Whitman students can engage in material methods to change the world around them, working across departments to complete the new Social Justice concentration. The Social Justice concentration was recently announced in Fall 2024 as a new area of study at Whitman College, where students of any major or minor area of study can apply the concentration towards their studies to connect social change with their education.

Lisa Uddin, Associate Professor of Art History and director of the program, helped to usher in Whitman’s newest concentration. In an email to The Wire, Uddin spoke on how her decision to become the director of the concentration came from her personal investment in its cause. 

“I came into the concentration as it was going to the faculty floor for approval as a new program. The program needed a director who could teach the foundation course for the first time. I was so impressed with the work that had been done to date in designing the concentration that I jumped at the chance,” Uddin said. 

Susanne Beechey, Associate Professor of Politics, emphasized how collaboration between faculty members from various disciplines was critical to creating the concentration in an email to The Wire.

“I became involved with the Social Justice concentration through a Pedagogy Innovation Grant. My colleagues Professor Nicole Simek and Professor Matthew Bost spearheaded this initiative which brought a group of faculty together to explore the desirability of, feasibility of and form that a Social Justice program might take at Whitman,” Beechey said.

Other colleges across the country offer similar paths to student engagement, where students can major or minor in the program depending on the course offerings at their school. At Whitman, the Social Justice concentration is made up of two core classes and one elective course in three thematic categories. Uddin helped to break down what those categories are and why they are important, as well as what classes are included.

“We thematized the program along three categories that covered vital aspects of social justice study and multiple disciplinary perspectives: 1) Systems, Institutions and Policies, 2) Power, Positionality and Responsibility, and 3) Social Movements and Liberation. Faculty were invited to submit their courses for consideration according to our descriptions of these categories,” Uddin said. 

For Beechey, who already teaches politics courses within the three thematic categories, the Social Justice concentration offers students the opportunity to engage in an interdisciplinary approach to their studies.

“My research and courses explore the roles that gender, race, class and sexuality play in U.S. social policy. Many of my classes engage social justice questions, and I am happy to have them contribute to a broad interdisciplinary conversation on social justice on our campus,” Beechey said.

The concentration is more than just a theoretical approach to social justice and activism; it also acts as a chance for students to make change outside of the classroom. There are opportunities for projects and experiences that give the students the opportunity to be hands-on.

“For some students, it is a way into social change making without inventing those wheels. For other students, it is an extension of what they are already doing: asking academic questions about social systems, power and movements, and then putting them into a kind of practice, whether it be through student organizing, community-based initiatives or other forms of collective action. This is what students at Whitman have done and will continue to do. The concentration is a way for them to formalize that activity and give it some structure,” Uddin said.

Sophomore Siena Stiles said that putting her activism into practice is exactly why she chose the new Social Justice concentration.

“I was looking for a more hands-on approach to social justice and activism on campus and in the world. It’s much more relevant than a lot of classes that talk about that sort of thing, which I really like,” Stiles said.

The Social Justice concentration gives students opportunities to make change not only at Whitman and the nearby communities, but also gives them the tools to continually make change later in life. Beechey shared her hopes of how students will carry the concentration with them after Whitman.

“My hope is that the Social Justice concentration will provide students an opportunity to consider threads that connect courses they take across their four years here, and reflect on how the social justice ideas from their classrooms can inform their life after Whitman, whether through their profession, service to their communities or activism. I hope it’s a site of vibrant discussion about the world we live in and the worlds we hope to dream into being,” Beechey said.

The Social Justice concentration is a new opportunity for Whitman students to actively affect the world around them with the help of the community and the professors leading the program.