The main pillars of this major are as follows:
- Learning what a just society looks like and how it can be achieved
- Recognizing the needs and privileges of different societies and why inequalities arise
- Exploring the different forms of activism (non-profit work, educational justice, social work, public policy) and their implications
Just Society (Theory)
- What does the ideal society look like? Is such a thing possible at this point in history? Was it ever possible?
- What is justice? Is anything entirely just? What kind of justice are “social justice warriors” advocating for?
- Does justice and the ideal society look different in various places in the world?
- Is there a way that justice can benefit everyone involved? How can we better inform the public that giving justice to one group does not necessarily have to take away anything for another?
Needs and Privileges (Reality)
- What are the historical explanations for the birth of inequality between races, classes, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, etc.?
- How do certain groups of people retain so much power and wealth while other groups continue to suffer?
- What have people done in the past to diminish inequality? How can modern society better address these disparities between certain groups?
- How can people with privilege adequately recognize that privilege and use it for good?
- How can we normalize the idea that everyone has at least a small amount of privilege and a small amount of struggle, and discontinue the so-called “oppression olympics”?
Activism and its Implications (Application)
- What is the history of activism (ie. advocating for those in need)? Who are the unsung heroes of activist movements?
- How do we measure how effective a form of activism is?
- Can there be activism that appears productive on the surface, but actually causes harm, or perpetuation of the problem (ie. the white savior complex)? How should these forms of activism be measured against others?
- What is the nonprofit industrial complex? How do we address this issue? How can we diminish it?
- How can we encourage activism and political engagement while not promoting the current tendency towards being the most “woke” and shaming those who are not as knowledgeable about certain social issues?