2020-2021 Catalog 
    
    Dec 11, 2024  
2020-2021 Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Social Justice Major


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Professors Dean, Durst, Gitter, Leber, Schrock, Shari Stone-Mediatore, White

The social justice major aims to cultivate in students the knowledge and skills needed to analyze social injustices and theorize and work toward positive social change. Through this interdisciplinary major, students will develop the knowledge and skills to reflect critically on the meaning of social justice at both the local and global levels, examine the dynamics of societal conflicts and struggles for social justice within and among various groups and institutions, and apply interdisciplinary perspecitives at multiple levels of analysis. Students will be required to supplement their classwork with a more experientially-oriented activist project, and will be encouraged to further participate in a travel-learning course, theory-to-practice grant, and other service projects. These practical components of the major will provide opportunities for students to develop career-related skills, such as community organizing, working with and mediating diverse social groups, presenting ideas in professional forums, and managing real-world projects.

Major Requirements


Required Courses (8 courses):

  • Awareness and Understanding:
    • SJ 110   Introduction to Social Justice
    • EDUC 115  Teaching for Social Justice
  • Structural Inequality - 1 required - choose from among:
  • Cultural Expressions - 1 required - choose from among:
    • CMLT 265   Freedom and Constraint
    • ENG 300 6 Race, Power, and Identity in Postcolonial Literature
    • ENG 266   Caribbean Women Writers
    • MUS 347   History of Jazz
    • SPAN 371   The Construction of Latin American Identities: From the Center to the Margins
    • SPAN 360   20th and 21st Century Mexican Literatures and Popular Cultures
    • SPAN 362   The Poetics of Latin American Literature: Short Stories and Poetry
    • SPAN 364   The Latin American Novel within Its Revolutions, Cultures, and Social Changes
    • WGS 325   Feminist Perspectives on Race and Gender in the Media
  • Theorizing Social Justice - 1 required - choose from among:
    • PHIL 354   Social and Political Philosophy
    • SOAN 358   Society, Politics, and Social Movements
    • WGS 499 D  Contemporary Feminist Theory
  • Research Skills
    • SOAN 279   Sociological Research Methods
  • Mentored Activism
    • SJ 390   Mentored Activism
  • Interdisciplinary Integration
    • SJ 499   Social Justice Capstone
  • Up to 4 other electives (at least 2 must be numbered 250 or above) from the following:

If double-majoring in SJ and SOAN, then students can have no more than 3 courses overlapping with SJ and SOAN.

Minor Requirements


Required courses (3 courses):

  • Awareness and Understanding - 1 required
    • SJ 110 : Introduction to Social Justice
  • Theories and Methods of Social Justice - 1 required - choose from among
    • PHIL 354   Social and Political Philosophy
    • SOAN 279   Sociological Research Methods
    • SOAN 358   Society, Politics and Social Movements
    • WGS 499 D  Contemporary Feminist Theory
  • Mentored Activism - 1 required
    • SJ 390   Mentored Activism
  • Electives Courses (3 courses)
    • 3 other courses (at least 2 must be numbered 250 or above) from the above list of SJ-approved courses

Note(s):


To be eligible to declare a major in Social Justice, a student must have a 2.5 cumulative GPA or both a 2.0 cumulative GPA and have earned a “B” in one SJ course.

Knowledge of a foreign language and training in statistics are strongly recommended for all majors. Mastery of these skills is especially important for students who are planning on graduate study or government service.

Independent study and apprenticeships are vital parts of the major. Every effort is made to tailor programs to individual student needs and to maintain flexibility within a framework of rigorous scholarship. All apprenticeships are graded credit/no entry. No other course counting for credit in the major may be taken credit/no entry.

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