Community and Social Justice Studies

Jumpstart your career with programs in community and social justice studies

The Department of Community and Social Justice Studies offers a wide range of majors to help students develop critical perspectives and marketable skills to be advocates for communities and work in the public, private, non-governmental, and not-for-profit sectors, or to pursue graduate study. Here are some key national statistics for careers in these areas from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) and PayScale.

$36,375-$57,946

Average Starting Salaries in Community and Social Justice-Related Fields (NACE)

Noteworthy Community and Social Justice Studies Jobs and Mid-Career Salaries (PayScale)

Social Services Program Director $99,600 Fundraiser $71,450 Community Development Manager $117,946 Social and Community Service Manager $95,650 Higher Education Administrator $60,228 School & Career Counselor $74,670

82%

Alumni in humanities and social sciences employed or in graduate school within 6 months after graduation

See Current Community and Social Justice Studies Job Listings in the WP Job Portal

Get Prepared to Succeed

Our programs—Africana world studies, anthropology, community development and social justice, leadership and professional studies, and women’s and gender studies—include hands-on learning activities and field experiences. Students have the opportunity to work with faculty on ongoing research and advocacy projects. They also develop skills through the Department’s collaborative partnerships with local organizations and communities in northern New Jersey.

What You'll Learn

In our community and social justice studies programs, students learn in-demand skills that employers have identified as critical for job candidates, including:

Social justice competency
Technology-based research
Critical thinking skills
Understanding of public policy issues with a social justice perspective

View a full listing of student learning outcomes for community and social justice studies students.

Information on affordability and value from the U.S. Department of Education:

View our College Scorecard

Key Skills for Careers
in Community and
Social Justice Fields

as indicated by Employers
and Alumni on LinkedIn

Analytical Skills

Community Outreach

Digital Fluency

Proposal Writing

Public Speaking

Research

Verbal & Written Communication

*LinkedIn Workplace
Learning Report 2021

Degrees Offered

Undergraduate

BA in Africana World Studies

In this program, students will learn about the intellectual and social origins of Africana studies as a discipline and its major objectives, concepts, theories, subject/content areas, perspectives, and concerns. In addition, AWS majors can expect to learn about the African, African American, and Caribbean history, literature and culture in a variety of classes offered within the Africana-world studies program. The major may be combined with teaching certification in elementary education (Early Childhood P-3 and/or Elementary K-6).

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BA in Anthropology

In this program, students will be provided a comprehensive understanding of human nature and humankind. The program takes the broadest view of what it means to be human, integrating the study of biology and culture, history and cross-cultural comparison, system and conjuncture. With its global perspective and holistic approach, anthropology not only provides a solid liberal arts education, but prepares students for a wide range of jobs and careers. A major in anthropology allows students to develop a special awareness of the complexity of human nature, culture and cultural differences, and equips them with a variety of methods to address basic human processes and problems.

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BA in Community Development and Social Justice

The Department of Community and Social Justice Studies offers a major in Community Development and Social Justice to degree-seeking students in person and on-line. The curriculum is structured around experiential-learning and interdsiciplinary approaches to community-based social problems, governance and policy, cultural identity and diverse communities, conflict negotiation and participative democracy. The curriculum also supports minors and certificate programs within the department including the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Certificate. Graduates of this program can enhance their career prospects by combining a Bachelor of Arts in CDSJ, for example, with another professionally-oriented degree (BS in Business, BS in Public Health, BS in Criminal Justice) or work toward an MBA or an MA in Leadership from William Paterson University.

The curriculum will enable our students to:

1) Gain a flexible and nimble set of skills (writing, reading, communication, leadership, research and critical thinking).

2) Apply multidisciplinary knowledge, and interdisciplinary perspectives to participate in society as critically aware citizens, community leaders, and agents of change.

3) Seek gainful employment within the U.S. public sector (organizations working within the government), including K-12 education and health, civil society (non-governmental organizations including international development organizations), private businesses with corporate social responsibility portfolios, or in global advocacy and research.

4) Develop a framework for social transformation through the perspective of social justice – i.e. transformations that center inequalities of class, race, gender, sexuality, and ability.

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BA in Latin American and Latino Studies

The major in Latin American and Latino studies is designed to bridge the gap, in the production of knowledge, between the lived experiences of the Latin American and Latino populations in the Americas. The program provides a greater understanding of diversity in keeping with the University’s mission of providing a climate of diversity and equity in educational excellence. In doing this, Latin American and Latino studies helps students develop a multidisciplinary understanding of the politics, economics, psychology, history and literature of Latin America and of Latinas and Latinos in the United States. By providing a liberal arts education we prepare students to become lifelong learners, critical thinkers, and engaged citizens.

