Policy & Social Justice

Pre-professional program for students interested in going to law school.

In the Asian American Studies Program (AAST), students undertake an interdisciplinary and critical study of race, immigration, and political and social representation through examination of the experiences of Asian Americans. Students study the experiences of Asian Americans compared to and connected with other groups in the United States, as well as situated within a global and transnational context.

Individual Studies (IVSP) students enjoy broad academic freedom and flexibility to pursue their degrees in ways that best suit their intellectual interests and passions. Under the guidance of a faculty mentor and the IVSP staff, students create their own unique, interdisciplinary majors that approach important issues, questions, and problems from a range of disciplines and perspectives. 

The public leadership minor empowers student to think critically about the solutions needed for a range of pressing problems, examining such issues as democratization and human rights, crime and punishment, diversity and affirmative action, and poverty and inequality. In addition to exploring the issues, you will engage in critical questions and learning about leadership for the public good and effective citizenship.

The nonprofit leadership and social innovation minor gives you the tools to engage in hands-on learning to enhance your knowledge of local, national and global issues. Students will examine different approaches to social impact and study the role of the nonprofit, non-governmental and social sectors, in addition to social innovation, leadership and nonprofit management skills.

The public policy major implements a hands-on, interdisciplinary approach to tackling the most pressing policy dilemmas. Our coursework sharpens students' analytical and decision-making skills by focusing on practical problem-solving rather than theoretical concepts. Whether you are passionate about addressing inequality, reducing poverty, combating barriers to healthcare or strategic risk management, the public policy major provides a strong foundation for creating innovative solutions.

Solve public health challenges through the lens of scientific inquiry! In this interdisciplinary major students study the intersection of the life sciences and public health. By mastering skills that recognize and address today’s public health issues, students can explore a wide range of careers in healthcare facilities, government agencies, nonprofits, research, healthcare consulting and health informatics.

Health happens in families! Family Science students explore social determinants that shape health and well-being for family members. The major offers excellent training in scientific methods to understand how families function as systems, and how social institutions can enhance family health. Students learn to promote health equity for all families through applied research, policy and program analyses, and internships.

Make an impact on populations using the power of social justice and health equity principles! Students become engaged/effective public health practitioners providing a voice for underrepresented populations by studying health behavior, community health research, biostatistics, epidemiology, grant writing, health communication and professional development. All students become workforce ready through participation in a community-based public health internship during their final semester.

Merrill College offers a flexible, hands-on curriculum combining the best journalism traditions with cutting-edge digital storytelling and engagement skills crucial to numerous professions. Students learn to tell fair and accurate stories through writing, audio, video, data visualization, social media and more. They use the latest tools to uncover wrongdoing, amplify marginalized voices and reveal the human reality behind headlines.

The undergraduate minor in Risk Management, Ethics, and Privacy is designed to prepare students to evaluate major information and big data privacy and security issues that businesses and individuals are faced with. The curriculum will examine risks companies face while collecting, storing, and managing information and their existing customers’ and stakeholders’ data. The coursework will focus on practical strategies to mitigate risks and explore the ways emerging technologies benefit in the context of risk management, ethics, and privacy.

The STEP minor offers you the knowledge and analytical skills to understand and assess the complex interactions among science, technology, ethics and policy. Students in the minor explore the ways that scientific practice and technological development are embedded in social, cultural, humanistic and political systems.

The minor in global engineering leadership is designed to develop the skills necessary to lead with a global vision, work effectively with others to address social issues, and engineer solutions that improve communities and organizations.

The Leadership Studies program promotes leadership learning and development by educating students for and about leadership in a complex world. Valuing global citizenship and civic education, we aim to prepare students to effectively engage in leadership in both formal and informal ways within campus, local, national, and global contexts.

The Disability Studies Minor promotes the study of disability and prepares students for an inclusively designed world. Students enrolled in the DS Minor will examine the concept of disability historically, in contemporary society, and in their chosen fields of study. Through required and elective courses, students will explore challenges and opportunities we face in making our world more accessible to all.

The Global Terrorism Studies Minor focuses on exploring the origins and motivations of terrorism based on theoretical understandings of individual and group behavior. Students also explore the impacts of the threat of terrorism on individuals and communities as well as strategies for preventing, deterring, mitigating, and responding to terrorist threats.

