The Civic Studies program includes a co-major in Civic Studies (which must be pursued alongside another major) and a minor in Peace and Justice Studies. Consisting of 11 classes, a required internship, and a capstone seminar, the Civic Studies major offers students an interdisciplinary focus on critical reflection, ethical thinking, and action for social change, within and between societies. The goal of Civic Studies is to develop ideas and ways of thinking helpful to citizens. The focus on civil society includes the study of collective action in social spheres that, while organized, may not be institutionalized or otherwise sanctioned by the state. It highlights the perspective of both individual and group agents. Civic studies considers phenomena that are central to other disciplinesgovernments, law, markets, societies, cultures, and networksbut from the distinctive perspective of civic agents, i.e. individuals and groups who think together and act cooperatively. It includes principles and vantage points civic agents may use to evaluate existing social norms, institutions, governments, and ideologies. In these and other ways, Civic Studies brings critical scrutiny to status quo norms of social order. Civic Studies engages with the importance of a society's criteria of membership, as well as the logic and dynamics of inclusion and exclusion, hierarchy and subordination, across social groups. Using empirical study and normative evaluation, it aims to understand how to challenge unjust inequalities and to enhance just forms of social inclusion. Civic Studies brings together normative reflection, ethical analysis, empirical understanding, historical perspective, and the development of practical skills to deepen our understanding of social criticism and action for social change, as well as the circumstances that give rise to a need for it.
