Minor in
Social Justice

US Credits

UK Credits

• CRIM 4102 Crime, Deviance and Society

  This course immerses students in the study of deviant and criminal behaviour, exploring the historical context, theories, and challenges surrounding the concept of ’deviance’. It invites students to engage with debates on how crime and deviance are socially constructed, examining how public perceptions have evolved over time. The curriculum then shifts focus to the impact of social structures, highlighting issues of social exclusion and problematic forms of inclusion. Finally, students analyse historical behaviours once labelled as ’deviant’ that may no longer be considered criminal, offering insight into the fluid nature of societal norms.

• POLS 4101 Rich World Poor World

  Rich World, Poor World provides students with an introduction to development studies, seeking to explain both the existence of and persistence of a Poor World in the context of the international order. The course addresses numerous issues as they affect the Poor World, and studies relations both within and between Poor World and Rich World. Theories of development are reflected upon along with the legacies of colonialism, and a range of other social, political and economic themes in development studies.

• COMM 5102 Media Power

  This course offers a critical exploration of the complex and multifaceted relationship between media and power. By examining historical and contemporary issues, the course explores the media as a tool for propaganda, control, and influence by various entities, including governments, corporations, and social movements. Through an analysis of media structures, we investigate the impact of ownership and corporate control on the diversity of content, representation, and the democratic process. Engaging with the key theories of media power and hegemony, students learn how media contributes to the maintenance of dominant ideologies and the marginalization of alternative viewpoints, and also how it drives consumer culture, influences consumption patterns, and shapes individual and collective identities. On the flipside, the course also emphasizes the role of media activism and participation politics, examining how grassroots movements and alternative media challenge dominant narratives and create spaces for marginalized voices.

• INTR 5101 International Law and Human Rights

  This course enables students to investigate the international politics of law-making, compliance, and enforcement in various issue areas, and to consider how fragmentation and self-regulation impact upon the effectiveness of international law. The course highlights the intersection of human rights with modern challenges such as public health, national security, and environmental issues. Through critical analysis, students will evaluate the power and limitations of international law systems in protecting human rights and explore potential reforms for enhancing their effectiveness

• INTR 5103 Globalization, Development and Environment

  This course addresses the complex interactions between the phenomenon of globalization and both environmental concerns and objectives for international development. The concept of globalization and the history of this phenomenon are interrogated, along with the political, economic, ideological, and social dilemmas associated with environmental issues. The theory, strategy and methods of global development are addressed in this context, while engaging with a range of relevant global actors and institutions. 

• POLS 5103 Capitalism and its Critics

  This course examines the historical development of thought about capitalism. Liberal, mercantilist and radical political economy in the 18th and 19th centuries is covered, along with a range of 20th century scholars, such as Adam Smith, Karl Marx, J.M. Keynes and Joseph Schumpeter. The object of study in the course is theories of capitalism, and addressed themes include the nature of market society, the relationship between state and market, economic growth and economic crises, market failure and government failure. These themes enable the course to engage with the relations between capitalism and other systems such as democracy, fascism, communism, racism, anti-Semitism, slavery and patriarchy

• LIBA 5301 SL: Global Citizenship and Migration

  This course helps students make a real difference in the world. Service Learning as experiential learning combines community service with academic study. This course will apply service-learning to the theoretical, political and sociological conceptions of citizenship and their limitations. Students will work on live projects and challenges to address real-world issues and critically reflect on their role as agents in communities and as legal and social citizens. Skills will be gained from working on a project with charities, NGOs, or non-profit organisations on citizenship concepts which will enable the student to critically reflect through service-learning. This course builds professional, entrepreneurial and personal skills to engage with a variety of stakeholders. This course is underpinned by JEDI approaches to justice, equality, diversity and inclusion across the global community.

• HIST 6102 Warfare, Gender and Society

  Narratives about war have traditionally been centred on men’s roles, while women have often been cast as passive bystanders or victims. This course will challenge that view by exploring the active participation of women in wars, decolonisation, civil conflicts, and terrorist campaigns, both as combatants and civilian supporters. This course explores the changing nature and history of warfare from the Modern period to the beginning of the twentieth-first century, focusing on the social, cultural, and gendered dimensions of conflict. A key premise of the course is that warfare reflects the societies and cultures that wage it. This idea will be tested through diverse examples of warfare across different historical periods, geographic regions, and social contexts, investigating how war has shaped—and been shaped by—societal structures, technology, gender relations, and political developments.

• INTR 6102 Rethinking International Relations

  This course provides students with a set of conceptual and analytical tools in order to acquire a deep and nuanced understanding of the discipline of International Relations (IR) and global politics. It does so by examining IR theories and approaches to international politics, scrutinizing and problematizing their historic foundations, and exploring contemporary challenges and critiques. The course begins by introducing philosophical debates regarding the purpose of theorizing and the importance of understanding ontological and epistemological assumptions and examines the difference between and implications of ‘understanding’ and ‘explaining’ in international relations theory. The course then critically evaluates grand and middle range theories of IR as well as approaches focused on everyday global politics. Throughout, the course scrutinizes challenges presented by a multitude of multidisciplinary interventions into IR including post-positivist critiques and approaches centralizing gender and colonialism as key variables in global politics.