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BA in Leadership and Professional Studies

For Returning Adult Learners
The only program of its kind in New Jersey, the innovative BA in leadership and professional studies lets you combine your work and life experiences and create an individualized degree path that prepares you for a prominent professional role. This affordable program:

Allows you to focus on your career goals while building competencies in communication, collaboration, negotiation, and emotional intelligence.
Utilizes insight from leaders to develop a curriculum that helps you become a top-level candidate for various opportunities and promotions.
Offers supportive resources such as mentors, a success counselor, and faculty advisors.
Includes a capstone project in which you will showcase advancement toward your leadership goals. Learn more »

View requirements and course descriptions in the University Course Catalog
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BA in Leadership and Professional Studies 100% Online

BA in Women's and Gender Studies

This interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary academic program engages students with community, civic issues, and citizenship. Students develop conceptual, analytical, and critical thinking skills and opportunities for experiential learning for the study of gendered lives and experiences. They engage in feminist analyses that focuses on the centrality of gender relations, emergence and reproduction of sexism and patriarchy, production of feminist knowledge and theories, women's movements, and feminist methods of doing research. Students use an intersectional framework for the analysis of gender, race, class and sexuality (concepts), racism, sexism, homophobia/heterosexism (processes), and the organization of these processes in social institutions. They learn a social justice approach to issues of systemic oppression, resistance, change, and activism locally and globally, gaining professional skills through in-class activities and civic engagement.

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Minor in Africana World Studies

In this program, students will learn about the intellectual and social origins of Africana studies as a discipline and its major objectives, concepts, theories, subject/content areas, perspectives, and concerns. In addition, AWS minors can expect to learn about the African, African American, and Caribbean history, literature and culture in a variety of classes offered within the Africana-world studies program.

View requirements and course descriptions:

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Minor in Anthropology

The interdisciplinary nature of anthropology makes it an ideal minor for students in other programs who seek an appreciation of different cultural perspectives in this age of global trade and economics.

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Minor in Latin American and Latino Studies

The minor in Latin American and Latino studies provides students with an abbreviated survey of the interdisciplinary Latin American and Latino studies program. The minor exposes students to some of the core elements of the Latin American and Latino studies program, which has courses offered by 11 different departments and programs (i.e., Africana world studies, art history, anthropology, English, geography, history, languages and cultures, political science, psychology, women’s and gender studies, and Latin American and Latino studies) across the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.

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Minor in Social Justice Studies

The goal of the 18-credit social justice studies interdisciplinary minor is to provide students with the opportunity to study the concept of social justice through a concentrated set of core and elective courses. By choosing courses from a variety of disciplines, the minor encourages intellectual inquiry from multiple perspectives with the goal of enhancing students' understanding of social inequities and to encourage informed citizenship.

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Minor in Women's and Gender Studies

In the women's and gender studies minor, students complete 18 credits. The minor complements all majors by providing conceptual, analytical, and critical thinking skills and opportunities for experiential learning for the study of gendered lives and experiences. The minor teaches a social justice perspective which serves in all professions, bringing awareness of diversity and oppression, thus creating citizens who are better informed as critical thinkers who can assess conditions that enable or inhibit individual and group resistance, agency, and activism in local and transnational contexts.

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Certificate Programs

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Certificate

The Certificate in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is an academic credential designed to enhance professional qualifications. The goals for the certificate are compatible with the William Paterson University undergraduate core curriculum that serves as the cornerstone of the university’s mission. The program is designed to attract individuals in the business, education, health and other social service areas with an interest in and need for additional knowledge and skills around the concept culture, cultural identity and diversity, equity, inclusion, intercultural understanding, multiculturalism and difference, and the cultural aspects of globalization.

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» Current students sign-up here: Declare Certificate
» If you are not currently enrolled as a student, please apply here.

Gender and Sexuality Certificate

Ideas, expressions, and social practices of sex, gender and sexuality have fundamentally shaped human experience. A primary purpose of this program is to enable students and professionals to gain awareness and knowledge of how sex, gender and sexuality intersect with other identity categories such as ‘race’, class, disability, religion, nationality, age, and ethnicity within and across cultures, and throughout history. Courses in this 12-credit certificate will focus on an understanding of the biocultural interrelatedness of sex, gender and sexual orientation, interrogating the ways in which biological aspects of sexuality and gender are imbued with social meanings and institutionalized within a variety of public and private sectors of society. Courses will also analyze the psychological and sociopolitical dimensions of identity formation, investigating the historical and contemporary laws and practices of gender and sexual discrimination, and explore modes of engagement for social change.

View requirements and course descriptions:

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» Current students sign-up here: Declare Certificate
» If you are not currently enrolled as a student, please apply here.

What Our Graduates Say

Hassanah-Smith-Community-and-Social-Justice-Studies

"Studying anthropology further connected me with my life’s passion of paying it forward in communities of color and immersing myself in boots on the ground efforts in or around social justice, including advocating for policy agendas that reflect the needs of those in Black and Brown communities. Anthropology provided a foundation of cultural, social, and ethnographic content that I put into practice every day"

Hassanah Smith ’16
anthropology, youth and advocacy coordinator, Children’s Defense Fund—New York

Community and Social Justice Studies News

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