RELS 323 Religion and Social Justice
Struggles for social justice in many lands have drawn ideals, energies, and institutional support from faith traditions. Students in this course will learn to see the connections between religious traditions and struggles for social justice through the examination of texts, narratives, cultural practices, and human action. Multiple traditions in the contemporary world will be compared, including materials relating to traditions that may include those from the Abrahamic faiths, Asian religions, African religions, and Indigenous religions. Students will make use of community resources to explore contemporary connections between religion and the quest for a just world.
Prerequisites
4 Undergraduate credits
Effective May 2, 2024 to present
Meets graduation requirements for
Learning outcomes
General
- Interpret the connections between multiple world religious traditions and struggles for social justice.
- Relate different religious efforts to create social justice and different conceptions of social justice, as expressed in multiple religious traditions.
- Appraise the contributions of multiple world religious traditions to movements for social justice and the achievements of those movements.
- Develop ideas about a religious basis for a just society and a just world that are personally meaningful as well as intellectually and ethically valid.
Minnesota Transfer Curriculum
Goal 6: The Humanities and Fine Arts
- Demonstrate awareness of the scope and variety of works in the arts and humanities.
- Understand those works as expressions of individual and human values within a historical and social context.
- Respond critically to works in the arts and humanities.
- Engage in the creative process or interpretive performance.
- Articulate an informed personal reaction to works in the arts and humanities.
Goal 9: Ethical and Civic Responsibility
- Examine, articulate, and apply their own ethical views.
- Understand and apply core concepts (e.g. politics, rights and obligations, justice, liberty) to specific issues.
- Analyze and reflect on the ethical dimensions of legal, social, and scientific issues.
- Recognize the diversity of political motivations and interests of others.
- Identify ways to exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
Spring 2026
| Section | Title | Instructor | books | eservices |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | Religion and Social Justice | Wyant, Carissa S | Books for RELS-323-50 Spring 2026 | Course details for RELS-323-50 Spring 2026 |