[URBANTH-L]Announcement: new MA in Social Justice & Human Rights

[Kristin Koptiuch]

****Master’s Program in Social Justice and Human Rights*****

Arizona State University is proud to announce that its new MA program in Social Justice and Human Rights is now accepting applications for Fall 2008.  

The Master of Arts in Social Justice and Human Rights (MASJHR) in ASU’s New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences is an innovative new degree designed to offer social justice and human rights approaches to such issues as health, education, labor, international development, migration, child and family issues, and the environment.

The MASJHR offers two tracks of study – Social Justice and Human Rights Research and Non-Governmental Organizational Management.  The research track will prepare students for careers requiring research skills in governmental agencies and non-governmental agencies, as well as preparing them for doctoral programs in the social sciences and law.  The NGO management track brings together training in the substantive area of social justice and human rights with intensive practical training in non-profit management that will prepare graduates for leadership positions in the rapidly growing NGO sector.  

Program Highlights
 
•	Learner-centered curriculum – Students will benefit from an innovative curriculum focused on engaging the community and working with faculty on interdisciplinary research. Such a curriculum not only brings university expertise to real-world community problems, but it also creates engaged interdisciplinary research teams of faculty and graduate students tied together by a common social concern.  The curriculum will also be enhanced by the infusion of virtual lectures via videoconferencing from scholars, attorneys, activists, government officials, and others from around the world.  

•	Problem-based and community-embedded seminars – Problem-based seminars will examine current problems in social justice and human rights from different theoretical perspectives in team-taught interdisciplinary seminars.  Community-embedded seminars will combine classroom instruction with student placement in local agencies during the semester.  These seminars will bring much-needed applied knowledge to the seminar classroom and also benefit the community. 

•	Grant writing and development – All students in this program will be required to successfully complete a course in grant writing and development in their second year.  By then the students should be prepared with the research and management skills to write successful proposals and they will be required to complete a grant proposal as part of this course.  

Program Requirements

Full-time students can complete the MASJHR degree within 18 months.  The program is structured so that current practitioners in NGOs and other non-traditional students are able to complete their degree requirements by spending two semesters on campus and completing the remainder of their degree requirements (individualized instruction, thesis credits, etc.) back at their place of work in whatever location or country that may be.  We also expect many students to remain on campus for their entire program of study. 

The Faculty

The interdisciplinary program faculty conduct research on such varied issues as violence against women, social movements, globalization, new digital technology, democratic transitions, environmental and developmental ethics, social justice and art, slavery, genocide, metropolitan studies, urban culture and social space, citizenship, migration, and human rights law.  They actively conduct research across many areas of the globe including in West Africa, Ethiopia, China, Bosnia, Mexico, Latin America, Germany, and Spain.

For more information, see our website at:  http://newcollege.asu.edu/programs/social_justice/

Or contact, 


William Paul Simmons, Ph.D. 
Director, MA in Social Justice and Human Rights
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Arizona State University
602.543.6089
william.simmons at asu.edu