Social Justice Organizing Minor
This minor provides interdisciplinary classroom instruction in the theories, histories and formation of social identities, structural inequalities, and movements to foster social justice and equity in the United States. Students learn about valuable experiences and practical skills in social justice community organizing through a supervised internship.
The minor is offered by Africana Studies; Asian and Asian American Studies Institute; El Instituto: Latina/o, Caribbean, and Latin American Studies; and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
Requirements
Fifteen credits at the 2000-level or above are required by taking three credits each from Groups A, B, and D, and six credits from Group C. No more than six credits may be taken in any one department or overlap with the plan of study of any one other major or minor.
Group A: Identities, Intersections, and Categories of Analysis
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| AAAS 2201 | Introduction to Asian American Studies | 3 |
| AAAS/SOCI 2210 | Sociological Perspectives on Asian American Women | 3 |
| AAAS/SOCI 2220 | Asian Indian Women: Activism and Social Change in India and the United States | 3 |
| AFRA 2211 | Introduction to Africana Studies | 3 |
| AFRA 3106 | Black Psychology | 3 |
| AFRA/ANTH 3152 | Race, Ethnicity, and Nationalism | 3 |
| ANTH 3041/LLAS 3241 | Latin American Minorities in the United States | 3 |
| HDFS 3110 | Social and Community Influence on Children in the United States | 3 |
| HDFS 3250 | Disabilities: A Lifespan Perspective | 3 |
| HDFS 3261 | Men and Masculinities | 3 |
| HDFS 3277 | Issues in Human Sexuality | 3 |
| HRTS 3042 | Theories of Human Rights | 3 |
| HRTS 3212 | Comparative Perspectives on Human Rights | 3 |
| HRTS 3220W | Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights | 3 |
| LLAS 3210 | Contemporary Issues in Latino Studies | 3 |
| LLAS/POLS 3667 | Puerto Rican Politics and Culture | 3 |
| POLS 2012 | Modern Political Theory | 3 |
| POLS 2017 | Transatlantic Contemporary Political Theory | 3 |
| POLS 3032 | American Political Thought and Ideology | 3 |
| POLS 3062 | Democratic Theory | 3 |
| POLS 3072 | Political Protest and Ideology | 3 |
| POLS 3082 | Critical Race Theory as Political Theory | 3 |
| PHIL 2217 | Social and Political Philosophy | 3 |
| PHIL 3216E | Environmental Ethics | 3 |
| PHIL 3218 | Feminist Theory | 3 |
| PSYC/WGSS 3102 | Psychology of Women | 3 |
| WGSS 2250 | Critical Approaches to Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | 3 |
| WGSS 3257/3257W | Feminist Disability Studies | 3 |
Group B: State Structures and Systems of Inequality and Control
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| AAAS/HIST 2530 | Asian American Experience Since 1850 | 3 |
| AAAS 3531 | Japanese Americans and World War II | 3 |
| AFRA 2211 | Introduction to Africana Studies | 3 |
| AFRA/SOCI 2510 | Ethnicity and Race | 3 |
| AFRA/HRTS/SOCI 2520 | White Racism | 3 |
| AFRA 2563 | African American History to 1865 | 3 |
| AFRA 2564 | African American History Since 1865 | 3 |
| AFRA 3033 | Race and Policy | 3 |
| AFRA 3618 | Comparative Slavery in the Americas | 3 |
| ANTH 3027 | Postcolonial Indigenous Presence | 3 |
| ASLN/WGSS 3254 | Women and Gender in the Deaf World | 3 |
| COMM/LLAS/WGSS 3321 | Latinas and Media | 3 |
| COMM/WGSS 3210 | Gender and Communication | 3 |
| ECON 2444 | Women and Minorities in the Labor Market | 3 |
| ECON 2445 | Economic Foundations of Gender Inequality | 3 |
| ECON 2456 | Economics of Poverty | 3 |
| ENGL 2605 | Capitalism, Literature, and Culture | 3 |
| GSCU 2101 | Introduction to Urban and Community Studies | 3 |
| GSCU 3632/3632W | Urban Politics | 3 |
| GSCU 3903/3903W | Urban Problems | 3 |
| HDFS 3420 | Abuse and Violence in Families | 3 |
| HDFS 3421 | Low Income Families | 3 |
| HDFS 3520 | Legal Aspects of Family Life | 3 |
| HDFS 3530 | Public Policy and the Family | 3 |
| HDFS 3540 | Child Welfare, Law and Social Policy | 3 |
| HDFS 3550 | Comparative Family Policy | 3 |
| HIST/WGSS 2561 | History of Women and Gender in the U.S. to 1850 | 3 |
| HIST/WGSS 2562 | History of Women and Gender in the United States, 1850-Present | 3 |
| HIST/WGSS 3560 | Constructions of Race, Gender, and Sexuality in U.S. History | 3 |
| HIST 3575/HRTS 3221/LLAS 3221 | Latinos/as and Human Rights | 3 |
| HIST/LLAS 3660W | History of Migration in Las Americas | 3 |
| HIST 3674/LLAS 3220 | History of Latinos/as in the United States | 3 |
| HRTS/WGSS 2263 | Women, Gender, and Violence | 3 |
| HRTS 3201 | The History of Human Rights | 3 |
| HRTS/SOCI 2830 | Class, Power, and Inequality | 3 |
| HRTS/WGSS 3445 | Economic Foundations of Gender Inequality | 3 |
| LLAS 3525 | Latino Sociology | 3 |
| POLS 2618 | Politics of Inequality | 3 |
| POLS 2622 | State and Local Government | 3 |
