SRSC | Curriculum

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Curriculum

The MA in Social Responsibility and Sustainable Communities is comprised of a thesis and a non-thesis option.  Both options require 18 hours of Core Courses plus electives, and if pursuing the thesis option, 6 thesis hours, for a total of 33 hours; students are required to be in attendance during the campus-based SRSC 590 Sustainability Symposium.

Program Objectives

Through this MA program, you will be able to:

• examine a range of disciplinary perspectives on social justice
• analyze the interrelationships of issues and interlocking systems associated with social organization and community development
• examine the practical and theoretical principles of sustainability and how to apply them to diverse situations and communities throughout the world
• analyze the power relationships (gender, race, age, class) that historically surround social justice and how these may be changed or augmented to increase social equality and equity
• apply the principles of community organizing and be able to effectively utilize them in a variety of communities

 

Required Core Courses (18 hours):

Course Title	Term	Description
SRSC 510 Perspectives on Social Justice	Fall	A consideration of major perspectives concerning social justice issues
SRSC 520 Community-Based Research	Fall	The study of and training in community-based participatory action research across different disciplines, focusing on shared perspectives that apply sustainable, community-based problem solving.
SRSC 540 Community-Building for Sustainability	Spring	Direct participation and research in a topic related to sustainable community-building.
SRSC 530 Social Policy & Social Justice	Spring	A study of the convergences and discontinuities between social justice and social policy using critical interdisciplinary theories.
SRSC590 Sustainability Symposium	Second Spring	Culminating residency requirement for students seeking the Master’s in Social Responsibility & Sustainable Communities. Includes group site evaluations and concluding symposium.
SUST 512 Foundations of Sustainability      (OR)	Summer	Examination of the social, economic, and environmental principles of sustainability, with a focus on case studies at both local and global levels.
SUST 514 Environmental Justice & Public Spaces	Fall	An examination of environmental justice and place, including historical movements and case studies of the uses and misuses of public space and resources.

Students may choose to write a thesis for six hours of credit (ICSR 599), or to complete six hours additional electives for a non-thesis option.

Elective Courses

Student will select 15 hours for non-thesis option or 9 hours for thesis option. 

For a list of online elective courses, click here.

 

Compatible Graduate Certificates

Gender & Women's Studies

Global Pathways to Sustainability

Leadership Studies

Aging Studies

Nonprofit