Social and Economic Justice Minor
Neal Caren, Director of Social and Economic Justice
Austin Vo, Assistant Director of Social and Economic Justice
Kenneth Andrews, Chair
The minor in social and economic justice is designed for students who want to understand how to think analytically about issues of justice and how perspectives on justice can be joined with the pursuit of it. An overarching objective is fostering attitudes and knowledge about human rights; racial, ethnic, and gender equality; economic justice; democratic participation; sustainable development; diversity; and peace. It is especially appropriate for students who anticipate working in advocacy roles in nonprofit organizations, in local communities, or in governmental organizations. In these inquiries about justice, students engage scholarship in a variety of disciplines and traditions of practice.
Department Programs
Majors
Minor
Graduate Programs
Requirements
In addition to the program requirements listed below, students must:
- take at least nine hours of their minor "core" requirements at UNC–Chapel Hill
- earn a minimum of 12 hours of C or better in the minor (some minors require more)
For more information, please consult the degree requirements section of the catalog.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Core Requirements | ||
| One core course chosen from: | 3 | |
| Political Geography | ||
| Space, Place, and Difference | ||
| Justice, Rights, and the Common Good: Philosophical Perspectives on Social and Economic Issues | ||
| Social and Economic Justice, Experiential Education | ||
| Social and Economic Justice | ||
| Three additional courses that cover at least two different areas (listed below) 1 | 9 | |
| Total Hours | 12 | |
| 1 | Depending on the topic, independent study, special topics, and internship courses may be approved to fulfill the requirements for the minor with the explicit permission of the director. |
A student may major in sociology and minor in social and economic justice; however, a student cannot count toward graduation more than 45 hours in SOCI courses. All college requirements about minors apply. In addition, only one course that a student is using to meet a General Education Approaches requirement may also be used to meet a minor requirement.
Service Learning Component
Students are required to complete one service-learning experience, a requirement that can be met in one of three ways.
- A student may take a course that includes a service-learning (APPLES) component.
- After seeking and receiving the approval of the director of the minor, a student may take a one- to three-credit independent studies or special topics course (summer or academic term) with a faculty member.
- A student may participate in the two-credit spring break course, HBEH 610, which meets the service-learning requirement but not a course requirement.
Note that core courses do not necessarily contain a service-learning component; check ConnectCarolina each semester to confirm that courses are listed as APPLES courses.
Thus, the minor is fulfilled with 12 to 13 credits, depending on whether the service-learning requirement is part of a three-credit course or is fulfilled in another way.
Understanding Justice
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| AAAD 260 | Blacks in Latin America | 3 |
| AAAD 232/WGST 266 | Black Women in America | 3 |
| AAAD/WGST 386 | Comparative Studies in Culture, Gender, and Global Forces | 3 |
| ANTH 248 | Anthropology and Public Interest | 3 |
| ANTH 422 | Anthropology and Human Rights | 3 |
| ANTH 444 | Medicine, Politics, and Justice | 3 |
| ANTH 539 | Environmental Justice | 3 |
| ASIA/GEOG 267 | South Asia | 3 |
| ECON 267 | Comparative Economic Systems 1 | 3 |
| EDUC 533 | Social Justice in Education | 3 |
| ENGL 271 | Mixed-Race America: Race in Contemporary American Literature and Culture | 3 |
| GEOG 259 | Society and Environment in Latin America | 3 |
| GEOG 430 | Global Migrations, Local Impacts: Urbanization and Migration in the United States | 3 |
| GEOG 448 | Transnational Geographies of Muslim Societies | 3 |
| GEOG/PLAN 428 | Global Cities: Space, Power, and Identity in the Built Environment | 3 |
| GLBL 487 | Social Movements: Rethinking Globalization H | 3 |
| HIST 142 | Latin America under Colonial Rule | 3 |
| HIST 143 | Latin America since Independence | 3 |
| PHIL 170 | Liberty, Rights, and Responsibilities: Introduction to Social Ethics and Political Thought H | 3 |
| PHIL 280 | Morality, Law, and Justice: Issues in Legal Philosophy H | 3 |
| PHIL 476 | Recent Developments in Political Philosophy 1 | 3 |
| PHIL 480 | Philosophy of Law | 3 |
| PHIL/WGST 275 | Moral and Philosophical Issues of Gender in Society H | 3 |
| POLI 276 | Major Issues in Political Theory H | 3 |
| POLI 411 | Civil Liberties under the Constitution H | 3 |
| POLI 472 | Problems of Modern Democratic Theory H | 3 |
| POLI/WGST 265 | Feminism and Political Theory | 3 |
| SOCI 64 | First-Year Seminar: Equality of Educational Opportunity Then and Now | 3 |
| SOCI 122 | Race and Ethnicity | 3 |
| SOCI 414 | The City and Urbanization | 3 |
| SOCI 417 | The City and Urbanization, Experiential Education | 3 |
| SOCI 424 | Law and Society | 3 |
