The Certificate in Social Justice offers students educational opportunities to explore questions of equity, social rights, and collective action as that relates to intersectional and interdisciplinary issues. Social justice is an expansive term that enables inquiry into community and society; history; economy; dis/ability; opportunity and accessibility; health, illness, and wellness; the environment; food and nutrition; wealth and poverty (and the distribution of and access to resources); power and privilege; education; employment; housing; and healthcare.
This program is designed to be completed in conjunction with an undergraduate degree or as a stand-alone program for personal and/or professional enrichment only. Students pursuing this as a stand-alone certificate will not qualify for Title IV federal financial aid.
Code | Course | Credits |
---|---|---|
WGS 1020 |
Introduction to Women's And Gender StudiesThis course enables students to understand and appreciate the rich and varied field of Women's and Gender Studies; to identify and explain ideas about gender and the ways that it has affected individuals; to understand how gender identity is shaped by race, class and culture, and what it means and has meant to be a gendered subject in the United States and abroad. This course fulfills a Social Science general education requirement. |
3 |
Code | Course | Credits |
---|---|---|
SOC 2040 |
Race, Ethnicity, Class and GenderAn exploration of the historical and contemporary roots for discrimination (especially on the institutional level) on the basis of race, ethnicity, class, and gender. This course examines issues such as culture, identity, and oppression. This course fulfills a Social Science general education requirement. Every semester |
3 |
SWK 2040 |
Discrimination in American SocietyAn understanding of the dynamics and American history of prejudice and discrimination in relation to racial and ethnic minorities, women and the aged is developed. Special emphasis placed on issues relevant to Social Welfare. Prerequisite: SOC 1010 or consent of instructor. Spring |
3 |
Code | Course | Credits |
---|---|---|
HIS 2210 |
History of Women in the U.S.This course is a study of women's history. Using the United States as an example, this class will explore the roles that women have played historically and seek to question traditional narratives of history, in which women are often marginalized. What might colonialism, the Revolutionary War, slavery, the Industrial Revolution, the Civil War, the Great Depression or the Civil Rights Movement look like through women's eyes? This course fulfills a Humanistic Perspective general education requirement. Spring, odd years |
3 |
HIS 3475 |
Women and Gender in African HistoryThis course examines the changing roles of both women and gender in African history, from precolonial through postcolonial societies. Using case studies from different eras and regions, the course explores political, social and economic change, and includes a discussion of sexualities and of African feminist critiques of western feminism. This course fulfills a Humanistic Perspective general education requirement. Spring |
3 |
Code | Course | Credits |
---|---|---|
SOC 3410 |
Dismantling Rape CultureThis course makes the case that there is a structured precarity that all women face when it comes to the crime of rape. This means that the way society is structured historically, politically, legally and socially makes all women vulnerable to rape. The course will explore how rape culture makes all women vulnerable to rape, but also how this vulnerability is exacerbated by race, class and gender non-conformity. The course will also examine the problematic construction of masculinity in the US and how this notion of masculinity contributes to rape culture and limits men's freedom of expression. The course makes the case that we all benefit by dismantling rape culture. Periodically |
3 |
SOC 3610 |
Seminar in AdvocacyStudents taking this course are trained to be peer advocates for the CHANGE Initiative (Creating, Honoring, Advocating and Nurturing Gender Equity). Students will attend a weekend long training to learn how to advocate for survivors of sexual assault, relationship violence, stalking, and harassment as well as attending weekly classes. Students are required to staff the PAC phone line and will do programming to change campus culture and decrease problems mentioned above. Prerequisite: Application and permission of the instructor. Fall |
4 |
SWK 4010 |
Social Welfare Policies, Programs and IssuesA critical theoretical approach to social policy development and analysis. Examination of the adequacy of current social welfare programs and services. Emphasis will be placed on value choices, politics, and praxis in the development and implementation of social welfare policy as a response to social problems in American society. Prerequisite: SWK 2040, SWK 3020. Fall |
3 |