http://www.upei.ca/arts/diversity-and-social-justice-studies

Co-ordinator

Ann Braithwaite, Professor

Diversity and Social Justice Studies responds to the 21st century need for critical engaged citizens who can, through a variety of theoretical languages and methodologies: a) analyze the social construction of identity categories (gender, sexuality, race, class, age, national status, able-bodiedness, species, etc.) and recognize the difference these make to what we know and how we act in the world; b) recognize, address, and challenge global inequities around these intersecting identity categories and analyze how social structures and policies, systems of representation, and everyday practices perpetuate these inequities; c) see the world from multiple points of view at the same time, recognize the complexity of contexts in shaping those views, and understand that both knowledge and visions of social change are always situated and partial. Diversity and Social Justice encourages interdisciplinary approaches and the development of intercultural knowledge through a variety of courses and other learning opportunities. Courses are divided into three clusters: 1) Gender and Sexuality; 2) Identities and Social Structures; 3) Cultural Representation and Analysis.

REQUIREMENTS FOR A MAJOR IN DIVERSITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE STUDIES

Students pursuing a Major in Diversity and Social Justice must complete 42 credit hours (14 courses) in the DSJS Program. These credit hours must be composed of the 2 required core courses in DSJS 1090 and 4040, and 12 additional courses from the list of DSJS courses, with at least four courses (12 semester hours) at the 3000-4000-level. Students must take a minimum of 2 courses from each of the 3 thematic clusters.

1. Core Courses:

DSJS 1090 – Special Topics in Diversity and Social Justice Studies

DSJS 4040 – Theorizing Social Justice

2. DSJS and cross-listed courses:

THEMATIC CLUSTERS

Gender and Sexuality

DSJS 2050 – Sex and Culture

DSJS 2420 – Philosophies of Love and Sexuality (Philosophy 2420)

DSJS 2610 – Sex, Gender and Society (Sociology/Anthropology 2610)

DSJS 3850 – Women in 19th Century Canada (History 3850)

DSJS 3860 – Women, the Law, and Civil Rights in 20th-Century Canada (History 3860)

DSJS 3910 – Psychology of Women (Psychology 3910)

DSJS 4350 – Gender and Sexuality (Psychology 4350)

Identities and Social Structures

DSJS 2630 – Global Youth Cultures (Sociology/Anthropology 2630)

DSJS 2750 – Social Inequality (Sociology/Anthropology 2750)

DSJS 3020 – Constructing Difference and Identity (also Sociology/Anthropology 3070)

DSJS 3520 – Kinship and Family (Anthropology 3520)

DSJS 3810 – Women, Economics and the Economy (Economics 3810)

DSJS 4010 – Medical Anthropology (Anthropology 4010)

DSJS 4510 – Women and Aging (Family Science 4510)

Cultural Representation and Analysis

DSJS 2120 – Food and Cultural Studies

DSJS 2210 – Writings by Women (English 2210)

DSJS 3060 – Transgression, Resistance, Protest

DSJS 3110 – Identity and Popular Culture

DSJS 3740 – Qualitative Research Methods (Psychology 3740)

DSJS 4020 – Cybercultures (Anthropology 4030)

DSJS 4120 – Theories of the Body

DSJS 4560 – Visual Culture (Sociology/Anthropology 4560)

DSJS 4660 – Advanced Topics in Gender and Sexuality (English 4660)

DSJS 4730 – The Rise of Consumer Society: British Society in the 18^th Century (History 4730)

REQUIREMENTS FOR A MINOR IN DIVERSITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE STUDIES

A minor in DSJS will be recognized when a student has successfully completed twenty-one (21) semester hours of courses in DSJS, including 1090 and six additional courses from anywhere on the list of DSJS courses. At least six semester hours must be at the 3000 or 4000 level.

DIVERSITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE STUDIES CORE COURSES

1090 SPECIAL TOPICS
Creation of a course code for special topics offered by Diversity and Social Justice Studies at the 1000 level.

2050 SEX AND CULTURE
This course examines theories of sex and sexuality, and investigates how they are central to the construction and function of contemporary North American culture. It explores how boundaries between ‘approved of ’ and ‘disapproved of ’ sexual behaviours reflect larger social and cultural concerns, and challenges students to think beyond the more usual either/or ways of identifying sexuality. Topics covered include the social construction of heterosexuality, changing definitions of lesbian/gay/bisexual, challenges posed by intersexed and transgendered people, sex work, sado/masochism, pornography, monogamy, intergenerational sex, internet and ‘cybersex,’ and the ‘feminist sex wars.’
PREREQUISITE: None
Three hours a week

2090 SPECIAL TOPICS
Creation of a course code for special topics offered by Diversity and Social Justice Studies at the 2000 level.

2120 FOOD AND CULTURAL STUDIES
This course introduces students to the study of food and its relationships to identities (i.e., gender, race, class, national status), the body, community, popular culture, and politics. It explores how historical and contemporary food production and consumption practices both construct and reflect these relationships and examines such questions as how food is defined and how it circulates to both perpetuate and challenge power and privilege.
Cross-listed with Foods & Nutrition 2310.

