreneur’s “life cycle”
Apprenticeship - learning
Launch - test phase
Take-off - extended period of refinement, spreading ideas
Maturity - demonstrated impact
Chapter 11: If the World Is to Be Put in Order
• Main focus: Medicine
Vera Cordeiro - physician; children’s healthcare reform
Brazil
• Others that may find this chapter of interest: Art, Business, Nursing, Psychology, Social Work, SPEA
Chapter 12: In Search of Social Excellence
• Individuals mentioned:
Ibrahim Sobham - teacher, Bangladesh (peer teaching)
Anil Chitrakar - engineer, Nepal (children trained to maintain solar electric pumps)
Muhammad Yunus - economist, Bangladesh (founder of Grameen Bank, microfinance)
Jadwiga Lopata - farmer, Poland (organic farming)
Rodrigo Baggio - businessman/techie/teacher, Brazil (digital divide)
Beulah Thumbadoo - teacher, South Africa (adult literacy)
Chapter 13: The Talent is Out There
• Main focus: Education
J.B. Schramm - College Summit (college access for high-risk students)
U.S.
• Others that may find this chapter of interest: Academic Advising, Admissions, Business, English, Business, Economics,
Religious Studies, Theater
Chapter 14: New Opportunities, New Challenges
• Additional background on Bill Drayton and Ashoka’s expanded activities in Latin American, Central Europe, and (badly)
Africa, which became a learning experience.
• Others that may find this chapter of interest: Business, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology

10. Chapter 15: Something Needed to Be Done
• Main focus: Nursing, Medicine
Veronica Khosa: - nurse; home care for AIDS patients
South Africa
• Others that may find this chapter of interest: Education, Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, Medicine, Political Science,
Social Work, Sociology
Chapter 16: Four Practices of Innovative Organizations
• Practices:
1. Institutionalize listening
2. Pay attention to the exceptional (or the unexpected)
3. Design real solutions for real people (be realistic about human behavior)
4. Focus on the human qualities
• Organizations mentioned:
Sharing the Things We Have: Wojciech Onyszkiewicz, post-Communist Poland (food bank/children’s educational trips
exchange - “potato trips”)
Barka Foundation for the Promotion of Mutual Help: Tomasz Sadowski, Poland (homeless after loss of government
sponsorship of collective farms)
Gapa-Bahia: Harley Henriques do Nacimento, Brazil (curtailing spread of AIDS)
Toxics Link: Ravi Agarwal, India (disposal of hospital waste w/o incinerators)
Edisca: Dora Andrade, Brazil (ballet school for low-income girls)
Center for Deep Ecology: Andrzej Korbel, Poland (environment)
Gaja Club: Jacek Bozek, Poland (environment)
Chapter 17: This Country Has to Change
• Main focus: Health & Rehabiliation Sciences, Medicine
Javed Abidi - disability rights; National Center for the Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP)
India (60 - 100 million disabled population in India!)
• Others that may find this chapter of interest: Business, Communications, Computer Science, Education, History,
Journalism, Political Science, Sociology, SPEA, Tourism Management
Chapter 18: Six Qualities of Successful Social Entrepreneurs
1. Willingness to Self-Correct (stay focused on the goal, but be willing to alter your approach or plan)
2. Willingness to Share Credit (the greater the willingness to share the credit for your success, the more people will want to
help you)
3. Willingness to Break Free of Established Structures (established structures may hinder true change, but organizations
can be redirected)
4. Willingness to Cross Disciplinary Boundaries (“creative combining” overcomes organizational and intellectual “silos”)
5. Willingness to Work Quietly (social entrepreneurs often labor in relative obscurity and look for opportunities in places
others do not)
6. Strong Ethical Impetus
Chapter 19: Morality Must March with Capacity
• Main focus: James Grant: head of UNICEF; global child welfare issues
• This chapter may appeal to: Business, Education, Law, Medicine, Political Science, Religious Studies, SPEA, World
Languages & Cultures
• Notable: The Convention on the Rights of the Child was drafted 1979 - 1989, became int’l law 1990, never ratified by U.S.)
Chapter 20: Blueprint Copying
How can we best assess the impact of social entrepreneurship and share knowledge than can be used to replicate programs and
activities globally?