Social Justice and Community Studies

The Department of Social Justice & Community Studies provides students with strong interdisciplinary training to promote social responsibility and the development of active citizens.  Specifically, the Department fosters intersectional knowledge around issues such as:

• gender and sexuality;
• Indigeneity and Indigenous-settler relations;
• citizenship and status;
• race and critical whiteness; and
• economic and other material resources,

in order to build stronger institutional relationships with and among:

• Indigenous peoples,
• African Nova Scotians, and
• diverse settler and immigrant peoples.

The Department’s range of courses leading to both majors and minors, as well as an honours degree, enriched by SJCS program options in other departments (Atlantic Canada Studies, English, History, Religious Studies), provide students with the knowledge necessary to engage in problem solving and public deliberation in a range of complex social issues.

Electives

Students seeking an elective may take a Social Justice & Community Studies course at the 1000 level and with the prerequisite(s) 2000 level. Students who have completed the relevant prerequisites, or permission of the instructor, may register for 3000 level courses in Social Justice & Community Studies to complete a degree requirement for an elective at the 3000 level.   

Degree Requirements

Social Justice & Community Studies courses at the 2000 or 3000 level can satisfy a degree requirement in the Arts Faculty, the Sobey School of Business and the Faculty of Science.

The Bachelor of Arts (BA) is a well-established, foundational degree and requires the requirements listed below alongside general graduation requirements.

Major in Social Justice & Community Studies

To complete a major in Social Justice & Community Studies (SJCS), a student must obtain at least thirty-nine (39) credit hours as follows:

Course List

Code	Title	Credit Hours
SJCS 1211	Social Power Relations (minimum grade C)	3
SJCS 2000	Canadian Society and Social Justice	3
SJCS 2100	Community Organizing	3
SJCS 2220	Race, Racism, Colonialism	3
3 credits of the following:		3
RELS 2333	Gender, Sexuality and Religion Today
ENGL 2513	Introduction to Indigenous Literature
ENGL 2261	Postcolonial Literature: Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia
HIST 2346	Black Heritage in Maritime Canada
6 credit hours at SJCS 3000-level		6
9 credit hours from		9
ACST 3321	African Nova Scotian Culture
ACST/ENGL 3791	Literatures of the Black Atlantic
HIST 3470	The British Black Atlantic
HIST 3475	Histories of Indigenous and Settler Relations
RELS 4333	Religion Race & Gender
or any SJCS 3000- level course
SJCS 4370	Multiculturalism: Theory and Practice	3
or SJCS 4739	Transnational Community Organizing
6 other credit hours at SJCS 4000-level		6
Total Credit Hours		39

Honours in Social Justice & Community Studies

Applicants for admission to the Honours Program, must normally:

• have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.00 out of 4.3;
• ​have a program GPA of 3.30 out of 4.3;
• have a faculty member’s written agreement to serve as a supervisor for the thesis, Honours Thesis (SJCS 4500).
  ​

To complete an Honours in Social Justice & Community Studies (SJCS), a student must obtain at least sixty (60) credit hours as follows:  

Course List

Code	Title	Credit Hours
Complete all the requirements for the Major in SJCS (as listed above)		39
Select nine additional SJCS credit hours at the 3000 level		9
Select three additional credit hours at SJCS 4000 level 1		3
SJCS 4500	Honours Thesis	6
SJCS 4740	Intersectionality: Theory, Methods and Praxis	3
Total Credit Hours		60

1

Or Religion Race & Gender (RELS 4333).

In keeping with University Regulations,

“Thesis research will be conducted under the direction of the faculty supervisor, and the completed thesis will be evaluated by the supervisor and one (or more) other faculty member(s) associated with SJCS.  At least one of the supervisor or evaluator(s) shall be a full-time faculty member at Saint Mary’s University.  The student is also required to give a public presentation of their thesis work in a forum approved by the program.”

To graduate, SJCS Honours students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.30 out of 4.3 (B+) in Social Justice & Community Studies courses, and at least a grade of B+ (3.30) in Honours Thesis (SJCS 4500).

Minor in Social Justice & Community Studies

To complete a minor in Social Justice & Community Studies (SJCS), a student must obtain at least twenty-four (24) credit hours in SJCS, including the following six (6) credit hours:

Course List

Code	Title	Credit Hours
SJCS 1211	Social Power Relations 1	3
SJCS 2000	Canadian Society and Social Justice	3

1

(Prerequisite for all SJCS courses, equivalent to SOCI 1211).

Students must also complete eighteen (18) credit hours selected from any SJCS course, Postcolonial Literature: Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia (ENGL 2261) or Introduction to Indigenous Literature (ENGL 2513)