From the Guttman course catalogue description of American Studies 103:

Course Overview:  

This course will serve as an introduction to issues of inequality and injustice in our society, and will offer a look at different movements, past and present, around which people have organized in attempts at making political and social change. 

Students will study and research the history and present of various forms of inequality and the possibilities for future change. By learning and integrating different types of ideas and perspectives on social justice, representing the disciplines of anthropology, sociology, history, philosophy, political science, gender studies, law, geography and education, students will develop a complex understanding of specific social justice issues and selected approaches to addressing them. Students will also critically analyze their lived experiences and prior knowledge with respect to the social justice issues they examine throughout the course.

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to do the following:

1. Describe the concept of social justice as well as the fundamental questions and core research strategies used to study it;
2. Identify and describe social justice issues and their root causes in the United States (e.g., political, historical, social, economic, and/or environmental conditions);
3. Describe how power, status, privilege, and other structural factors impact individuals and communities in the United States;
4. Identify, evaluate, and utilize key sources of qualitative and quantitative data as evidence supporting different positions on social justice issues in the United States;
5. Identify, interpret, and assess the perspectives of multiple stakeholders on critical social justice issues;
6. Recognize and describe the roles of intersecting dimensions of social identities (e.g., race, gender, and sexual orientation) with aspects of social justice theory and practices; and
7. Integrate their lived experiences, personal views, and those reflecting the communities to which they belong, with social justice theory and advocacy.