Director: Nathan Bigelow
Assistant Director: Felix Harcourt
Faculty: Catherine Bowman, Lisa Brown, Mari Elise Ewing, Brian Watkins
The Social Justice and Community Engagement Program allows students to solidify their commitment to creating a more equitable world through both academic analysis and community-engaged learning. As defined by the program (see below), social justice pertains to how humans relate to one another as well as how the human species relates to the rest of Earth. The Social Justice minor equips students to engage social justice matters in their major and whatever career path they pursue. The Non-Profit Organizations and Public Affairs minor gives students a foundation for careers in the non-profit sector by exploring the roles of non-profit organizations, philanthropy, and volunteerism in generating policy responses to significant social problems. Both minors require a community-engaged learning experience.
How We Define Social Justice:
Social justice encompasses structures for and patterns of distributing material resources, ascribing cultural value and social esteem, and exercising interpersonal and collective power that enable human individuals and groups to pursue their well-being and participate in society on the basis of equality with one another and enable humans as a species to live in a way that preserves and enhances the planet’s overall capacities to support diverse more-than-human life. It includes critique and dismantling of systemic barriers to such equity among humans and between humans and more-than-human life.
How We Define Community-Engaged Learning:
Community-engaged learning combines the creative capacities of students, faculty, and community partners, co-equally, in pursuit of the public good. Community engagement experiences for students can range from specific class assignments to volunteering with local organizations to immersive internship experiences and more. (Community-engaged scholarship, a closely related concept, provides a framework for creating new scholarly knowledge through co-authorship involving faculty, student, and community partners.) The greatest hope for this type of learning is the cultivation of a healthier and more just democracy. For all those involved, it promotes active learning and helps in the development of civic skills rooted in humility, integration, reflection, and impact orientation.
Degree Plans Offered in Social Justice and Community Engagement
Minor in Social Justice
Minor in Non-Profit Organizations and Public Affairs
A minor in social justice consists of:
Foundation Course (select 1 course)
SJCE 201/ANTH 248 Human Rights and Social Justice
SJCE 202/HIST 282 The Quest for Civil Rights, 1945 to Present
SJCE 203/PSY 222 Environmental Psychology
SJCE 204/ENVS 236 Environmental Justice
Elective Courses (4 courses, no more than 2 from a given discipline; must include at least 1 at 300 level or higher)
Disciplinary Course (see list below)
Disciplinary Course (in a different discipline)
Issue Course (see list below)
Issue Course
Applied Learning Experience
An approved APPL experience (for example, a CSOC) relevant to the program’s aims, which may be included in the requirements for one of the courses above
Other Considerations When Planning for the Minor:
- If a 100-level course is taken for the Foundation course, one of the four Elective courses must be at the 200 level or higher and another must be at the 300 level or higher.
Total Credits Requirement = 5 course credits (plus APPL experience, which may be credit-bearing or non-credit-bearing)
A minor in non-profit organizations and public affairs consists of:
Foundation Course (select 1 course)
SJCE 201/ANTH 248 Human Rights and Social Justice
SJCE 202/HIST 282 The Quest for Civil Rights, 1945 to Present
SJCE 203/PSY 222 Environmental Psychology
SJCE 204/ENVS 236 Environmental Justice
Elective Courses (3 courses, no more than 2 from a given discipline)
Disciplinary Course (see list below)
Skills Course (see list below)
Disciplinary, Issue, or Skills Course (see list below)
Capstone Course (1 course)
PSCI 417 or approved substitute
Applied Learning Experience
An approved APPL experience (for example, a CSOC) relevant to the program’s aims, which may be included in the requirements for one of the courses above
Other Considerations When Planning for the Minor:
- If a 100-level course is taken for the Foundation course, one of the four Elective courses must be at the 200 level or higher and another must be at the 300 level or higher.
Total Credits Requirement = 5 course credits (plus APPL experience, which may be credit-bearing or non-credit-bearing)
List of Courses by Category
Courses marked with an * meet the Advanced Writing Competency requirement.
