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Social Justice Studies: General Studies

Associate in Arts Degree for Transfer

The Associate in Arts in Social Justice Studies: General Studies for Transfer degree (AA-T) is a 60 unit program which provides students with a pathway for turning their passion for change, human rights, and the ideals of justice into an interdisciplinary focus area of study for transfer. The program gives students choices in their coursework, so that each individual can focus on the issues or areas that most appeal to them within the framework of social justice coursework that includes themes of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, sex identity, culture and diversity, gender, and sexuality. This interdisciplinary program will prepare students for a workplace and world where awareness of inequality, microaggressions as well as systemic marginalization and discrimination, and a capacity to understand and address social responsibility, have become globally interconnected. The Social Justice Studies: General Studies for Transfer degree (AA-T) provides students the lower division coursework required for transfer to a CSU institution for the major in a variety of interdisciplinary or traditional disciplines, such as Ethnic Studies, Women and Gender Studies, Justice Studies, Sociology, English, Humanities, Philosophy, History, Anthropology, Psychology, Art, or Political Science. Social Justice Studies emerged out of historical and ongoing social progress movements such as the Labor, Civil Rights, Disability Rights, LGBTQ, and Women’s Liberation movements. Students explore interconnected systems of discrimination and oppression, including institutional, relational, cultural, and socioeconomic racism, sexism, ableism, classism, heterosexism, and cisgenderism. Social Justice scholarship locates intersectional identities of race, class, sex, ability, gender, sexuality, religion, culture, and nation, to explore inequities and identify systems of oppression and advantage that exist as a result of marginalization, cultural supremacy/insensitivity, and/or violence. The goal of the program is not to engender a singular approach to social justice issues but rather to present students with a dynamic academic framework for thinking creatively and pragmatically about contemporary social issues. Areas of scholarship that inform social justice include education; anthropology; race and ethnic studies; cognitive, developmental and social psychology; gay, lesbian bisexual, transgender and queer studies; history; literature; Queer Theory; Judaic and Middle Eastern studies; sociology, and women, gender, and sexuality studies. The Social Justice Studies transfer degree offers students the opportunity to prepare for rewarding work, such as with government agencies, colleges and universities, consulting firms, research institutes, corporations, domestic and international non-governmental or community or environmental organizations, human rights organizations, the United Nations, and international development organizations, or in journalism, writing, or social work. Students must complete the following requirements: 1. 60 semester or 90 quarter CSU-transferable units 2. the California State University-General Education-Breadth pattern (CSU GE-Breadth); OR the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) pattern. 3. a minimum of 18 semester or 27 quarter units in the major or area of emphasis as determined by the community college district. 4. obtainment of a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0. 5. earn a grade of C (or P) or better in all courses required for the major or area of emphasis.

Major Core Requirements (9-12 units)

Course NumberCourse TitleUnits
Select one:
SJST001
SOCI020

Introduction to Ethnic and Social Justice Studies
Sociology of Race and Ethnicity

3 units
3 units
Select one:
WGQS001
WGQS003
SOCI028

Introduction to Women's Studies
Introduction to Gender and Queer Studies
Sociology of Gender

4 units
3 units
3 units
Any course from above not already used or one of the following:
ARTS001J
ARTS007

Only one:
ENGL012
ENGL012H

Only one:
ENGL018
ENGL018H

FRNC001A
HIST005B
HUMN001B
JPNS001A
PHIL001

Only one:
PSYC001
PSYC001H

SOCI001
SPAN001A

Survey of Non-Western Art: Africa, Oceania, and Indigenous North America
The Art of Asia


African American Literature
Honors African American Literature


Asian American Literature
Honors Asian American Literature

Beginning French
World History from 1500
Human Values in and from the Arts - the Renaissance to the Modern Age
Beginning Japanese
Introduction to Philosophy


General Psychology
Honors General Psychology

Introduction to Sociology
Beginning Spanish

3 units
3 units


3 units
3 units


3 units
3 units

5 units
3 units
3 units
5 units
3 units


3 units
3 units

3 units
5 units

Major Electives List A: Select three courses from at least two of the following areas. Only one course from Area 4 may be used. (9-14 units)

Course NumberCourse TitleUnits
Area 1: History or Government
HIST012
HIST014
HIST016

African American History
History of the Native North Americans
Mexican-American History

3 units
3 units
3 units
Area 2: Arts and Humanities
ARTS007
ARTS010
ARTS013
ARTS014
WGQS002
WGQS003
WGQS004A

The Art of Asia
American Art: A Multicultural Approach
African-American Art History
Women in Art History
Women in the Arts: Multicultural Perspectives
Introduction to Gender and Queer Studies
Women in World Cultures

3 units
3 units
3 units
3 units
3 units
3 units
3 units
Area 3: Social Science

Only one:
ANTH003
ANTH003H

Only one:
ECON001A
ECON001AH

Only one:
ECON001B
ECON001BH

GEOG002
POLI003
PSYC009
SOCI028



Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Honors Introduction to Cultural Anthropology


Principles of Macroeconomics
Honors Principles of Macroeconomics


Principles of Microeconomics
Honors Principles of Microeconomics

Introduction to Cultural Geography
Introduction to Political Science
Psychology of Women: A Multicultural Perspective
Sociology of Gender



3 units
3 units


4 units
4 units


4 units
4 units

3 units
3 units
3 units
3 units
Area 4: Quantitative Reasoning and Research Methods

Only one:
MATH010
MATH010H

Only one:
PSYC002
PSYC002H

SOCI012



Elementary Statistics
Honors Elementary Statistics


Experimental Psychophysiology
Honors Experimental Psychophysiology

Introduction to Research Methods



4 units
4 units


4 units
4 units

3 units
Area 5: Major Preparation
ARTS001J
ARTS007

Only one:
ENGL012
ENGL012H

Only one:
ENGL018
ENGL018H

HIST005B
HUMN001B
JPNS001A
FRNC001A
PHIL001

Only one:
PSYC001
PSYC001H

SPAN001A
SOCI001
WGQS001

Survey of Non-Western Art: Africa, Oceania, and Indigenous North America
The Art of Asia


African American Literature
Honors African American Literature


Asian American Literature
Honors Asian American Literature

World History from 1500
Human Values in and from the Arts - the Renaissance to the Modern Age
Beginning Japanese
Beginning French
Introduction to Philosophy


General Psychology
Honors General Psychology

Beginning Spanish
Introduction to Sociology
Introduction to Women's Studies

3 units
3 units


3 units
3 units


3 units
3 units

3 units
3 units
5 units
5 units
3 units


3 units
3 units

5 units
3 units
4 units

Total Major Units: 18-26 units

CSU transferable electives courses are required when the major units plus transfer GE units total is less than 60.

Upon successful completion of this program a student will be able to:

  • Research theories on socialization and acculturation that inform identity and group affiliations, in various historical eras and global communities.
  • Analyze specific manifestations of oppression such as regionalism, colorism, ableism, classism, ethnocentrism, heterosexism, racism, sexism, and the systems, dynamics, and interpersonal as well as institutional power structures that keep these oppressions in place.
  • Examine social, cultural, and historical contexts for movements such as civil, women's, disability, and LGBTQ rights as well as movements for several specific marginalized communities and peoples of color.
  • Study social justice strategies such as dialogue across differences, alliance building, collaboration, and advocacy.
  • Recognize, from various disciplinary perspectives, intersecting systems of oppression, the dynamics of power and privilege, and prejudice and discrimination.
  • Engage in reading, discussing, and writing about theories and practices of social change, resistance and empowerment, social progress movements, and activism.