Social Justice

Alexa Dare, Ph.D., communication & media, director

The social justice minor is open to all students from any major or school at the University. This interdisciplinary minor instills in students an intellectual foundation and practical experience to live in ways that promote collective liberation and ensure dignity and self-determination for people and communities.

The program includes courses in its curriculum from disciplines such as business, communication, education, English, history, philosophy, political science, psychology, sociology, social work, and theology.

Learning Outcomes for Social Justice Minors

Social justice graduates at the University of Portland should be able to:

  1. Demonstrate a broad understanding of the theories and concepts of social justice and social justice traditions.
    1. Identify and explain central concepts of social justice, including the Catholic social justice tradition.
    2. Identify and explain historical roots of social justice and injustice.
  2. Articulate an understanding of social justice from a variety of perspectives including religious, psychological, sociological, historical, cultural, political, economic, and organizational.
    1. Identify and explain a variety of different disciplines' perspectives on social justice.
    2. Demonstrate an understanding of the social justice implications of issues in various disciplines.
  3. Demonstrate leadership.
    1. Set goals for their contribution in a community learning experience.
    2. Reflect on praxis, integrating theory and their practice in a community learning experience.
    3. Reflect on their contribution in a community learning experience in terms of different attributes of leadership.

Capstone Experience

During their junior or senior years, students pursuing the social justice minor will participate in SW 460, Social Justice Capstone. This course requires all participants to engage in a community-based learning experience involving an action project.

Minor Requirements - 18 credit hours

Required Courses - 6 credit hours

POL 302Perspectives on Social Justice

3

SW 460Social Justice Capstone

3

Upper Division Electives - 12 credit hours

At least 3-credit hours must be from a discipline other than POL or SW.

Select four courses from the following:

BUS 487Social Entrepreneurship

3

CAS 312/CAS 312XImagining our Futures: Making Sense of Racial Justice, COVID-19, and Climate Crisis

3

CST 370Environmental Organizing and Advocacy

3

CST 411Communication Across Barriers

3

CST 416Communication, Conflict, and Peace

3

CST 431Intercultural Communication and Identity

3

CST 432The Global Commons: Gendered Storytelling, Feminist Futures, and Liberation

3

CST 433Critical Perspectives on Work, Labor, and Organizing

3

CST 435Visual Culture

3

ECN 424Income Inequality

3

ED 320Sociocultural Foundations of Education

3

ENG 360Literature and Social Change

3

ENG 371City Life in American Literature

3

ENG 372Multi-Ethnic American Literature

3

ENG 373African-American Literature

3

ENG 404Seminar in Non-Western Literature I

3

ENV 349Environmental Policy

3

HST 316US in Depression and War, 1920-1945

3

HST 321Modern American Women's History

3

HST 322American Protest and Reform

3

HST 323African American History

3

HST 343Europe in the Age of Dictatorship

3

HST 346Modern Germany

3

HST 357Environmental History of the Americas and the World

3

HST 358Disease and Medicine in World History

3

NRS 440Social Justice and Population Health

3

PHL 313Socio-Political Philosophy

3

PHL 314Metaphysics: Philosophy and Feminism

3

PHL 324Environmental Ethics

3

PHL 336Metaphysics: Native American Philosophy

3

PHL 371Ancient Philosophy

3

PHL 374Hegel and 19th Century Philosophy

3

PHL 408Race, Gender, and Colonialism

3

PHL 410/ETHS 410Decolonial Education and Politics

3

PHL 412Philosophy of Law

3

POL 319Politics and Identity

3

POL 321Politics of Hip Hop

3

POL 335American Public Policy

3

POL 351International Law in Theory and Practice

3

POL 376Politics of Africa

3

POL 377Politics of the Middle East

3

POL 378Muslims and Islam in Europe and the U.S.

3

POL 462Globalization and its Discontents

3

POL 470Global Migration and Displacement

3

POL 471Global Advocacy and Activism

3

PSY 351Health Psychology

3

PSY 400Psychology and Society: The Mind in Social and Historical Context

3

PSY 450Cross Cultural Psychology

3

PSY 463/SOC 463Children, Youth, and Society

3

SOC 333Social Class and Inequality

3

SOC 336Race and Racism in the United States

3

SOC 339Sociology of the Family

3

SOC 436Women and Work

3

SPN 450Special Topics in Latin American Studies

3

SW 313Social Policy, Action, and Advocacy for Change

3

SW 325/SOC 325Power, Oppression, and Critical Consciousness

3

SW 456Organizing for Environmental Justice

3

SW 465/PSY 465Grief and Loss in a Politicized World

3

SW 468/SOC 468/SPN 468Comparative Health and Social Issues in Ecuador

3

THE 302/THE 402Poets, Prophets, Divas, and Diviners

3

THE 317/THE 417Trickery, Gender, Power, and Politics in the Bible

3

THE 323/THE 423Christian Social Ethics

3

THE 329/THE 429Theological Bioethics: Liberationist, Feminist, and Global

3

THE 343/THE 443Ecological Spirituality

3