Disciplinary Intros
ANTH 123 Introduction to Socio-Cultural Anthropology
ENVS 135 Fundamentals of Environmental Studies
GNDR 120 Introduction to Gender Studies
MEDA 121 Elements of Media Analysis
PSCI 110 American Government and Politics
PUBH 235 Fundamentals of Public Health
SOC 101 Introduction to Sociology
Skills
ACCT 371 Non Profit Accounting
BA 252 Business Analytics
BA 253 Product Lab
BA 355 Marketing
BA 486 Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management
COMM 112 Public Speaking
COMM 222 Interpersonal Communication
COMM 352 Organizational Communication
COMM 455 Intercultural Communication*
DSA 241 Foundations of Data Science
ECO 371 Econometrics
Issues
Any course that meets the Systems of Power, Privilege, and Inequality Requirement or any of the following:
ANTH 263 Whose Amazon?: Environment, Culture, and Modernization in the Amazon River Basin
ANTH 362 Immigration Policy and the Immigrant Experience
BIOL 259 Conservation and Restoration Ecology*
BIOL 346 Ecosystem Ecology
EAS 335 The Two Koreas
EAS 430 Issues in Contemporary East Asia
ECO 280 Health Economics
EDUC 115 American Education: A Changing Landscape
ENG 331 Women in Medieval Lit*
ENVS 245 Food Systems
ENVS 359 Resilient Systems*
ENVS 379 Environmental Policy
ENVS 389 Environmental Solutions
MEDA 205 New Media and Cultural Change
PHIL 205 Ethics
PHIL 207 Ethics & the Environment
PHIL 209 Ethics and Medicine
PHIL 213 Law and Morality
PHIL 302 Ethical Theory*
PSCI 220 The Constitution and Civil Liberties
PSCI 336 Latin American Politics
PSY 340 Cultural Psychology
PUBH 345 Global Health
PUBH 347 Introduction to Maternal & Child Health
PUBH 357 Health Care Law
PUBH 379 Health Management and Policy*
SOC 255 Sex, Gender and Society
SPAN 481 Post-Totalitarian Peninsular Lit*
Plus approved topics courses
COURSES
SJCE 201 Human Rights and Social Justice
Human rights and social justice scholars and activists respond to systemic, often institutionalized violence and inequality within and among nation-states. This course situates these frames within critical analyses of law, society, and culture. Students will trace the roots of human rights and social justice before observing the contexts and debates that continue to shape the practice of each, such as universalism vs relativism, the relationship between religion and states, the politics of citizenship, individuality vs society, and state sovereignty vs cosmopolitanism. This course situates these issues in specific places, exploring ways that nation-states may become more just through topics like displacement, genocide, health disparity, famine, water rights, torture, and human trafficking. Students can earn credit for Anthropology 248 or Sociology 248 but not both. Requirements met: Social Sciences Breadth/Discover, Global Diversity, and Systems of Power, Privilege, and Inequality. Cross-listed with Anthropology 248. (Alternate years)
SJCE 202 The Quest for Civil Rights, 1945 to Present
A detailed study of the history of the Civil Rights Movement for African-Americans and other ethnic minorities in America with focus on school desegregation, student and community protest, white backlash, court decisions, government action and inaction, divisions between moderates and radicals, and the causes of disintegration of the various movements, with some attention to busing and affirmative action. Requirements met: Humanities Breadth/Discover and Systems of Power, Privilege, and Inequality. Cross-listed with History 282. (Every other year)
SJCE 203 Environmental Psychology
An examination of the relationship between humans and built, natural and virtual environments. The course explores topics such as environmental health and justice, planning and design, personal space, noise, crowding, and pro-environmental behavior. Students will have an opportunity to apply environmental psychology in community settings through needs assessment, research, and intervention. PREQ: Psychology 101. Requirements met: Social Sciences Breadth/Discover. Cross-listed with Psychology 222. (Every other year)
SJCE 204 Environmental Justice
Marginalized members of society disproportionately suffer from environmental hazards including pollution, resource depletion, “natural” disasters, and increasingly climate change. Activists and scholars began documenting these disparities in the 1960s as the environmental justice movement emerged from the civil rights movement. Environmental justice efforts now attempt to promote access to healthy environments and the decision-making processes that could remedy existing inequities. This course will examine the historic and contemporary barriers to environmental justice in the United States and then explore approaches and policies to overcome environmental injustices. We will combine exposure maps with demographic data to make our own ArcGIS StoryMaps of student-selected cases. Requirements met: Social Science Breadth/Discover and Systems of Power, Privilege, and Inequality. Cross-listed with Environmental Studies 236. (Fall of even-numbered years)
SJCE 260 Intermediate Directed Study in Social Justice and Community Engagement
Student investigation of topic of interest working in collaboration with a faculty member resulting in significant oral and written work. See On-Campus Learning Opportunities for more information. PREQ: Freshman January term or Sophomore standing. Special permission required. Offered in variable course credit from 0.25-1.00.
SJCE 290 SEPA Grant-Writing Internship
The Social Entrepreneurship for Poverty Alleviation (SEPA) grant writing program forms a partnership between Austin College and the surrounding region. Each participating student is paired with a local nonprofit agency and spends the summer writing grants for these agencies. In the process, agencies gain valuable resources and students gain important experiences and skills. PREQ: Instructor permission required. Requirements met: Applied Learning Experience. Zero course credit.
SJCE 360/460 Advanced Directed Study in Social Justice and Community Engagement
Student investigation of topic of interest related to the major or minor working in collaboration with a faculty member resulting in significant oral and written work. See On-Campus Learning Opportunities for more information. PREQ: Junior or Senior standing. Special permission required. Offered for variable course credit from 0.25-1.00.
SJCE 490 Independent Study in Social Justice and Community Engagement
Student-driven independent work to produce a high quality body of work such as paper, report, art project, etc. See On-Campus Learning Opportunities for more information. PREQ: Junior or Senior standing. Special permission required. Offered in variable course credit from 0.25-1.00.