| POLS 2998/2998W | Variable Topics in Contemporary Political Issues | 3 |
| POLS 3202/3202W | Comparative Political Parties and Electoral Systems | 3 |
| POLS 3203 | Environmental Policy and Institutions | 3 |
| POLS/WGSS 3249 | Gender Politics and Islam | 3 |
| POLS/WGSS 3440 | Gender and War | 3 |
| POLS 3612 | Electoral Behavior | 3 |
| POLS 3613 | Congressional Elections | 3 |
| POLS 3617 | American Political Economy | 3 |
| POLS 3622 | American Political Leadership | 3 |
| POLS 3625 | Public Opinion | 3 |
| POLS 3627 | Connecticut State and Municipal Politics | 3 |
| POLS 3632/3632W/GSCU 3632/3632W | Urban Politics | 3 |
| POLS 3650 | Politics and Ethics | 3 |
| POLS 3672/WGSS 3052 | Women and Politics | 3 |
| POLS 3822/3822W | Law and Popular Culture | 3 |
| POLS 3827 | Politics of Crime and Justice | 3 |
| POLS 3842 | Public Administration | 3 |
| POLS 3857 | Politics, Society, and Education Policy | 3 |
| SOCI 2110W | Sociology of Education | 3 |
| SOCI 2280/2280W | Sociology of Mental Illness | 3 |
| SOCI 2310 | Introduction to Criminal Justice | 3 |
| SOCI 2320/2320W | Drugs and Society | 3 |
| SOCI 2501 | Sociology of Injustice | 3 |
| SOCI 2660 | Sociology of Health | 3 |
| SOCI 2701E | Sustainable Societies | 3 |
| SOCI 2709E/2709WE | Society and Climate Change | 3 |
| SOCI 2820 | Sociological Perspectives on Poverty | 3 |
| SOCI 3425 | Social Welfare and Social Work | 3 |
| SOCI/WGSS 3453 | Women, Gender and Health | 3 |
| SOCI/WGSS 2680 | Sociology of Sexualities | 3 |
| WGSS 2264 | Gender, Disability, and Labor | 3 |
| WGSS 2267 | Gender, Capitalism, and Poverty | 3 |
| WGSS 3255 | Sexual Citizenship | 3 |
| ECON 2498/HRTS 3298/WGSS 3998 | Variable Topics (when offered as Economics of Gender and Inequality) | 3 |
Group C: Creating Social Justice, Equity and Freedom
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| AAAS 3220 | Asian American Art and Visual Culture | 3 |
| AAAS 3212 | Asian American Literature | 3 |
| AFRA 3206 | Black Experience in the Americas | 3 |
| AFRA 3213 | Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century African American Literature | 3 |
| AFRA 3215 | Twentieth- and Twenty-First Century African American Literature | 3 |
| AFRA 3050W | African American Art | 3 |
| AFRA 3131 | Black Theatre | 3 |
| AFRA 3217 | Studies in African American Literature and Culture | 3 |
| AFRA 3568 | Hip Hop, Politics and Youth Culture in America | 3 |
| AFRA 3569 | Slavery in Film | 3 |
| AFRA 3642 | African-American Politics | 3 |
| AFRA 3647 | Black Leadership and Civil Rights | 3 |
| AFRA/HRTS/SOCI 2530 | African Americans and Social Protest | 3 |
| AFRA/POLS/WGSS 3652 | Black Feminist Politics | 3 |
| ENGL/WGSS 3609 | Women's Literature | 3 |
| ENGL/WGSS 3611 | Women's Literature 1900 to the Present | 3 |
| ENGL/WGSS 3613 | LGBTQ+ Literature | 3 |
| HRTS/SOCI 2800 | Human Rights in the United States | 3 |
| HRTS 3252 | Business and Human Rights | 3 |
| HRTS 3254 | Social Responsibility and Accountability in Business | 3 |
| HRTS 3256/3256W | Politics and Human Rights in Global Supply Chains | 3 |
| HRTS 3257 | Assessment for Human Rights and Sustainability | 3 |
| HRTS 3326 | Global Health and Human Rights | 3 |
| HRTS 3430 | Evaluating Human Rights Practices of Countries | 3 |
| HRTS 3475 | Economic Development and Human Rights | 3 |
| HRTS 3575 | Human Rights, Digital Media, Visual Culture | 3 |
| HRTS 3807 | Constitutional Rights and Liberties | 3 |
| LLAS 2011W | Introduction to Latino-American Writing and Research | 3 |
| LLAS 2012 | Latinos in Connecticut: Serving the Community | 4 |
| LLAS/WGSS 3258 | Latina Narrative | 3 |
| LLAS 3270/POLS 3662 | Latino Political Behavior | 3 |
| POLS 2429 | Political Violence | 3 |
| POLS 3203 | Environmental Policy and Institutions | 3 |
| POLS/WGSS 3216 | Women in Political Development | 3 |
| POLS 3426 | Politics, Propaganda, and Cinema | 3 |
| SOCI 2835W | Social Movements and Social Change | 3 |
| WGSS 2255/2255W | LGBTQ Sexualities, Activism, and Globalization | 3 |
| WGSS 3269 | Gender, Sexuality, and Social Movements | 3 |
| ENGL 3629/WGSS 3998 | Holocaust Memoir (when offered as Studies in Literature: Femme Fatales) | 3 |
| MUSI 4995/WGSS 3998 | Special Topics (when offered as Women in Music) | 1-4 |
Group D: Service Learning/Internship
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| AAAS/AFRA/LLAS/WGSS 4100 | Experiential/Service Learning Seminar | 4 |
In this interdisciplinary seminar, students learn and work alongside other University of Connecticut students, instructors and local activists as they examine the history of social justice organizing in the United States and gain practical skills in community organizing and political advocacy. Student practitioners gain familiarity with the theories, strategies, and practice of community organizing movements, such as those for immigration, environmental, reproductive, and racial justice.