Living & Learning Communities
Classes
As a student in the Social Justice LLC, you will take two 2-credit seminars and one 4-credit seminar your first year at DU. All three courses are only open to students in the Social Justice LLC. There is no required coursework after your first year.
You'll start the year by learning about yourself and beginning your personal social justice journey. The exploration of oppression, through looking at power and various forms of privilege, will be discussed each week. Additionally, as a group or individually, you will begin thinking about the community engagement work you will be doing over the course of the year. After the introductory social justice course in the fall, the winter quarter class delves deeper into the philosophical foundations of justice. Finally, you will be able to take the theory you've learned about in the previous two quarters and apply it in a practical manner, both in your community engagement work, as well as through personal narratives in the "Stories of Social Justice" course you'll take in the spring.
Fall Quarter (Exploring Oppression: Social Justice, 2 credits)
Learning about one's self is the first step to understanding what it means to do social justice work. This first quarter introduces you to concepts about the self, as it relates to the other, through exercises on identity development and socialization. We examine various forms of privilege and look at issues of class, race, religion, sexuality and gender, as they relate to individuals and the larger community. You will be encouraged to develop first as an individual before taking steps to create action plans for working with community organizations in Denver, but the foundation of your community engagement work will be laid out during this quarter.
Winter Quarter (Foundations in Philosophy: Social Justice, 4 credits)
This seminar is offered for 4 credits and is taught by the director of the program, Professor Roscoe Hill. The course doubles as an Arts & Humanities foundations course (which all DU students are required to take 8 credits of in order to graduate) and the required SJC seminar. Because the course meets twice a week instead of just once, we are able to delve deeper into foundations of social justice, examining works by John Rawls, Henry David Thoreau and Aristotle. Through debates ranging in topic from human rights to globalization, this course touches on many different facets of social justice.
Spring Quarter (Stories of Social Justice, 2 credits)
You will examine the stories of activists who have dedicated their lives to the cause of social justice. Through reading incredible personal narratives, we will consider the character and dedication of these activists and learn how they use writing as a tool in the struggle for social justice. You will also have the chance to write about your own social justice journey through narrative and digital storytelling form. Finally, an opportunity to talk about and showcase your community engagement work in a public setting will take place during the spring quarter.