Poverty and Social Justice Minor
Coordinator: Associate Professor Drew-Branch
The mission of the Poverty and Social Justice program at Elon is to educate students about the multiple causes and structural nature of poverty so that they might work more effectively toward its end. Through coursework and an internship, students from any major can learn about how citizens can understand, encounter and advocate for the poor, both in the U.S. and globally.
The program includes introductory and capstone courses, as well as 3 courses chosen from a list of courses offered in Elon College and the professional schools. Elon is a member of the Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty, which is a national coalition of colleges and universities who work together to teach about poverty and social justice. PSJ minors will all complete an internship, which can be completed through the consortium, or can, with permission, be tied to a professional internship as part of a students’ major.
Minor Requirements
Required courses: 8 sh
| PSJ1100 | Introduction to Poverty Studies | 4 sh |
| COR4430 | Poverty and Social Justice | 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 4985 – 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
No more than two courses may come from a student’s major.
| ANT3120 | North American Indian Cultures | 4 sh |
| ANT3250 | Medical Anthropology | 4 sh |
| COR3420 | Understanding Educational Disparities in the United States | 4 sh |
| COR4160 | Wealth and Poverty | 4 sh |
| COR4260 | Identity and the Practice of Desire | 4 sh |
| ECO3410 | Gender and Development | 4 sh |
| ECO4110 | Economic Growth and Development | 4 sh |
| EDU2110 | Education and Society | 4 sh |
| EDU3320 | Early Childhood Family - Team Partnerships | 4 sh |
| EDU4500 | Teaching Diverse Learners in Middle and Secondary Schools | 4 sh |
| EDU4510 | Teaching Diverse Learners | 4 sh |
| EDU4670 | Early Childhood Policy and Advocacy | 4 sh |
| ENG3320 | Literature of the South | 4 sh |
| ENS1110 | Introduction to Environmental Science | 3 sh |
| ENS1130 | Introduction to Environmental Science Lab | 1 sh |
| ENS1200 | Community Agriculture - Fall Harvest | 2 sh |
| ENS1210 | Community Agriculture - Spring Planting | 2 sh |
| ENS2200 | Garden Studio: Fall and Winter Gardening | 2 sh |
| ENS2210 | Garden Studio: Spring and Summer Gardening | 2 sh |
| ENS3110 | Sustainable Food Production | 4 sh |
| GBL2370 | Multicultural London | 4 sh |
| GBL2470 | Ghana: West African History and Culture | 4 sh |
| GBL2970 | Malawi: The Warm Heart of Africa | 4 sh |
| GEO1310 | The World's Regions | 4 sh |
| HSS3110 | Social Policy and Inequality | 4 sh |
| HSS3300 | Fatherhood | 4 sh |
| HST3130 | Modern Africa | 4 sh |
| HST3490 | Comparative Slavery in the Atlantic World | 4 sh |
| HST3510 | History of Modern Mexico | 4 sh |
| HST3530 | Colonial Latin America | 4 sh |
| HST3540 | Modern Latin America | 4 sh |
| IDS2220 | The Black Man in America | 4 sh |
| IDS2240 | Disarming Injustice: Nonviolence and the Civil Rights Movement | 4 sh |
| PHL3200 | Reclaiming Democracy | 4 sh |
| PHL3300 | Economic Justice | 4 sh |
| PHS3020 | Global Health | 4 sh |
| PHS3980 | Practicum | 4 sh |
| POL3490 | Global Political Economy | 4 sh |
| POL3610 | Politics of the Caribbean | 4 sh |
| PSY2100 | Lifespan Development | 4 sh |
| PSY2110 | Early Childhood Development | 4 sh |
| PSY3530 | Community Psychology | 4 sh |
| PSY3820 | Educational Psychology | 4 sh |
| PSY3540 | Stereotyping and Prejudice | 4 sh |
| PSY3840 | Health Psychology | 4 sh |
| PSY3510 | Psychology in Cultural Context | 4 sh |
| REL3440 | Christianity and Social Justice | 4 sh |
| SOC2430 | Sociology of Education | 4 sh |
| SOC3150 | Drugs and Society | 4 sh |
| SOC3330 | Social Stratification | 4 sh |
| SOC3410 | Racism and Race in the United States | 4 sh |
| SOC3550 | Criminology | 4 sh |
| SPN3130 | Human Migrations | 4 sh |
| SPN3140 | US-Spanish-American Relations | 4 sh |
| SPN 3150 | Exploring Identity in the Spanish Speaking World | 4 sh |
| SPN3200 | Reading Texts, Reading Life | 4 sh |
| SPN3350 | Latinos in the U.S.: Past, Present and Future | 4 sh |
| SPN3530 | Text, Culture and Media | 4 sh |
| SPN3550 | Conquests, Clashes and Transitions | 4 sh |
| SPN3570 | (Re)Presentations of Socio-Political Conflicts | 4 sh |
| SPN3590 | Colonial Encounters | 4 sh |
| SPN3620 | Race, Class and Gender | 4 sh |
| SPN4530 | Realismo Magico or Real Maravilloso | 4 sh |
| SPN4550 | Religion, Idolatry and Conquest: From Medieval Spain to the New World | 4 sh |
Other courses may be submitted for approval by the Program Coordinator.
Total Credit Hours: 21-24