This two-course sequence provides an introduction to a consideration of “justice” as a personal, social, and political construction. Selected texts from history, literature and philosophy introduce students to the complexities attending the meanings of justice from ancient to modern times. Issues under study may include retribution and revenge; justice as political and social equity; determinism, free will, and the “unjust” act; divinity, hierarchy, and community as perceived sources of justice (or injustice); the social construction of justice, injustice, and crime; and law as a structure of rules representing, defining and shaping justice. The sequence will explore how understandings of justice clarify the ethical and legal frameworks defining religion, the state, colonialism and national identity, race and ethnicity, gender, ruling, class, the family and similar structures.
Students in HJS 250 study works concerned with justice in the western tradition (primarily historical, literary, and philosophical texts of Europe, Britain, and North America). With its focus on works from the Mideast, Africa, Asia, and the other Americas, HJS 310 expands student understandings of justice. It encourages comparative assessments between western and nonwestern forms of justice by studying contacts resulting from war and conquest, trade, and cultural exchange. HJS 310 also develops and extends the skills students have gained in HJS 250 by its comparative tasks, by supplementing primary texts with theoretical readings, and by more complex and lengthy writing assignments.
Students must take four courses selected from the list of humanities electives listed below that count toward the Humanities and Justice major. At least two of these courses must be at the 300-level or above. Students will select their electives in consultation with the minor coordinator.
The electives listed below are supplemented every semester by new or experimental courses that are pertinent to Humanities and Justice as identified and approved by the minor coordinator.
| HIS 217 | History of NYC (was Three Hundred Years of NYC) | 3 |
| HIS 219 | Violence and Social Change in America | 3 |
| HIS 224 | A History of Crime in New York City | 3 |
| HIS 240 | Historiography | 3 |
| HIS 252 | Warfare in the Ancient Near East and Egypt | 3 |
| HIS 254 | History of Ancient Greece and Rome | 3 |
| HIS 256 | History of Muslim Societies and Communities | 3 |
| HIS 260/LLS 260 | History of Contemporary Cuba | 3 |
| HIS 264 | China to 1650 | 3 |
| HIS 265/LLS 265 | Class, Race and Family in Latin American History | 3 |
| HIS 270 | Marriage in Medieval Europe | 3 |
| HIS 274 | China: 1650-Present | 3 |
| HIS 277 | American Legal History | 3 |
| HIS 282 | Selected Topics in History | 3 |
| HIS 320 | Topics in the History of Crime & Punishment in U.S (was History of Crime & Punishment in U.S.) | 3 |
| HIS 323 | History of Lynching and Collective Violence | 3 |
| HIS 325 | Criminal Justice in European Society, 1750 to the Present | 3 |
| HIS 340 | Modern Military History from the Eighteenth Century to the Present | 3 |
| HIS 354 | Law and Society in Ancient Athens and Rome | 3 |
| HIS 364/GEN 364 | History of Gender and Sexuality: Prehistory to 1650 | 3 |
| HIS 375 | Female Felons in the Premodern World (was Female Felons in Premodern Europe & Americas) | 3 |
| HIS 381 | Social History of Catholicism in the Modern World | 3 |
| HIS 383 | History of Terrorism | 3 |
| HJS 380 | Selected Topics in Humanities and Justice | 3 |
| HUM 378 | Internship in the Humanities | 3 |
| ISP 273 | The Stories We Tell | 3 |
| ISP 321 | Moral, Legal and Ethical Dilemmas that Shape the U.S.A. | 3 |
| ISP 322 | Making Waves: Troublemakers, Gadflies and Whistleblowers | 3 |
| ISP 335 | Violence in the Pursuit of Justice | 3 |
| LIT 219 | The Word as Weapon | 3 |
| LIT 223/AFR 223 | African-American Literature | 3 |
| LIT 265 | Foundations of U.S. Latino/a Literature | 3 |
| LIT 287 | Selected Topics in Literature | 3 |
| LIT 300 | Text and Context | 3 |
| LIT 305 | Foundations of Literature and Law | 3 |
| LIT 311 | Literature and Ethics | 3 |
| LIT 313 | Shakespeare | 3 |
| LIT 314 | Shakespeare and Justice | 3 |
| LIT 315 | American Literature and the Law | 3 |
| LIT 316 | Gender and Identity in Literary Traditions | 3 |
| LIT 326 | Crime, Punishment and Justice in the U.S. Literature | 3 |
| LIT 327 | Crime, Punishment and Justice in World Literature | 3 |
| LIT 340/AFR 340 | The African-American Experience in America: Comparative Racial Perspectives | 3 |
| LIT 342 | Perspectives on Literature and Human Rights | 3 |
| LIT 346 | Cultures in Conflict | 3 |
| LLS 322 | Latina/o Stuggles for Civil Rights & Social Justice (was Civil Rights & Civil Liberties in Urban Latina/o Communities) | 3 |
| PHI 203 | Political Philosophy | 3 |
| PHI 205 | Philosophy of Religion | 3 |
| PHI 210 | Ethical Theory | 3 |
| PHI 302 | The Philosophy of Rights | 3 |
| PHI 304 | Philosophy of the Mind | 3 |
| PHI 310/LAW 310 | Ethics and Law | 3 |
| PHI 315 | Philosophy of the Rule of Law: Theory and Practice | 3 |
| PHI 322/CRJ 322 | Judicial and Correctional Ethics | 3 |
| PHI 326 | Topics in the History of Modern Thought | 3 |
| PHI 340 | Utopian Thought | 3 |
| PHI 423/POL 423 | Selected Topics in Justice | 3 |
| SPA 308 | The Theme of Justice in Spanish Literature | 3 |
| SPA 335 | Themes of Justice in Latin American Lit & Film | 3 |