| SOCI 469 | Health and Society | 3 |
| SOCI/WGST 444 | Race, Class, and Gender | 3 |
| SOWO 491 | Community Organizing for Social Change | 4 |
| WGST/HIST 313 | Women and the Law in Africa and the Middle East | 3 |
| WGST 388 | The International Politics of Sexual and Reproductive Health | 3 |
| H | Honors version available. An honors course fulfills the same requirements as the nonhonors version of that course. Enrollment and GPA restrictions may apply. |
| 1 | Have departmental requirements that may or may not be waived. Students should consult course descriptions and discuss requirements with the instructor. |
Justice in Action
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| AAAD 403 | Human Rights: Theories and Practices in Africa | 3 |
| AAAD/WGST 386 | Comparative Studies in Culture, Gender, and Global Forces 1 | 3 |
| AMST 398 | Service Learning in America | 3 |
| ANTH 142 | Local Cultures, Global Forces H | 3 |
| ANTH 240 | Action Research | 3 |
| ANTH/GEOG/GLBL/HIST/POLI 210 | Global Issues and Globalization | 3 |
| COMM 53 | First-Year Seminar: Collective Leadership Models for Community Change | 3 |
| COMM 260 | Introduction to Performance and Social Change | 3 |
| COMM 625 | Communication and Nonprofits in the Global Context | 3 |
| COMM 650 | Cultural Politics of Global Media Culture | 3 |
| COMM/ENEC 375 | Environmental Advocacy | 3 |
| DRAM 85 | First-Year Seminar: Documentary Theatre H | 3 |
| DRAM 288 | Theatre for Social Change | 3 |
| ECON 465 | Economic Development 1 | 3 |
| GEOG 56 | First-Year Seminar: Local Places in a Globalizing World | 3 |
| GEOG 458 | Urban Latin America: Politics, Economy, and Society 1 | 3 |
| GEOG 650 | Technology and Democracy Research | 3 |
| HIST/MNGT 365 | The Worker and American Life | 3 |
| MEJO 141 | Media Ethics | 3 |
| MEJO 340 | Introduction to Media Law: Journalism Focus | 3 |
| MEJO 448 | Freedom of Expression in the United States | 3 |
| PLCY 361 | Health Policy and Politics | 3 |
| SOCI 411 | Social Movements | 3 |
| SOCI 413 | Social Movements, Experiential | 3 |
| SOWO 490 | Preprofessional Special Topic | 1-6 |
| SOWO 492 | Seminar in Service Learning | 1-6 |
| WGST 281 | Gender and Global Change | 3 |
| WGST 350 | Spitting in the Wind: "American" Women, Art, and Activism | 3 |
| WGST 410 | Comparative Queer Politics | 3 |
| WGST 465 | Gender, (Im)migration, and Labor in Latina Literature | 3 |
| WGST 583 | Gender and Imperialism | 3 |
| H | Honors version available. An honors course fulfills the same requirements as the nonhonors version of that course. Enrollment and GPA restrictions may apply. |
| 1 | Have departmental requirements that may or may not be waived. Students should consult course descriptions and discuss requirements with the instructor. |
The Context of Justice
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| AMST 294 | American Studies Seminar on Aesthetic Perspective | 3 |
| AMST/HIST 110 | Introduction to the Cultures and Histories of Native North America | 3 |
| ANTH 103 | Anthropology of Globalization | 3 |
| ANTH 120 | Anthropology through Expressive Cultures | 3 |
| ANTH 467 | Culture, Wealth, and Poverty | 3 |
| ANTH/PWAD 280 | Anthropology of War and Peace | 3 |
| ASIA/GEOG/WGST 447 | Gender, Space, and Place in the Middle East | 3 |
| COMM 82 | First-Year Seminar: Food Politics from an Organizational Communication Perspective | 3 |
| COMM 140 | Introduction to Media History, Theory, and Criticism H | 3 |
| COMM 624 | Hate Speech | 3 |
| ECON 480 | Labor Economics 1 | 3 |
| ECON 586 | Economics of the Family 1 | 3 |
| ECON/EURO/PWAD 460 | International Economics 1 | 3 |
| ENEC/PLCY 520 | Environment and Development | 3 |
| ENGL 265 | Literature and Race, Literature and Ethnicity H | 3 |
| ENGL 269 | Introduction to Disability Studies | 3 |
| ENGL/WGST 363 | Feminist Literary Theory H | 3 |
| GEOG 123 | Cultural Geography | 3 |
| GEOG 232 | Agriculture, Food, and Society | 3 |
| GEOG 423 | Social Geography | 3 |
| GEOG 452 | Mobile Geographies: The Political Economy of Migration | 3 |
| GEOG 457 | Rural Latin America: Agriculture, Environment, and Natural Resources | 3 |
| GEOG 470 | Political Ecology: Geographical Perspectives | 3 |
| HIST 589 | Race, Racism, and America: (United States) Law in Historical Perspective | 3 |
| HIST/WGST 280 | Women and Gender in Latin American History | 3 |
| LING/GSLL 306 | Language and Nationalism | 3 |
| MEJO 441 | Diversity and Communication | 3 |
| MEJO/WGST 442 | Gender, Class, Race, and Mass Media | 3 |
| POLI/WGST 217 | Women and Politics | 3 |
| SOCI 420 | Political Sociology | 3 |
| SOCI 423 | Sociology of Education, Experiential Education | 3 |
| SOCI 426 | Sociology of Education | 3 |
| SOCI 468 | United States Poverty and Public Policy | 3 |
| SOCI/MNGT 412 | Social Stratification | 3 |
| SOCI/WGST 124 | Sex and Gender in Society | 3 |
| H | Honors version available. An honors course fulfills the same requirements as the nonhonors version of that course. Enrollment and GPA restrictions may apply. |
| 1 | Have departmental requirements that may or may not be waived. Students should consult course descriptions and discuss requirements with the instructor. |
See the program page here for special opportunities.
