‘Social justice’ majors, courses, events are new norm on college campuses

Social justice majors and other social justice-themed activities are becoming an increasingly regular occurrence on college campuses. 

But it’s not just on college campuses. As recently reported by Campus Reform, the University of Michigan School of Education is partnering with a local Detroit school district to open a social justice high school. Now that social justice education is expanding beyond college campuses, Campus Reform takes a look at other social justice initiatives. Here are some stories you may have missed: 

[RELATED: UMich social justice agenda is now ‘spreading beyond’ campus]

1. ’Social justice fest’ promotes sex work advocacy, boycotting Wendy’s

Brandeis University held a week of various social justice events, including one that taught how to advocate for sex workers and another that attempted to persuade students to boycott the popular fast-food chain, Wendy’s. 

Other events at the “DEIS IMPACT Festival of Social Justice” included “Phyllis Bennis Speaks: The Marginalization Of Gaza And The West Bank” and “Reading God and Torah From a Transgender Perspective: A Talk with Joy Ladin.”

2. You can MAJOR in social justice at this nearly $70,000 per year Calif. School

Dominican University in California has added a stand-alone social justice major that will begin to accept students this upcoming fall. The school suggests “Journalist/Photographer/Filmmaker,“ “Community Organizer,” “Educator,” “Political Campaign Staffer,” and even a “Socially Engaged Artist” as possible careers for social justice majors. 

A spokesperson from the California Federation of College Republicans told Campus Reform that the “program is for psuedo-educational purposes and pushes a certain political agenda” and that it is “clearly not wise for students to take out nearly $300,000 in student loans just to study social justice.”

3. OWU offers ‘social justice’ major with mandatory ‘activism’ work

Ohio Wesleyan University offers a “social justice” major to its students, with one course specifically focused on “activism” by requiring students to supplement their classwork with an activism project.

The major also includes courses on “contemporary feminist theory,” which takes a look at far-left concepts like “marxist feminism” and “socialist feminism.”

4. Harvard students can now earn a ‘Social Justice Certificate’

Harvard University now awards its students a “Social Justice Certificate” through various credit hour qualifications, a process that the school estimates will cost a student $10,800 over the course of 1.5 years.

Classes that can be taken to satisfy the qualifications for the certificate include “Chocolate, Culture, and the Politics of Food,” “Readings in Black Radicalism,” and “The Culture of Capitalism.”

5. UW-Madison pays students to ‘advance social justice issues’

The University of Wisconsin-Madison looked to hire social justice interns to help with social justice efforts on and around campus, specifically looking for students “who are passionate about advancing social justice issues such as racial justice; access to education; access to clean food, air, and water; criminal justice and prison reform, LGBTQ+ rights; women’s rights; voting rights; economic justice, immigrant justice; and/or civic engagement.”

The Communications Director for UW Madison College Republicans told Campus Reform that “it appears that the Wisconsin Union is attempting to advance a political agenda through a ‘Social Justice Intern.’” 

6. Georgetown class has students produce ‘social justice’ documentaries ‘for social action’

Film students at Georgetown University can supplement their traditional education with social justice activism through a “Social Justice Documentary” project. The school also encourages students to preregister for various social justice courses.

Some of those courses include “Bible and Social Justice,” which addresses social justice issues within the Bible, “Climate Change & Social Justice,” which examines how “global inequities” affect the way various people are impacted by climate change, and “Gender and the Law” which addresses how masculinity and femininity “shape the U.S. legal system.”

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @ethanycai