The University of Iowa will add a new bachelor’s program in social justice, the Iowa Board of Regents voted Thursday.
The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that the social justice program is the first of its kind in any Iowa college or university.
The program intends to help students “explore, discover, and create practical solutions to real issues related to economics, health care, human rights, civil rights, and the environment,” the proposal stated.
The new program will be offered by the Department of Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies, which has a history of “creating opportunities for real-world experience tied to classroom experience,” according to the proposal.
“Students will explore the intersections of race, class, gender, culture, economics, history, nationality, and human rights,” it stated. “They will approach social justice through the arts, history, literature, comparative religious studies, political science, philosophy, health education, and gender, women’s, and sexuality studies.”
Students enrolled in the program can choose an emphasis in international history, human rights, health, issues in gender and women’s studies, politics and social justice, ethnic and cultural studies, or environmental issues.
The Iowa Board of Regents, which oversees all three public universities in the state, voted in Iowa City on Thursday to approve the social justice degree program at the University of Iowa, a university spokesperson told Campus Reform.
The anticipated implementation date is Spring 2017. Enrollment is expected to be 25 students during year one of the new program, increasing to 110 students by year seven, according to the proposal.
UI Provost Barry Butler said student demand for the program should be high, judging from the success of the university’s recent social justice seminar and its “Justice For All” living learning community, the Press-Citizen reported.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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