The Law and Society Minor is an interdisciplinary and experiential program designed to help students understand law in order to critically analyze it and use it as an instrument of change. Coursework will challenge students’ assumptions about law and its function in society, encouraging them to think creatively and critically in coursework, internships, research and other field work.

Sociology is the study of social order and the causes and impacts of social change on society and its institutions, organizations, and groups. The major prepares students for graduate programs and eventual careers as sociologists in teaching, research, and policy development or as a basis for careers in fields including law, social work, public policy, and human resource management.

The Minor in International Development and Conflict Management (MIDCM) is a practical, pre-professional minor program that prepares students with the theoretical frameworks and practical skills necessary to address critical global concerns, including conflict resolution, international development, and humanitarian relief.

The government and politics major prepares students to understand and interpret political science research and provides students with the tools to produce political science research through advanced training in political methodology and data analysis. The major combines philosophical and scientific concerns to emphasize such broad areas as political development, policy analysis, social justice, political economy, conflict, and human rights.

Criminology and criminal justice encompasses the study of the causes of and responses to crime. It involves studying individual, group, and mass behavior, as well as the institutions, professions, and laws that exist to detect, control, and ameliorate the effects of crime. Major coursework includes sociology, psychology, and government, in addition to public policy and legal studies.

Anti-Black racism minors study policies and practices rooted in social institutions (i.e. education, health care, criminal justice system, housing) that reinforce prejudice and discrimination towards people of African descent. This minor will give students a deeper understanding of these policies, practices, beliefs, and behaviors as well as ways to work to ensure they can be inclusive leaders

The African Studies Minor focuses on the history, culture, politics and economics of the peoples who populate the continent of Africa. As an interdisciplinary field of study, the minor will provide students with an understanding of the historical and cultural contexts that have and continue to shape political, economic and social development in Africa.

African-American Studies majors examine a range of historical and contemporary issues relevant to people of African descent and contribute to the development of meaningful social policy. Our faculty conduct research on women and labor, social inequalities and health, educational inequalities and policy, incarceration and victimization, and family dynamics and health in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Portuguese program spans language, culture, cinema and literature courses, fostering linguistic and critical thinking skills. Emphasizing faculty support and interaction, it offers a rigorous education in language and culture for academic and professional excellence. The Portuguese minor enhances language proficiency through immersive language and cultural coursework. This interdisciplinary approach enhances cross-cultural communication abilities and encourages individual exploration.

The Black Women's Studies minor explores women's lives from Africa and the African Diaspora. Merging Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and African American Studies, it explores the intersectionality of race, gender, class, sexuality and ethnicity in the experiences of Black women. An interdisciplinary minor, it enhances students' career paths, including nonprofit management, social justice advocacy, law, healthcare, education and government.

The LGBTQ minor provides students an opportunity for interdisciplinary study of the lives, experiences, identities and representations of LGBTQ people. This program provides solid grounding in the concepts and methods that define studies of sex, gender and gender identity today. Students gain familiarity with vocabulary and knowledge in critiquing key developments, along with critical reasoning and research skills.

Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies covers feminist scholarship, the history of women, and gender as a social construct. The program offers concentrations in social justice, transnational politics, race, ethnicity, bodies, genders, sexualities, arts and LGBTQ studies. These concentrations explore diverse aspects of gender, race and queer studies, fostering critical understanding and activism. Students can also design their own concentration.

A minor in Spanish offers opportunities in international fields, education, public service, law and more. It includes three tracks: Literature, Linguistics, and Culture; Language, Culture, and Professional Contexts; and Heritage Language and Latina/o Culture.

A minor in Spanish offers opportunities in international fields, education, public service, law and more. It includes three tracks: Literature, Linguistics, and Culture; Language, Culture, and Professional Contexts; and Heritage Language and Latina/o Culture.

A B.A. in Spanish develops language and cultural skills with applications in diverse fields such as education, business and law. Three tracks are available: Spanish and Latin American Literature, Culture, and Media; Spanish Linguistics, Culture, and Education; and Spanish Language, Culture, and Professional Contexts. Each track focuses on different aspects of Spanish language and culture.

