Social Justice Minor

Social Justice is an interdisciplinary field of study that critically explores issues and social movements focused on equality, fairness, and inclusion. The Minor in Social Justice (SJ) seeks to provide students with the breadth and depth of knowledge to achieve this critical understanding of justice, equality, and marginality both in the United States and in the world at large. The minor starts from the assumption that “justice matters” and includes a critical examination of what constitutes social injustice and how people have organized to redress conditions of inequality in politics, economics, social policy, and health. The SJ Minor will also attend to issues of disparity between dominant groups and those disadvantaged because of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, disability, or other identities, conditions, and social positions.

Social Justice Minor Program Requirements

SJ Core Courses

Students pursuing the Minor in Social Justice Studies will be required to take three core courses:

  • SJ 101, Introduction to Social Justice: Stories and Struggles (3 hours). SJ 101 focuses on biographies and historical actors as the lens through which to examine and understand social justice movements.
  • SJ 201, Theories and Practices of Social Justice (3 hours). SJ 201 focuses on how movements have been theorized, analyzed, and redressed, using specific social justice dilemmas/issues as the means through which to understand social justice movements.
  • SJ 301, Social Justice Capstone Experience (4 hours). SJ 301 will integrate twenty-five contact hours of academic coursework with forty contact hours of service learning with specific community organizations chosen the semester prior to the course being offered

 

SJ Elective Courses

Students are required to take 2 elective courses. The electives for the Minor in Social Justice have been chosen from existing courses in a range of departments across the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The guidelines for inclusion as an SJ elective include courses that examine the history of social movements in US and non-US contexts; histories, theories, and representations of traditionally marginalized groups; theories of social change; social movement praxis, and dynamics of race, class, gender, and/or sexuality. Students should contact their academic advisor for personalized advice on choosing elective courses.

Examples include:

  • BLST 103: Black Politics and Culture in the United States. 3 hours.
  • GLAS 250: Critical Issues in Community Engagement. 3 hours.
  • GWS 202: Comparative Social Movements. 3 hours.
  • LALS 380: Social Movements in Latin America. 3 hours.

 

Declare a Social Justice Minor

To declare a Social Justice Minor and receive personalized advice from an academic advisor, please contact the LAS Academic Advising Office.

LAS Advising Office
University Hall, 3rd floor
601 S Morgan Street
Chicago, IL 60607

Contact LAS Advising