This course examines how social movements, denoting a wide variety of collective attempts to bring about a change in certain social institutions or to create an entirely new order, re-shape social attitudes, influence social policies, and generate social programs to respond to human needs and need for civic engagement. Framed in the historical perspective of social movement, the principles and practice of social justice and human rights will be explored within a global perspective. In particular, the course explores issues of social diversity and social justice in the United States to provide students with: 1) a theoretical framework for understanding the dynamics of oppression and social exclusion and 2) a process to explore how the specific forms of oppression and rights-based activism affect their personal and professional lives.
Cross-listing: SO 335 [c].