The Russian program offers students small class sizes, promoting faculty-student interaction. Faculty are experts in Russian literature, culture, film and language. Specialized courses accommodate heritage learners. Students can engage in DC internships, double major and study abroad. Living in St. Mary's Language House is an option for Russian students.

The Religious Studies minor enables students to study the texts, culture, history, beliefs and practices of world religions. The minor draws from a wide range of areas including anthropology, art history, classics, English, history, Jewish studies and philosophy. The breadth requirement for coursework ensures that students have been exposed to a variety of religious traditions, periods and geographic regions.

The Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) major explores complex social and political questions, merging philosophy, political science and economics. PPE equips students with a diverse set of analytical tools, enabling them to tackle pressing global issues that require multi-dimensional perspectives. It prepares future leaders with knowledge in ethics, reasoning, institutional politics and economics to provide solutions to intricate problems.

The Philosophy major aims to unravel the concepts of scientific disciplines such as biology, physics and psychology and to train students on developing the skills required to clarify and critically analyze ideas and arguments, both orally and in writing. Areas of specialty are philosophy of science, cognitive studies and value theory. Graduates are well-prepared for a variety of careers.

Persian Studies offers students a comprehensive understanding of Persian language, literature and culture, and equips them for diverse career opportunities. This includes Iran, Afghanistan, Persian-speaking Central Asia and the Persian diaspora. Students develop language skills and insight into contemporary life. The Persian Flagship Program offers a pathway to professional-level proficiency.

The Israel Studies minor examines the history, culture and political structure of Israel and its place in the Middle East, including Hebrew and/or Arabic language.

The Middle East Studies minor provides students with an understanding of the Middle East's history, culture and politics, from the emergence of Islam to the contemporary era. The program covers modern and pre-twentieth-century aspects of the Middle East and North Africa, encompassing their political, intellectual, religious, ethnic and cultural diversity.

The Rhetoric minor analyzes the history, theory and criticism of civic discourse and cultural practices. The minor empowers graduates to engage with important social issues and take on active leadership roles. The minor may be especially valuable for those who plan careers in the fields of business, education, government, law and others where persuasive writing and speaking skills are prized.

The Communication major embraces the mission of delivering high quality education through the study of communication for the public good. The curriculum covers various aspects of human communication, preparing students for careers in numerous diverse fields. Students can study organizational communication, public relations, digital media, intercultural communication, political communication, conflict management, persuasion, rhetoric, health communication and public discourse criticism.

The U.S. Latina/o Studies program examines the histories, communities and cultures of Latinas/os. The program is optimal for students engaged in work with U.S. Latina/o communities in a variety of professions including history, literature, education, urban studies and planning, health care, social services, business, government and public policy.

The Real Estate Development Minor provides students with an overview of sustainable real estate development, including the development process, the basics of real estate finance, urban planning and design and the unique roles of government and the private sector. The minor is particularly suited to students with an interest in careers related to real estate and the built environment, such as architecture, business, construction management, civil engineering, historic preservation, local government, non-profit housing, public-private partnerships, landscape architecture, urban planning, or related entrepreneurial ventures.

The Bachelor of Arts in Real Estate and the Built Environment expands the traditional, narrowly focused, business approach to real estate, finance, investment and management, providing students with broad perspectives that come from the multitude of disciplines that make up the modern practice of real estate. The focus is on transformational real estate practice, addressing issues posed by individual and collective decisions about the built environment ranging from social and environmental justice, to climate change, to community identity and heritage.

The Sustainability Studies Minor provides students the opportunity to explore pressing environmental topics such as global food systems, renewable energy, emerging environmental threats, ecological design thinking, and much more. This is an opportunity to embody the university's land-grant mission to preserve the natural resources of our planet. The minor can be paired with any major and since its creation has remained one of the university’s most popular and globally relevant minors.

Global Poverty students will discover how incentives, resources, and social and political institutions influence the incidence of poverty across and within countries. They will also learn of the relationships between poverty and determinants of human welfare such as hunger, health, education and environmental quality. Students of all majors are welcome to declare this as a minor.

Environmental Science and Policy is a broadly multi-disciplinary, undergraduate major, drawing courses and faculty from 9 departments and three colleges exploring environmental systems and teaching students to address human-environment issues. The major prepares students to tackle environmental change such as global food security, environmental justice, and the development of green technologies.