B.A. in Philosophy Social Justice Emphasis at Loyola University of Chicago, Illinois
The B.A. in Philosophy with social justice emphasis forms in our students the habit of critical and positive reflection on the questions that challenge humanity today. Within the discipline of philosophy there are many subdisciplines, of which Social Justice is one of the most ancient and yet most relevant to our own day and the University’s Mission.
The social justice emphasis has a distinctive theoretical-plus-applied character. The philosophy department already offers a significant number of strong undergraduate courses in this area, including not only various foundational studies in the nature of justice, but also the workings of justice in contemporary social and political contexts. The courses for this program will be offered in a carefully planned sequence and the faculty who teach them will make a conscious effort to highlight the Social Justice dimensions of their respective subject matter. For example, the program will have as its anchor course a special section of PHIL 321, Ethics and Society, modified to include a service learning component along the lines of the Magis program, and offered primarily for philosophy students who have declared a major with this emphasis. Also, the scheduling of the capstone seminars required of all philosophy majors (392-399) will ensure that an appropriate number are devoted to justice issues, for philosophy majors specializing in Social Justice.