The Department of Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies is pleased to make history by offering the first undergraduate major in Social Justice at a public university in the state of Iowa. We are offering this interdisciplinary major in collaboration with several departments including Anthropology, History, The American Indian Native Studies Program, African American Studies, The Center for Human Rights, English, Sociology, Rhetoric, Social Work, Philosophy, Geography, Spanish and Portuguese, Political Science, Global Health Studies, and Religious Studies. A course of study that requires students to struggle with their understandings of what “social” and “justice” mean, and their individual obligations to those values will help them form themselves into effective citizens: people who will behave ethically in their careers and professions, people who will better their communities through paid labor and voluntary action, and people who will vote, serve on juries, advocate for justice and even who will aspire to public service at the local, state and national level. Students who choose this major are interested in wrestling with questions related to helping everyone gain equality and access resources that promote health, education, safety, security, and justice. Social Justice majors are also committed to diversity as a value that is just as important to promote as equality.

Our new major is designed to provide rich field experiences that connect knowledge and theory to practice, build communication skills including writing, speaking, digital literacy, collaboration and team work. We strive to provide students with a broad understanding of how ethics, philosophy, human rights, and history intersect with power, diversity, and broad social issues in the fields of health, environmental studies, ethnic and cultural studies, political science, and gender and women’s studies.

We pursued this idea because a number of students and their parents were interested in courses and career opportunities tied to work directly related to urgent social issues such as human security, labor, incarceration and law enforcement, migration, children, health, family, education and the environment. Employers are interested in students who have the skills this major offers. Employers and students who were recently surveyed by the Hart Research Associates in 2014 on behalf of the Association of Colleges and Universities stated, “…there is broad agreement among employers that all students, regardless of their chosen field of study, should gain broad learning across areas including 1) problem solving with people who have differing views, 2) democratic institutions and values, 3) civic capacity, 4) liberal arts and sciences, and 5) intercultural skills.”

We hope to support a learning experience for undergraduate students that challenges them to actively make the world a better place for everybody everyday! The Social Justice major is also a fabulous second major to pair with a degree in social work, public health, education, political science, or any field in the arts, humanities, natural or social sciences. It is useful for people who wish to work in the non-profit sector, social services, public administration or attend graduate or professional school in law, the helping professions, or the arts, sciences, or humanities.

The new major will be effective Summer 2017.

Come join us and make history!

For more information regarding the social justice major, please contact:

Pat Dolan, Social Justice adviser
Rachel Williams, Department chair