Program Details : University Catalogs : University of Minnesota

SW 3501 - Theories and Practices of Social Change Organizing

Credits:	4.0 [max 4.0]
Grading Basis:	A-F only
Typically offered:	Every Fall & Spring

Concepts, theories, and practices of social change organizing. U.S. power relations. How people organize. Cross-class, multi-racial, and multi-issue organizing. Students do service learning in social justice organization.

SW 4501 - Senior Seminar in Social Justice

Credits:	4.0 [max 4.0]
Grading Basis:	A-F only
Typically offered:	Every Spring

Capstone course. Students complete a social justice portfolio, do service learning in a social justice organization. prereq: 1501 or 2501, 3501

SW 2501W - Introduction to Social Justice (DSJ, WI)

Credits:	4.0 [max 4.0]
Grading Basis:	A-F only
Typically offered:	Every Fall & Spring

Meanings of social justice. Ways in which social justice advocates work for social change. Criminal justice, globalization, and social welfare. Students do service learning in a social justice organization.

SW 1501 - Introduction to Peace Studies (GP)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Grading Basis:	A-F only
Typically offered:	Every Fall & Spring

Interdisciplinary field that considers questions such as how human conflicts can be resolved in ways that promote justice/peace. Definitions, conditions, and causes of violence, nonviolence, war, and peace between nations, groups, or individuals.

AAS 1101 - Imagining Asian America (SOCS, DSJ)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	AAS 1101/AMST 1101/ANTH 1101
Typically offered:	Every Fall

What are the histories, cultures, and experiences of Asian Americans, the fastest-growing group in the United States? How do they fit into the U.S.'s history of immigration, race, and citizenship? Is the "model minority" myth really true? This course is an introduction to Asian American Studies, an interdisciplinary field that uses ethnography, literature, histories, films, memoirs, and other texts to study how the history of Asian immigration to the United States has visibly shaped existing Asian American communities and identities, and how "Asian America" is central to a more general understanding of American popular culture and public life. The course is roughly organized chronologically. We will first begin with an introduction to the field of Asian American Studies by asking the questions: What is Asian America? What is Asian American Studies" We will then examine important concepts, categories, and processes before exploring the rich history of Asian migration to the United States and contemporary issues facing Asian Americans today. One of the core principles of this course is to encourage active and interdisciplinary learning. This means that we will be learning in a variety of ways to explore and understand the material (reading, writing, watching, listening, seeing, discussing, presenting). We will be drawing from a wide range of disciplines (history, law, sociology, education, cultural studies, psychology, etc.). And we will be using a variety of materials (memoir, scholarly articles, historical documents, government records, newspapers, films, photographs, popular culture, etc.) Your active participation in these activities is essential.

AAS 3301 - Asian America Through Arts and Culture (AH, DSJ)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	AAS 3301/EngL 3301
Typically offered:	Spring Even Year

The course focuses on the close analysis and interpretation of individual works by a range of modern and contemporary artists. Students will analyze, critique, and interpret these works in light of the historical and social contexts in which they were produced, their creation and uses of aesthetic form, and their impact on individuals and communities. Discussion, writing assignments, and oral presentations will focus on different ways of encountering and evaluating artistic work; for instance, students will write critical analyses and production reviews as well as dialogue more informally through weekly journal entries and online discussion forums. We will examine what it means to define artists and their work as being "Asian American" and explore how other categories of identity such as gender, sexuality, or class intersect with race. We will study how art works not only as individual creativity but also as communal and social practice; for instance, we look at the history of theaters, such as East-West Players or Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, that have sustained Asian Americans as actors, playwrights, and designers.

AFRO 3120 - Social and Intellectual Movements in the African Diaspora (HIS, GP)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	Afro 3120/Afro 5120/Hist 3456
Grading Basis:	A-F or Aud
Typically offered:	Every Fall

Political, cultural, historical linkages between Africans, African-Americans, African-Caribbean. Black socio-political movements/radical intellectual trends in late 19th/20th centuries. Colonialism/racism. Protest organizations, radical movements in United States/Europe.

AFRO 3426 - African Americans, Social Policy, and the Welfare State

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered:	Every Spring

Period between New Deal (1930s) and present. History/impact of federal policy (presidential, congressional, judicial) and race on African Americans. Politics of allocation of insurance versus relief in Social Security Act of 1935. Race and expansion of social benefits after World War II. School desegregation. Kennedy�s civil rights policy, LBJ�s War on Poverty. Affirmative Action. Warren court. Busing. Conservative retreat from welfare state under Ronald Reagan and George Bush.

