Social Justice and Human Rights, MA

The MA program in social justice and human rights addresses urgent social issues related to human security, labour, migration, children, family, education, and the environment.

The coursework in this theoretically and methodologically rigorous program examines social issues in contexts defined by multiple intersecting forms of social identity and disadvantage, including gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, and nationality.

The program requires an internship to be completed domestically or internationally. Students typically work alongside other advocates for social justice to help refugees, migrants, workers, and survivors of violence or human trafficking.

Students may select three-degree tracks: research, advocacy, or critical trauma studies and social work. The research track prepares students for positions as researchers, analysts, and advocates in governmental, intergovernmental, and nongovernmental agencies. The advocacy track prepares students to be leaders in nonprofit, social movement, governmental and intergovernmental organizations. The critical trauma studies and social work track prepare students to assist vulnerable people, especially survivors of extreme violence, poverty, war, sex trafficking, human trafficking, gender-based violence, and various marginalization forms.

Graduates are also prepared to enter doctoral programs.

The New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University's vibrant West campus focuses on a personalized learning experience and the complex and unique ways that different study fields interact and affect one another to prepare you for the future better.

The undergraduate and graduate degrees offered within the New College are designed to provide innovative coursework and hands-on experiences to prepare students for the social, economic, political, and cultural challenges they will face in a rapidly expanding, diverse global marketplace.

New College programs emphasize experiential learning that spans academic disciplines and encourages an appreciation for all forms of creativity. Each program provides study and exploration that fosters a deeper understanding of the human experience's diversity and interdependent nature.

A curriculum that supports a compassionate and creative approach to the complexities of real-world challenges is a hallmark of the New College. In carefully crafting courses for these degrees, the nationally acclaimed ASU New College faculty is committed to developing programs that teach students to nurture and expand their intellectual curiosity.

New College programs and courses help students develop a critical outlook based on observation and a vast array of inquiry methods, preparing them to become independent thinkers who are empowered to help shape their society.