About Social Justice and Civic Engagement

Turn your passion to effect change into a life-affirming career.

LVC’s Social Justice and Civic Engagement degree will help you cultivate the knowledge, experience, and skills needed to identify and address the cultural, ideological, systematic, and structural causes of inequity and suffering in a globalized world. Working with faculty from numerous departments, you’ll gain a multi-layered perspective on inequity; a nuanced and inclusive understanding of the call for justice; and an ethically responsible, community-centered, creative praxis for social change.

Social Justice concerns the collective well-being and social responsibility of members of society.

Civic Engagement is the active participation in the civic space, a hallmark of an LVC education.

Core courses in the major provide a firm foundation in ethics, the history of social movements, and political philosophy. They advance the knowledge and skills necessary for the development and implementation of social values, the practice of discourse and cultural criticism, and the mechanisms of social change. Coursework includes an experiential service-learning and/or travel-learning project. These practical components of the major will provide opportunities for students to develop career-related skills, such as presenting ideas in professional forums, managing real-world projects, bridging gaps between diverse social groups, and community organizing.

Discover Your Degree Pathway

• Apply to our bachelor’s degree in social justice and civic engagement for first-year undergraduates or as a transfer student.
• Tailor your degree to your interests and career goals by pursuing a related program, like criminal justice, global studies, or politics.
• Master your degree requirements, from ethics to social movements and political philosophy.
  
  

What Makes Studying Social Justice and Civic Engagement at LVC Special?

• Students can participate in the PALOMA Social Justice Retreat to learn how to break down double standards and the status quo.
• Majors have the opportunity to serve in a major U.S. city through LVC’s annual Social Justice Institute.
• Students can be inducted into the Pallas Society and our social justice honor society. 
• You can personalize your academic career, taking courses that address social justice, inequality, and civic engagement.

What Can You Do with a Social Justice Degree?

A degree in social justice and civic engagement prepares students to advance their careers in a variety of fields including child advocacy, health advocacy, accessibility rights, environmental justice, criminal justice, human rights, legal services, and other non-profit work.

The Occupational Outlook Handbook notes 2018 median salaries for five potential “Typical Entry-Level” career paths for graduates: social and community service manager ($63,320); health educator and community health worker ($46,080); arbitrator, mediator, conciliator ($62,270); fundraisers ($56,950); and meeting, convention, and event planner ($49,370).