AFRO 3866 - The Civil Rights and Black Power Movement, 1954-1984

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	Afro 3866/Afro 5866/Hist 3856
Typically offered:	Every Fall

Modern black civil rights struggle in the U.S., i.e., the second reconstruction. Failure of reconstruction, abdication of black civil rights in 19th century. Assault on white supremacy via courts, state, and grass roots southern movement in 1950s and 1960s. Black struggle in north and west. New emphasis on Black Power, by new organizations. Ascendancy of Ronald Reagan, conservative assault on the movement.

AMST 3001 - Contemporary Perspectives on Asian America (DSJ)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	AAS 3001/AmSt 3001
Typically offered:	Every Spring

Interdisciplinary overview of Asian American identities. Post-1965 migration/community. History, cultural productions, and concerns of Americans of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, South Asian, Filipino, and Southeast Asian ancestry.

CHIC 1112 - Paradigms in Chicana/o Studies (DSJ)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered:	Every Spring

Prevailing paradigms of analysis, methodologies of research, and guiding theoretical concepts that have shaped Chicana/o studies. The paradigms introduced in this course are foundational to the study of Chicanas, Chicanos, and Chicanx, and it provides the necessary tools for success in upper division courses in the department. Topics include decolonial imaginaries, indigeneity, intersectionality, experiential knowledge, hegemony and counter-hegemony, oppositional consciousness, queer theory, racialization, transnationalism, and globalization.

CHIC 3212 - Chicana Feminism: La Chicana in Contemporary Society (AH, DSJ)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	Chic 3212/GWSS 3212/GWSS 3410
Typically offered:	Every Fall & Spring

Scholarly/creative work of Chicanas or politically defined women of Mexican American community. Interdisciplinary. Historical context, cultural process, and autoethnography.

CHIC 3446 - Chicana and Chicano History II: WWII, El Movimiento, and the New Millennium (HIS, DSJ)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	Chic 3446/Hist 3446
Typically offered:	Every Spring

Experiences of people of Mexican descent in the U.S. Notions of citizenship from WWII. Chicano civil rights movement. Impact of immigration patterns/legislation. Cultural wars, changing demographics. Social, economic, and political changes that influenced day-to-day life of Mexican Americans. Meaning of racialized "Mexican" identity. How different groups of Mexicans have understood their relationships to other Americans and other Latino groups.

CHIC 4275 - Theory in Action: Community Engagement in a Social Justice Framework (CIV)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered:	Every Fall

Theoretical frameworks of social justice and community engagement for work outside classroom with/in Latina/o community. Worker issues/organizing. Placements in unions, worker organizations. Policy initiatives on labor issues. Students reflect on their own identity development, social location, and position of power/privilege.

CI 2311W - Introduction to Technology and Ethics in Society (CIV, WI)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	CI 2311W/CI 4311
Typically offered:	Every Fall, Spring & Summer

Values and ethical issues related to technology use in education, workplace, and family/community life.

EPSY 3132 - Psychology of Multiculturalism in Education (DSJ)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Grading Basis:	A-F or Aud
Typically offered:	Every Spring

Course critically examines social and cultural diversity in the United States, confronting social issues of poverty, handicappism, homophobia, racism, sexism, victim-blaming, violence, and so on, and presenting models for change. Students examine how and why prejudices develop.

GLBT 3301 - Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Social Movements in the United States

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	GLBT 3301/GWSS 3501
Typically offered:	Every Spring

Interdisciplinary course. Development of GLBT social movements using social movement theory/service learning.

GWSS 1002 - Politics of Sex (SOCS, DSJ)

Credits:	3.0 [max 4.0]
Typically offered:	Every Spring

Introductory survey of historical, cultural, psychological, and sociopolitical dimensions of analyzing gender/sexuality. Norms/deviances pertaining to gender/sexuality as differently enacted/understood by social groups in different time-/place-specific locations. GWSS / Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies / Gender Studies

GWSS 3003 - Gender and Global Politics (SOCS, GP)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered:	Every Fall, Spring & Summer

Similarities/differences in women's experiences throughout world, from cross-cultural/historical perspective. Uses range of reading materials/media (feminist scholarship, fiction, film, news media, oral history, autobiography).

GWSS 3590 - Topics: Social Change, Activism, Law, and Policy Studies

Credits:	3.0 [max 6.0]
Typically offered:	Periodic Fall, Spring & Summer

Topics specified in Class Schedule.

HIST 3877 - Asian American History, 1850-Present (HIS, DSJ)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	AAS 3877/HIST 3877
Typically offered:	Every Fall & Spring

Asian American history and contemporary issues, from 1850 to the present. Immigration, labor, anti-Asian movements, women/families, impact of World War Two, new immigrant/refugee communities, civil rights, Asian American identity/culture.

