Overview

Students undertaking postgraduate studies in Social Justice engage with the key issues of human rights, sustainable development and the creation of enduring peace. The challenges of achieving social justice are examined at local, national and global scales through the prism of social justice. Our program provides creative teaching tools, theoretical foundations, case studies from all over the world, and numerous opportunities for practice-based understanding of core social justice issues.

Our program is available in the following streams:

• Development Studies
• Human Rights
• Peace and Conflict Studies

The program comprises a full master’s degree as well as shorter courses, allowing students the flexibility to enter or exit at any level, subject to meeting the relevant criteria:

• Graduate Certificate in Social Justice (24 credit points, no stream);
• Graduate Diploma in Social Justice (48 credit points, including a stream); and
• Master of Social Justice (72 credit points, including a stream and capstone).

Students complete units of study in the following categories, as appropriate to their level of study:

• Core: provides students the opportunity to study together in the same classes and gain the same conceptual grounding, relating to all three stream topics and also environmental justice. It is recommended that students take these units early (first and second semesters) in their course.
• Stream core: covers conceptual material and empirical examinations, as well as considerations of possible effective responses.
• Stream selective: related units, including those from other stream cores, that allow students to draw links between various social justice dynamics.
• Elective (optional): choice of units in Gender and Cultural Studies, International Politics, Political Economy, and Sociology and Criminology.
• Capstone: application of the knowledge and skills acquired throughout the master’s to a choice of:
  • (i) independent research project: students pursue a specific topic of interest to them, assisted by an academic supervisor. 
  • (ii) vocational placement: one or two units in which students can deepen insights into the social justice work environment or undertake a vocational placement, or both. While gaining a vocational placement is not guaranteed, we make every effort to place students.
  • (iii) supervised dissertation: provides a pathway to higher degree by research (e.g., PhD) studies. This option is only available to high-achieving students with a strong research proposal.

Admission criteria and course requirements

Please refer to the course resolutions for admission criteria and course requirements.

The requirements of the Graduate Certificate (no stream) are listed in the unit of study table.

Contacts and further information

Website	School of Social and Political Sciences
Program Director	Associate Professor Susan Banki Phone: +61 2 9351 4279 Email: msj.coordinator@sydney.edu.au