Social Justice

Social justice education is important. The Master’s Program in Social Justice flows from the mission of Marygrove College. The program is ideal for those interested in learning and promoting social justice/change. It provides for analysis and reflection in the ways of thinking, the values, assumptions, and the actions that maintain the economic, political, and cultural structures that shape our lives. It also seeks to build competencies and skills to transform these structures toward a more just society. In addition, this program seeks to create an internal culture of justice among the candidates.

Contact:
Brenda Bryant, Ph.D.
Madame Cadillac Bldg., Rm. 309
Phone: 313.927.1502
Email: bbryant@marygrove.edu

Semester 1

• SJ 500 Foundational Seminar
• SJ 510 Campaigns and Elections
• SJ 625 Leadership for Social Justice

Semester 2

• SJ 635 Organizational Development for Social Justice
• SJ 520 Values in Society
• SJ 530 The Role of Psychology in Social Justice

Semester 3

• SJ 505 Analysis of Economic Structures
• SJ 524 Environmental Justice: Moving from Ecological Awareness to Environmental Policy
• SJ 620 Religion and Justice: Conflict and Congruence

Semester 4

• SJ 640 Organizing for Social Change
• SJ 630 Human Diversity: Understanding through Empiricism
• SJ 645 Media and Social Change

Semester 5

• SJ 605 Justice in Economic Structures
• SJ 503 Human Rights & Literature
• SJ 650 Reflection Seminar

Other Courses

• SJ 655 Social Justice Practicum
• SJ 660 Master’s Project

SJ 525 Empowered Nonviolence: Confronting Structural Violence & Gender Oppression (3 Credits)

Instructors:            Kim Redigan, M. A. ………..  kredigan@gmail.com

Heather Nicholson, M.A. …  heather.marie.nicholson@gmail.com

Emily Barone, M. A. ……….  barone.emily@gmail.com

Course Description: Nonviolence is an essential element of social justice both as a strategy for creating change and, for some, as a way of life.  A commitment to nonviolence determines not only what one does, but how one relates to others and the world, develops perspectives on issues, and confronts oppression.  This course will explore the core principles that undergird various philosophies of nonviolence and examine social movements and organizations which are grounded in active nonviolence.

Student Leadership Outcomes: This course is designed to: 1) foster discussion on the definition and meaning of violence, nonviolence, oppression, and resistance; 2) examine violence and nonviolence through the lens of gender, race, and class; 3) explore the role of spirituality and the arts in nonviolent philosophy and social action   4) introduce students to local and national organizations which practice and advocate for nonviolent social change through an examination of their objectives and guiding principles;

Student Practicum Options: This course fulfills the practicum requirement for students of the Social Justice Program. Options for the completion of this requirement are as follows; 1.) Students may participate in an eight (8) hour Nonviolence Skills Training with the Michigan Peace Team (MPT). After completing this training in active nonviolence, students will be eligible to serve on MPT domestic teams at local gatherings. 2.) Students may organize and participate in a Power Parity art exhibition. The exhibition will be a mixed media collaboration which may involve multiple locations and installations. 3.) Students may opt to develop and actualize a third practicum concentration of their own choosing. Alternative practicum options and their subsequent requirements must be agreed upon by the student and the instructors.

Course Requirements

1. Attendance and active participation during class sessions.
2. Required texts and handouts read before coming to class.
3. Completion of the assignments listed below.

Required Texts

• Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde, ISBN #: 978-1580911863 – to be read for class on 5/17/11.
• Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center by bell hooks, ISBN #: 978-0896086135 – to be read for class on 5/31/11
• Transforming Feminist Practice: Non- Violence, Social Justice and the Possibilities of a Spiritualized Feminism by Leela Fernandes, ISBN #: 978-1879960671 – to be read for class on 6/14/11

Pre- Work for SJ 524 Empowered Nonviolence

Assignment #1: Representing Nonviolence:

Bring with you to the first class meeting on May 17^th an object that represents nonviolence, and be prepared to explain your choice.

Assignment #2: Media Analysis: Select one of the advertising slides posted on Blackboard and write a one to two (1 – 2) page reflection that analyzes how women are depicted in the advertisement that you selected.  Consider the objectives of the advertiser: To whom is the advertisement targeted?  What is being sold?  What is the relationship between the advertisement and the product being sold? 

Assignments During Class

Assignment #1: Participate no fewer than five (5) times in online threaded discussions based on class readings and discussions. Initiate at least two (2) threads based on your reflections on required readings, approximately 250 words in length, on the discussion board. Post at least three (3) substantial comments on the reflections of your classmates. Online discussion runs concurrently with class discussion, but all comments must be posted by midnight, July 6^th.

Assignment #2: Artistic Representation of Patriarchy and Violence

Create a work of art (your choice of medium) that demonstrates violence and patriarchy in either the personal or the public realm, the institutional or the internal.  Consider home, job site, place of worship, the marketplace, the political sphere. Students should be prepared to present their work on the last evening of class, July 5^th. Works may be displayed publicly in an art instillation at a later date. Write a two to three (2 – 3) page reflection paper on your work. 

Post- Assignments

Assignment #1: Write a five (5) page report on one or more organization(s in the United States which promotes peace and/ or nonviolence. Describe the mission of the organization(s), and the efforts undertaken by the organization(s) to support that mission. Take into consideration the outreach or expansion efforts employed by the organization: the ratio of paid staff to volunteers, tactics of recruiting and mobilizing volunteers, perception in the public eye, and the use of various social media to attract attention to an issue, cause, or event. Finally, provide your opinion on how effectively the organization upholds its commitment to nonviolence.