PHIL 1004W - Introduction to Political Philosophy (AH, CIV, WI)

Credits:	4.0 [max 4.0]
Course Equivalencies:	Phil 1004W/V
Typically offered:	Every Fall & Spring

Government -- what are its purpose; the limits on its authority; its responsibilities to citizens (and vice versa)? What roles do freedom, equality, rights, property, punishment and justice play here? Join in as we discuss and debate competing views.

PHIL 1007 - Introduction to Political Philosophy Practicum

Credits:	1.0 [max 1.0]
Typically offered:	Every Fall & Spring

Students do at least two hours a week of community service and connect their service activities in writing to issues discussed in 1004. prereq: concurrent registration is required (or allowed) in 1004W

PHIL 3301 - Environmental Ethics (ENV)

Credits:	4.0 [max 4.0]
Typically offered:	Spring Odd Year

Philosophical basis for membership in moral community. Theories applied to specific problems (e.g., vegetarianism, wilderness preservation). Students defend their own reasoned views about moral relations between humans, animals, and nature.

PHIL 3302W - Moral Problems of Contemporary Society (CIV, WI)

Credits:	4.0 [max 4.0]
Course Equivalencies:	Phil 3302W/Phil 3322W
Typically offered:	Periodic Fall & Spring

One feature of life in modern society is the presence of deep moral disagreement. Individuals must decide what actions are right, and societies must make political choices. How do we know what the right answer is? Which answers and approaches are rationally defensible? Philosophical reflection, rational argument, and systematic analysis can help us think about these problems more clearly and arrive at answers that are both useful and intellectually satisfying. This course will address various rotating topics, such as abortion, animal rights, criminal punishment, censorship, personal relationships, affirmative action, and other active areas of moral and social concern.

PHIL 4231 - Philosophy of Language

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	Phil 4231/Phil 5231
Typically offered:	Periodic Fall & Spring

Theories of reference, linguistic truth, relation of language/thought, translation/synonymy. prereq: 1001 or 5201 or instr consent

SOC 3003 - Social Problems

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Grading Basis:	A-F or Aud
Typically offered:	Periodic Fall & Spring

In this course, we will engage in a sociological examination of major social problems facing the contemporary US and abroad. We explore the origins and causes of different social problems, seek to understand how they impact individuals, groups, and the society as a whole, and evaluate solutions. We ask how an issue becomes defined as a "social problem," discuss the social construction of reality and deviance, and consider the primary frameworks under which societies have organized their responses to different social problems. prereq: 1001 recommended; soc majors/minors must register A-F

SOC 3201 - Inequality: Introduction to Stratification

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered:	Periodic Fall

Why does inequality exist? How does it work? These are the essential questions examined in this class. Topics range from welfare and poverty to the role of race and gender in getting ahead. We will pay particular attention to social inequities � why some people live longer and happier lives while others are burdened by worry, poverty, and ill health. prereq: soc majors/minors must register A-F

SOC 3211W - Race and Racism in the US (DSJ, WI)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	AAS 3211W/Soc 3211W
Grading Basis:	A-F or Aud
Typically offered:	Every Fall & Spring

We live in a society steeped in racial understandings that are often invisible?some that are hard to see, and others that we work hard not to see. This course will focus on race relations in today's society with a historical overview of the experiences of various racial and ethnic groups in order to help explain their present-day social status. This course is designed to help students begin to develop their own informed perspectives on American racial ?problems? by introducing them to the ways that sociologists deal with race, ethnicity, race relations and racism. We will expand our understanding of racial and ethnic dynamics by exploring the experiences of specific groups in the U.S. and how race/ethnicity intersects with sources of stratification such as class, nationality, and gender. The course will conclude by re-considering ideas about assimilation, pluralism, and multiculturalism. Throughout, our goal will be to consider race both as a source of identity and social differentiation as well as a system of privilege, power, and inequality affecting everyone in the society albeit in different ways.

