May 31, 2024  
2023-2024 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
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2023-2024 Undergraduate Catalog

Social Justice, B.A.

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Minimum number of credits required to graduate:  124

Minimum cumulative GPA required for the major:  2.5

Minimum number of credits to complete the major:  36

 

School: School of Arts and Sciences

Department: Gender, Diversity, and Social Justice

Learn more about the program

 

The major in Social Justice is designed to combine a strong theoretical understanding of ideas of social justice with experiential learning through practical application. Given that social justice work connects with different fields, skills, and knowledge areas, students can customize their major and take courses across different departments. Students also complete a required internship in a community-based organization or non-governmental organization. Our majors have done internships relating to law, food security, education, accessibility, and diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

The Social Justice major is tailored to students’ individual goals, interests, and intended career paths. Each student will develop a concentration with their faculty adviser or department chair. Sample concentrations include:

  • Global Justice and Human Rights
  • Law and Justice
  • Advocacy and Social Change
  • Immigration Justice
  • Food Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Racial Justice
  • Gender Equality

Because of its interdisciplinary focus, the major in Social Justice prepares students for rewarding work in a variety of fields. Career opportunities include employment in law, policy, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, education, research institutes, consulting firms, corporations, social work, media, community-based organizations, human rights organizations, and more. Students are also encouraged to participate in the annual Social Justice Month, an initiative that brings renowned speakers to campus and aims to raise awareness of contemporary social justice issues, such as gender equality, racism, discrimination, immigration justice, and food security. 

 

In the Social Justice major, students will learn to:

  • Demonstrate a critical understanding of how the practices of marginalization and domination give rise to social injustice and the social and cultural responses to them.

  • Demonstrate a critical understanding of human rights (including civil, political, social-cultural, and economic rights) and other theories of social justice.

  • Apply the principles listed above to real-life situations.

Major Requirements

This B.A. major in Social Justice requires completing a minimum of nine courses (36 credits), as specified below, including an internship.

Students are required to engage and actively participate in events organized by the program, such as field trips, Social Justice events, documentary viewings, and lectures.

Core Course Requirements

Complete the following two required courses and a required internship experience:

  • Credits: 4
  • Social Justice Capstone Seminar (Taken during senior year)
  • Internship. An approved credit or non-credit internship must be completed before the final semester of senior year, (locally or abroad).  Students must meet with the Program Director to gain approval for their internship. Credit internships must include a minimum of 120 hours of on-site or off-site work approved by the internship site supervisor. Non-credit internships must include a minimum of 100 hours of on-site or off-site work approved by the internship site supervisor.

Required Electives

Students must select seven courses from those approved for the Social Justice major, with at least one course from each of the following four areas (approved courses are listed below):

Global Justice
Ethics and Theory
Legal, Political or Economic Perspectives
Historical or Cultural Perspectives

A minimum of two of these seven courses must be at the 3000 level or above. Only one non-Social Justice (SOJ) course can be taken at the 1000 level. 

A maximum of four of these seven courses may be taken in one department. No more than three courses can be counted towards another major or minor.

Global Justice

Choose at least one course from the following:

Ethics and Theory

Choose at least one course from the following:

Legal, Political or Economic Perspectives on Social Justice

Choose at least one course from the following:

Historical or Cultural Perspectives on Social Justice

Choose at least one course from the following:

Concentrations in the Major in Social Justice

The Social Justice major also has four pre-approved concentration areas:

  • Advocacy and Social Change
  • Global Justice and Human Rights
  • Law and Justice
  • Social Justice and Religion

To declare a concentration area (self-designed or pre-approved), all students must complete the “Social Justice Concentration Declaration” form, which is available from the Program Director.

Students are encouraged to design, together with the director of the program or with selected advisors, a concentration area of their own that best represents their interests and selected field of work/study. Ideally, students declare this concentration before the end of the sophomore year so an adequate internship or Study Abroad experience can be selected and a course of studies may be laid out.

Student advising in the Social Justice Program will require close coordination and oversight, especially given the interdisciplinary curriculum. All advising will be coordinated and/or conducted by the Program Director.

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