About The Program

Social Justice Studies Associates Degree for Transfer

an image with the justice statue, a poster with the phrase and a protest

This degree prepares you to understand social problems related to racism, the environment, housing, juvenile justice, LGBT rights, women’s rights, inequality, health, and education. It also helps you understand what you can do to help solve those problems and develop a career doing that important work.

Why get this degree?                                                                       

  • For those looking to transfer to a four-year institution, this degree will provide the lower division requirements for majors such as Social Justice Studies, Women’s Studies, Asian American Studies, African American Studies Latinx studies, Native American Studies, and many more. For a complete list, see the De Anza College Catalogue.
  • For those going straight into the workforce this degree says you are ready to understand social problems and ready to make a difference.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon completation, students will be able to: 

  • Analyze the roots of a wide variety of social problems
  • Develop pathways to solving those problems
  • Have the capacity to make a difference in addressing those problems
  • Understand the career paths related to making a difference in the social world

The Cohort

The Social Justice Studies cohort will offer one or two classes per quarter in a synchronous online evening format. Faculty who teach in this cohort have been specifically chosen because they are committed to building community and an environment that supports student growth, empowerment, and success. The cohort is meant to offer an ideal pathway to the degree. But, students can take classes as they desire from the requirement list below.

For the academic year 2023/2024 the cohort will offer:

Fall
  • ICS 27/POLY 17: Grassroots Democracy: Leadership and Power, T/TH Kaufman, 6:00-7:45 
  • PSYC 2: Research Methods, Taiki Kond, M/W 6:00-7:50pm via zoom
Winter
  • ESCI 1: Environmental Science, Alicia Del Toro via zoom
  • ICS 17: Critical Consciousness and Social Change, Cynthia Kaufman T/TH 6:00-7:45 via Zoom
  • EWRT 1A and LART 250, Composition and Reading + Academic Reading and Writing, Vivian Bejarin, W 6:00-8:10 PM via zoom + asynchronous component
Spring
  • ICS 19: Making a Difference: Transforming Relations of Nature, Community, and Power, Staff TBA, T/TH 6:00-7:45 via Zoom
  • ESCI L: Environmental Sciences Laboratory, Alicia Del Toro, via zoom

Program Support: 

The courses required for this degree are:

Required Core

Area 1- One course from this list:

Course Units
ICS 17: Critical Consciouness and Social change 4
ICS 19: Making a Difference: Transforming Relations of Nature, Community, and Power 4
ICS 4: Race, Ethnicity and Inequality  4
SOSC 29: Sociology of Structural Racism in the US 4

Area 2 - One from this list:

Course Units
WMST 1: Introduction to Women’s Studies 4
ICS 26: Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Studies 4
SOC/WMST28: La Mujer: Latina Life and Experience 4

Area 3 - One course from this list: 

Course Units
ANTH 2: Cultural Anthropology  4
ASAM 10: Contemporary Asian American Communities  4
GEO 10: Cultural Geography 4
ICS 7: Intercultural Communication 4
ICS 9: Race and Ethnicity: Belonging and Exclusion in the U.S.                       4
ICS 10: An Introduction to African American Studies  4
ICS 11: Sankofa: The Roots of the African American Experience 4
ICS 30: Introduction to Chicanx and Latinx Studies 4
ICS 31: Chicanx Culture 4
ICS 41: Native American Contemporary Society 4
ICS 42: California Native Americans 4
POLI 3: International Relations 4
SOC 1: Introduction to Sociology 4
SOC 20: Social Problems 4

In addition to the courses described above:

  1. One from a list in the catalog of social justice oriented GE classes 
  2. Four Courses from at least 2 areas in a list in the catalog of social justice oriented GE classes, with only one from Area 4

Areas description

  • Area 1: History or Government; Area 2, Arts and Humanities; Area 3, Social Sciences
  • Area 4: Quantitative Reasoning and Research methods; Area 5 Major Preparation (any Course Articulated as lower division Social Justice Studies

More information: Degree Requirements  

Breakdown Units
Required Major Total   

28-29 units
Completion of CSUGE (or IGETC)

58  units
(Possible double counting:  12-25)

12-25 units
Transferable electives (as needed to reach 90 units) 

16-28 units
Total Units

90 units
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