SOC 3322W - Social Movements, Protests, and Change (CIV, WI)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	GloS 3322W/Soc 3322W
Grading Basis:	A-F or Aud
Typically offered:	Periodic Fall & Spring

Focusing on the origins, dynamics, and consequences of social movements, this course explores debates about the dilemmas and challenges facing movement organizations, the relationship between social movements and various institutions, and the role of social movements and protest in bringing about change. The course is organized around general theoretical issues concerning why people join movements, why they leave or remain in movements, how movements are organized, the strategies and tactics they use, and their long-term and short-run impact. prereq: 1001 recommended; soc majors/minors must register A-F

SOC 4461 - Sociology of Ethnic and Racial Conflict (DSJ)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	GloS 4461/Soc 4461
Grading Basis:	A-F or Aud
Typically offered:	Periodic Fall

"I can't breathe." The last words of George Floyd. Words that traumatized a nation, and the world. While the death of George Floyd galvanized peoples worldwide to speak out against discrimination and inequality, well before his death studies suggested that ethnic and racial discrimination and conflict re-occur on an ongoing basis. From the events of the Holocaust - to the genocide against the Rohingya in Myanmar - to the torture of Uighurs in China - to the Atlantic slave trade - we explore how identities are formed - and thereafter - how those same identities are deployed - to exclude and marginalize - with targeted precision. Across the world, we examine how racial bias and racial animus contribute to slavery, torture, mass displacement, economic destitution, and genocide. prereq: 1001 recommended; soc majors/minors must register A-F

SPAN 3401 - Latino Immigration and Community Engagement (CIV)

Credits:	3.0 [max 6.0]
Typically offered:	Every Fall & Spring

Service-learning course. U.S. power structures associated with emigration from Latin America. Rapid demographic change. Global economic system/emigration. Human rights. Federal immigration reform. Language issues. Inclusive political, economic, educational systems. Dialogue with Latino immigrants, community visits, civic engagement. Instructor approval required for January or summer offering. Pre-req: A C- or better in SPAN 3015W or SPAN 3015V or SPAN 3019W

SW 3703 - Gender Violence in Global Perspective

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered:	Every Fall & Spring

Theories/research on violence in intimate domestic relationships examined through multiple lenses. Overview of interventions in Minnesota, United States, and other societies.

TH 5117 - Performance and Social Change

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Grading Basis:	A-F or Aud
Typically offered:	Periodic Fall

Reading, writing, research, presentations and workshops explore activist performance projects. Theories of social formation and ideology provide framework to discuss/animate theater's potential for social change. prereq: Jr or sr or grad student

YOST 3101 - Youthwork: Orientations and Approaches

Credits:	4.0 [max 4.0]
Typically offered:	Every Spring

Within the U.S. there is an ongoing conversation about what values, knowledge, skills, and practice are basic to the field of youth work. The occupational title, youth worker, is not widely recognized with a set of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that distinguish it from other occupations that work with young people (teacher, coach, social worker). Often youth worker is taken to signify those who ?work with youth.? In recent years there have been attempts to clarify and specify what a youth worker does, whom a youth worker should be, and how one should be educated for this type of work. These debates now occur within international and national movements to ?professionalize? youth work. In this course, we enter this conversation by considering the multiple ways of becoming, being a youth worker, and doing youth work. Toward the end of the course, we will also explore how context?agency, street, and neighborhood?can have consequences on all three of these. To be knowledgeable participants in these conversations you must know the possible answers to at least four questions. Who are young people? What is youth work? Who are youth workers? Where is the location of the work? For each of these questions, we explore the diverse answers, given by scholars and practitioner, here in the United States and internationally. How one chooses to answer any one of these questions has consequences for the other three. Attention is also given to how you and I choose to answer these questions given our own experience of being a young person and our current interactions with young people. At the end of this course, you will be able to participate at a beginning level in the conversations that are of concern to youth work and enhance your direct work with, on behalf of, and/or for young people. In the process, you will have begun constructing and articulating a personal philosophy of youth work. prereq: One gen psy course, one gen soc course, or instr consent

AAS 3409W - Asian American Women's Cultural Production (AH, DSJ, WI)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	AAS 3409W/GWSS 3409W
Typically offered:	Every Fall

Diversity of cultures designated "Asian American." Understanding women's lives in historical, cultural, economic, and racial contexts.

GWSS 3409W - Asian American Women's Cultural Production (AH, DSJ, WI)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	AAS 3409W/GWSS 3409W
Typically offered:	Every Fall

Analysis of media, art, literature, performance, on artistic contributions. History, politics, culture of Asian American women. Interpret cultural production to better understand role of race, gender, nation within American society/citizenship.

AAS 4231 - Color of Public Policy: African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans & Chicanos in the U.S.

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	AAS 4231/Afro 4231/AmIn 4231/C
Typically offered:	Periodic Fall

Structural or institutional conditions through which people of color have been marginalized in public policy. Critical evaluation of social theory in addressing the problem of contemporary communities of color in the United States.

AFRO 4231 - Color of Public Policy: African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans & Chicanos in the U.S.

