Poverty and Social Justice Minor
Coordinator: Professor Peters
The Poverty and Social Justice program supplements students’ interest in helping people in poverty by educating them about poverty’s multi-factorial causes and realities. This program offers the opportunity to study the root causes and structural patterns that contribute to poverty and focus on processes and strategies of poverty alleviation from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. An academic program with integrated experiential components strengthens students’ capacities to address the root causes of poverty at Elon and afterwards, as global citizens and as professionals in a variety of careers. Regardless of career area, graduates who possess a deep understanding of what contributes to and exacerbates poverty in society can contribute to solutions that help reduce and alleviate poverty in their local communities and the world around them.
The minor consists of 20-24 credit hours, including the Introduction to Poverty Studies (PSJ 110) course, three electives, an internship, and a capstone course. Up to two electives from a student’s major may count toward the elective requirements and approved internships/teaching practicums required for one’s major can fulfill the internship. The capstone is normally taken after all other course requirements are fulfilled.
Through careful planning, students can coordinate several of their Elon Core Curriculum requirements with their PSJ requirements in order to create a learning pathway that can help to integrate and deepen their learning. This coordination also facilitates access to this program for students with demanding undergraduate course requirements. The online application for the program can be found on the program website and an interview with the director of the program will help assist students in planning their course of study.
Minor Requirements
Required courses: 8 sh
| PSJ 110 | INTRODUCTION TO POVERTY STUDIES | 4 sh |
| COR 443 | POVERTY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE | 4 sh |
| | INTERNSHIP | 1-4 sh |
Internship: 1-4 sh
All students will be required to complete an internship after their Introduction to Poverty Studies course and before they complete their capstone. This internship can be fulfilled in the following ways:
Option A: Summer internship through Shepherd Consortium (1 semester hour)
Students who complete a Shepherd summer internship will satisfy the internship requirement for the PSJ minor. Students interested in taking a Shepherd Consortium Internship should meet with the PSJ coordinator.
Option B: Semester internship/practicum (required for major/approved for PSJ)
Students in majors where there is a required internship or practicum (e.g. communications, education, human service studies) may use their existing required internship to fulfill this requirement. Students must select internship sites that are approved for the PSJ minor in order for these to count toward the minor.
Option C: PSJ 481 – Poverty and Social Justice semester internship (1-4 semester hours)
Students may elect to take between 1-4 hours of internship credit during the fall, winter, or spring semester in sites that are approved for the PSJ minor.
Select twelve semester hours from the following: 12 sh
| ANT 325 | MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY | 4 sh |
| ART 330 | PHOTOGRAPHY AS SOCIAL CRITIQUE | 4 sh |
| COR 340 | IS THAT SLAVERY? | 4 sh |
| COR 342 | UNDERSTANDING EDUCATIONAL DISPARITIES IN THE UNITED STATES | 4 sh |
| COR 404 | AFRICANS AND AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT | 4 sh |
| COR 416 | WEALTH AND POVERTY | 4 sh |
| COR 426 | IDENTITY AND THE PRACTICE OF DESIRE | 4 sh |
| ECO 410 | ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT | 4 sh |
| EDU 211 | EDUCATION AND SOCIETY | 4 sh |
| EDU 332 | EARLY CHILDHOOD FAMILY-TEAM PARTNERSHIPS | 4 sh |
| EDU 450 | TEACHING DIVERSE LEARNERS IN MIDDLE AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS | 4 sh |
| EDU 451 | TEACHING DIVERSE LEARNERS | 4 sh |
| EDU 467 | EARLY CHILDHOOD POLICY AND ADVOCACY | 4 sh |
| ENG 332 | LITERATURE OF THE SOUTH | 4 sh |
| ENS 111 | INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE | 3 sh |
| ENS 113 | INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE LAB | 1 sh |
| ENS 120 | COMMUNITY AGRICULTURE - FALL HARVEST | 2 sh |
| ENS 121 | COMMUNITY AGRICULTURE - SPRING PLANTING | 2 sh |
| ENS 232 | SOLAR GREENHOUSE AND FOURTH SEASON HARVEST | 4 sh |
| ENS 311 | SUSTAINABLE FOOD PRODUCTION | 4 sh |
| ENS 360 | GREEN DESIGN: ENVISIONING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE | 4 sh |
| GBL 237 | MULTICULTURAL LONDON | 4 sh |
| GBL 297 | MALAWI: THE WARM HEART OF AFRICA | 4 sh |
| GEO 131 | THE WORLD'S REGIONS | 4 sh |
| HST 313 | MODERN AFRICA | 4 sh |
| HST 353 | COLONIAL LATIN AMERICA | 4 sh |
| HST 354 | MODERN LATIN AMERICA | 4 sh |
| HSS 213 | WORKING WITH GROUPS AND COMMUNITIES | 4 sh |
| HSS 311 | SOCIAL POLICY AND INEQUALITY | 4 sh |
| PHL 320 | RECLAIMING DEMOCRACY | 4 sh |
| IDS 224 | DISARMING INJUSTICE: NONVIOLENCE AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT | 4 sh |
| PHL 330 | ECONOMIC JUSTICE | 4 sh |
| PHS 302 | GLOBAL HEALTH | 4 sh |
| PHS 381 | PRACTICUM | 4 sh |
| PSY 240 | LIFESPAN DEVELOPMENT | 4 sh |
| PSY 245 | EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT | 4 sh |
| PSY 318 | COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY | 4 sh |
| PSY 321 | EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY | 4 sh |
| PSY 324 | STEREOTYPING AND PREJUDICE | 4 sh |
| PSY 356 | HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY | 4 sh |
| PSY 366 | PSYCHOLOGY IN CULTURAL CONTEXT | 4 sh |
| REL 344 | CHRISTIANITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE | 4 sh |
| SOC 220 | SOCIAL ISSUES AND PROBLEMS IN THE LOCAL COMMUNITY | 4 sh |
| SOC 243 | SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION | 4 sh |
| SOC 333 | SOCIAL STRATIFICATION | 4 sh |
No more than two courses may come from a student’s major.
Other courses may be submitted for approval by the Program Coordinator.
Total Credit Hours: 20-24