Assignment #2: Write a three (3) page reflection on the utility of a nonviolent perspective in your advocacy for social justice. Describe one nonviolent action which you have taken in the past or would take in the future to support an issue or cause or to be more effective in your daily life. Do you think that nonviolence is an appropriate method of responding to violations of civil and human rights? Why or why not?

Grading and Evaluation

Course Outline (May 17, 24, 31: June 7, 14, 21, 25, 28: July 5)

Tuesday, May 17^th 6 – 9 PM

– What Is Violence? What Is Nonviolence? What Does Race, Class and Gender Have To Do With It?

Reading for class: Sister Outsider, “Scratching the Surface” (45-52); and  “Age Race, Class, and Sex…” (114 – 123)

Tuesday, May 24^th 6 – 9PM

– Naming the Violence

Reading for class: handouts distributed on first night:

Cesar Chavez and the Common Sense of Nonviolence, “Refusing to Be Macho” (71-96)

Revolutions of Conscience: MLK and the Philosophy of Nonviolence, “Equality” (23-45)

Excerpts from Community, Violence and Peace by Aldo Leopold

A Companion to Feminist Philosophy, “Social Policy: The Current Terms of the Debate” (569-580) 

Tuesday, May 31^st 6 – 9PM

– Ain’t I a Woman? Gender, Privilege, Power Paradigm

Readings for class: All of Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center;

Sister Outsider: “Sexism: An American Disease in Blackface” (60-65); and “Man Child…” (72-80);

Handout: Chapter 1 of Maternal Thinking: Towards a Politics of Peace by Sarah Ruddick

Tuesday, June 7^th 6 – 9PM

– Environmental Violence and Nonviolence

Reading for class (handed out in previous class): Chapters 7, 8, 9, 13, & 15 from The World Without Us by Alan Weisman: “What Falls Apart,” “What Lasts,” “Polymers Are Forever,” “The World Without War” and “Hot Legacy.”

Tuesday, June 14^th 6 – 9PM

– Spirituality

Readings for class: All of Transforming Feminist Practice;

Sister Outsider: “Uses of the Erotic” (53-59);  and “Uses of Anger” and “Eye to Eye” (124-133)

Tuesday, June 21^st 6 – 9PM

– Nonviolence and the Arts

Reading for class: Sister Outsider,: “Poetry is Not a Luxury” (38-39);

Handouts from Home Girls Make Some Noise: Hip Hop Feminism Anthology

Saturday, June 25^th 9AM – 5PM

– Michigan Peace Team Nonviolence Skills Training

Required reading material provided by MPT during the training.

Tuesday, June 28^th 6 – 9PM

–Moving Toward Solidarity: Methodology of Nonviolent Social Movements and Stories of Empowerment

“Nashville: We All Were Warriors” from film series, A Force More Powerful;

Reading for class: Sister Outsider: The Master’s Tools will Never Dismantle  . . .” (110 – 113);

Handouts: “In the Birmingham Jail,” “Notes After Birmingham,” and “Open Letter to the New York Times.” By Barbara Deming

Tuesday, July 5^th 6 – 9PM

– Where Do We Go From Here?  

Reading for class: Sister Outsider,: “Learning from the 60s” (134-144)

Recommended Readings

1. Ruddick, S. Maternal Thinking: Towards a Politics of Peace. (1995). Boston: Beacon Press. ISBN #: 978080714097
2. McCarthy, C. All of One Peace: Essays on Nonviolence. (2003). New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. ISBN #: 9780813520971
3. Cooper, L. and Hodge, J. Disturbing the Peace: The Story of Father Roy Bourgeois and the Movement to Close the School of the Americas. (2004). Maryknoll: Orbis Books. ISBN #: 978-1570754340
4. hooks, b. Feminism Is For Everyone: Passionate Politics. (2000). South End Press. ISBN #: 978-0896086289
5. Vonnegut, K. Slaughterhouse Five. (1999). Dial Press Trade. ISBN #:  978-0440180296
6. Vonnegut, K. Three Complete Novels: Cat’s Cradle, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, Breakfast of Champions. (1999) Wings Books. ISBN #: 978-0517124369
7. Jaggar, A. (Ed.) and Young, I. (Ed.).  A Companion to Feminist Philosophy. (2000). Blackwell Publishers. ISBN #: 978-0631220671
8. The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of Peace edited and introduction by Howard Zinn, ISBN #: 978-0807014073 – Essays by Mohandas Gandhi (“My Faith in Nonviolence”); Dorothy Day (“Pacifism”); Gautama the Buddha (“Let Man Overcome Anger By Love”): Thomas Merton, Daniel Berrigan, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Albert Camus, Arundhati Roy, an International Appeal to stop the War in Afghanistan, and many others.
9. Zaru, Jean. Occupied With Nonviolence: A Palestinian Woman Speaks, ISBN #:978-0800663179
10. Home Girls Make Some Noise: Hip Hop Feminism Anthology, edited by Gwendolyn Pough Elaine Richardson, Aisha Durham, and Rachel Raimist. Afterword by Joan Morgan, ISBN #: 978-1600430107
11. The Green Belt Movement by Wangari Maathai, ISBN # 978-1590560402
12. Revolution and Equilibrium by Barbara Deming, ISBN # 670-596515
13. Cesar Chavez and the Common Sense of Nonviolence, by José- Antonio Orosco, ISBN #: 978-0826343758