2210 WRITINGS BY WOMEN
(See English 2210)

2420 PHILOSOPHIES OF LOVE AND SEXUALITY
(See Philosophy 2420)

2610 SEX, GENDER AND SOCIETY
(See Soc/Anth 2610)

2630 GLOBAL YOUTH CULTURES
(See Soc/Anth 2630)

2920 WORK AND SOCIETY
(See Sociology 2920)

3020 CONSTRUCTING DIFFERENCE AND IDENTITY
This course examines some of the differences between and among women, exploring how claims to various identities and politics have transformed Diversity and Social Justice Studies. It analyzes essentialist assumptions about identity categories such as race, sex, gender, and sexuality, and examines their social construction and contemporary interconnections at the institutional level.
Cross-listed with Sociology/Anthropology 3070.
PREREQUISITE: DSJS 1090, or permission of the instructor
Three hours a week

3030 PSYCHOLOGY OF AGING
(See Psychology 3030)

3060 TRANSGRESSION, RESISTANCE, PROTEST
This course introduces students to concepts of ‘transgression,’ resistance, and protest, exploring what kinds of events, people, and objects are thought to constitute social, political, and cultural practices of these concepts in various times and places. It explores how gender, sexuality, race, national identity, class, age, and abilities have been central to social definitions of–and anxieties about—transgression, resistance, and protest. It also focuses on how people have used these concepts to productively push against the limits of their social positionings.
PREREQUISITE: None

3090 SPECIAL TOPICS
Creation of a course code for special topics offered by Diversity and Social Justice Studies at the 3000 level.

3110 IDENTITY AND POPULAR CULTURE
This course introduces students to approaches to the study of popular culture and cultural studies, asking what is meant by the term “pop culture” and exploring it as a site of struggle and negotiation for a variety of identity groups. It explores both how social identities (gender, race, sexuality, and class) are constructed and represented in popular cultural objects and practices, and examines how those can make a difference to how people then interact with and in that pop culture. Course materials are drawn from advertising, popular events and trends, news items, film, TV, fan culture, zines, pornography, and the new communications technologies.
Cross-listed as English 3140 and Anthropology 3100.
PREREQUISITE: None
Three hours a week

3320 KNOWLEDGE AND CULTURE
(See Anthropology 3320)
PREREQUISITES: DSJS 1090 and one other DSJS course at the 2000 level or higher.

3520 KINSHIP AND FAMILY
(See Anthropology 3520)

3550 GLOBALIZATION
(See Soc/Anth 3550)

3710 COMMUNITY BASED ETHICAL INQUIRY
(See Philosophy 3710)

3740 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS
(See Psychology 3740)

3810 WOMEN, ECONOMICS AND THE ECONOMY
(See Economics 3810)

3840 CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY
(See Psychology 3850)

3850 WOMEN IN 19TH CENTURY CANADA
(See History 3850)

3860 WOMEN, THE LAW, AND CIVIL RIGHTS IN 20th-CENTURY CANADA
(See History 3860)

3910 PSYCHOLOGY OF WOMEN
(See Psychology 3910)

3950 GENDER AND VIOLENCE
(See Psychology 3950)

4010 MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
(See Anthropology 4010)

4020 CYBERCULTURES
(See Anthropology 4030)

4040 THEORIZING SOCIAL JUSTICE
This capstone course provides the opportunity for students to explore theories and practices of “social justice,” broadly defined, across a number of contexts. It examines how social movements and identity groups have defined this concept, investigates, through a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches, processes towards this goal in addition to barriers inhibiting its attainment.
PREREQUISITES: DSJS 1090 and at least two other DSJS courses

4060 QUEER THEORY
This course introduces students to the body of academic thought known as “queer theory” and to the ways it challenges assumptions about sexuality, gender, and other identity categories. It focuses on queer theory’s historical foundations, genealogies, and contributions, as well as on contemporary uses of and debates in the field.
PREREQUISITES: DSJS 1090 and at least one other DSJS course at the 2000 level or above, or permission of the instructor.

4090 SPECIAL TOPICS
Creation of a course code for special topics offered by Diversity and Social Justice Studies at the 4000 level.

4120 THEORIES OF THE BODY
This course introduces students to what is often called “body studies,” exploring a range of theoretical and cultural accounts of the body. Through a variety of interdisciplinary readings and materials, it investigates the centrality of definitions of the body to understandings of the self, identity, and embodiment. It also examines how different perceptions of the body have been central to conceptualizations of sex, gender, race, and sexuality, and looks at some of the social and political consequences of these different perceptions.
PREREQUISITE: At least one DSJS course, or permission of the instructor
Three hours a week

4130 PSYCHOLOGY OF SOCIAL CLASS
(See Psychology 4130)

4310 MINORITY/ETHNIC GROUPS AND CANADIAN MULTICULTURALISM
(See Soc/Anth 4310)

4350 GENDER AND SEXUALITY
(See Psychology 4350)

4510 WOMEN AND AGING
(See Family Science 4510)

4560 VISUAL CULTURE
(See Soc/Anth 4560)

4660 ADVANCED TOPICS IN GENDER AND SEXUALITY
(See English 4660)

4720 SOCIAL JUSTICE IN PSYCHOLOGY
(See Psychology 4720)

4910-4920 DIRECTED STUDIES
These advanced courses for qualified students (see Academic Regulation 9) provide for supervised independent or group study of specialized topics in Diversity and Social Justice Studies. The topics offered must be approved by the Co-ordinator of Diversity and Social Justice Studies and the Dean of the Faculty.
PREREQUISITE: At least three DSJS courses or approval of the instructor
Three hours a week