Undergraduate Programs
The Department of Social and Critical Inquiry offers majors and minors that allow students to deeply engage with our areas of study. These programs will equip you with professional skills and help you become an informed, ethical, and invested citizen.
You will engage with real-world, consequential issues, including social justice; the nature and formation of U.S. society; systemic racism; settler colonialism; the role of art and artists in critiquing social formations and promoting social change; oppression; militarism; war; historically excluded and racially othered communities; poverty; and social privilege.
Majors
American Studies
The Bachelor of Arts (BA) in American Studies provides majors with a critical understanding of the American experience. It also gives students the opportunity to explore aspects of that experience in more detail. Required courses focus largely on the United States, how other cultures have shaped this country, and how this country has influenced the world.
Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
The Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) allows students to explore women’s issues, gender, and sexuality across cultures and geographic locations. Through a blend of traditional and innovative methods, majors critically examine the diverse cultural and social factors that shape gender and sexuality over time.
Minors
American Studies
The Minor in American Studies promotes an interdisciplinary understanding of the complex economic, political, and cultural structures of the United States and its place in the world.
Asian American Studies
The Minor in Asian American Studies explores the diverse historical, social, and cultural factors that shape the experiences of Asian diasporas and people of Asian descent in Connecticut, the U.S., and beyond.
Asian Studies
The Minor in Asian Studies offers students interdisciplinary education in the history, cultural, and politics across Asia or along specific regional tracks (for example, Southeast Asia). The minor is a strong compliment to language studies and study abroad programs.
India Studies
The Minor in India Studies focuses on the study of South Asian societies. This degree plan brings together coursework across the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The minor is a strong compliment to language studies and study abroad programs.
Native American and Indigenous Studies
Offered in partnership with the Department of Anthropology, the Minor in Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS) provides students with an in-depth understanding of historical and contemporary issues facing Native American and Indigenous communities.
Social Justice Organizing
Offered in partnership with the Africana Studies Institute and El Instituto, the Minor in Social Justice Organizing offers interdisciplinary classes on the theories, histories, and formation of social identities, structural inequalities, and movements to foster social justice and equity in the United States.
Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
The interdisciplinary Minor in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) complements and may integrate with a student's major. Students take 15 credits at the 2000 level or higher, including three credits of Critical Approaches to Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.