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	AAS 4231/Afro 4231/AmIn 4231/C
Typically offered:	Periodic Fall

Examination of structural or institutional conditions through which people of color have been marginalized in public policy. Critical evaluation of social theory in addressing the problem of contemporary communities of color in the United States.

AMIN 4231 - Color of Public Policy: African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans, & Chicanos in the U.S.

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	AAS 4231/Afro 4231/AmIn 4231/C
Typically offered:	Periodic Fall

Structural or institutional conditions through which people of color have been marginalized in public policy. Critical evaluation of social theory in addressing the problem of contemporary communities of color in the United States.

CHIC 4231 - Color of Public Policy: African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans & Chicanos in the U.S.

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	AAS 4231/Afro 4231/AmIn 4231/C
Typically offered:	Periodic Fall

Examination of the structural or institutional conditions through which people of color have been marginalized in public policy. Critical evaluation of social theory in addressing the problem of contemporary communities of color in the United States.

GEOG 3379 - Environment and Development in the Third World (SOCS, ENV)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	Geog 3379/GloS 3303
Grading Basis:	A-F or Aud
Typically offered:	Every Spring

Inequality in the form of extreme wealth and poverty in our world are major causes of environmental degradation. In addition, development failure as well as certain forms of economic growth always led to environment disasters. This course examines how our world?s economic and political systems and the livelihoods they engender have produced catastrophic local and global environmental conditions. Beyond this, the course explores alternative approaches of achieving sustainable environment and equitable development. prereq: Soph or jr or sr

CHIC 3374 - Migrant Farmworkers in the United States: Families, Work, and Advocacy (CIV)

Credits:	4.0 [max 4.0]
Course Equivalencies:	Chic 3374/Chic 5374
Typically offered:	Every Spring

Socioeconomic/political forces that impact migrant farmworkers. Effects of the laws and policies on everyday life. Theoretical assumptions/strategies of unions and advocacy groups. Role/power of consumer. How consuming cheap food occurs at expense of farmworkers.

CHIC 5374 - Migrant Farmworkers in the United States: Families, Work, and Advocacy (CIV)

Credits:	4.0 [max 4.0]
Course Equivalencies:	Chic 3374/Chic 5374
Typically offered:	Every Spring

Socioeconomic/political forces that impact migrant farmworkers. Effects of the laws and policies on everyday life. Theoretical assumptions/strategies of unions and advocacy groups. Role/power of consumer. How consuming cheap food occurs at expense of farmworkers.

AAS 3251W - Sociological Perspectives on Race, Class, and Gender (SOCS, DSJ, WI)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	AAS 3251W/Afro 3251W/Soc 3251W
Grading Basis:	A-F or Aud
Typically offered:	Every Fall, Spring & Summer

In the midst of social unrest, it is important for us to understand social inequality. In this course we will analyze the impact of three major forms of inequality in the United States: race, class, and gender. Through taking an intersectional approach at these topics, we will examine the ways these social forces work institutionally, conceptually, and in terms of our everyday realities. We will focus on these inequalities as intertwined and deeply embedded in the history of the country. Along with race, class, and gender we will focus on other axes of inequality including sexuality, citizenship, and dis/ability. We will analyze the meanings and values attached to these social categories, and the ways in which these social constructions help rationalize, justify, and reproduce social inequality.

AFRO 3251W - Sociological Perspectives on Race, Class, and Gender (WI)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	AAS 3251W/Afro 3251W/Soc 3251W
Grading Basis:	A-F or Aud
Typically offered:	Every Fall

Analytical overview of three major forms of inequalities in the United Sates today: race, class, gender. Focus on these inequalities as relatively autonomous from one another and as deeply connected/intertwined with one another. Intersectionality key to critical understanding of these social forces. Social change possibilities.

SOC 3251W - Sociological Perspectives on Race, Class, and Gender (SOCS, DSJ, WI)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	AAS 3251W/Afro 3251W/Soc 3251W
Grading Basis:	A-F or Aud
Typically offered:	Every Fall, Spring & Summer

In the midst of social unrest, it is important for us to understand social inequality. In this course we will analyze the impact of three major forms of inequality in the United States: race, class, and gender. Through taking an intersectional approach at these topics, we will examine the ways these social forces work institutionally, conceptually, and in terms of our everyday realities. We will focus on these inequalities as intertwined and deeply embedded in the history of the country. Along with race, class, and gender we will focus on other axes of inequality including sexuality, citizenship, and dis/ability. We will analyze the meanings and values attached to these social categories, and the ways in which these social constructions help rationalize, justify, and reproduce social inequality. prereq: Soc majors/minors must register A-F

University Catalogs

Social Justice Minor