Race, Gender, and Social Justice

3 units

Is racial profiling ever okay? Can it be fair to pay a woman less than a man for comparable work? How can we remedy past racial injustices? Through affirmative action? Or reparations? Are such programs justified? Should prostitution be legal? What about pornography? And how should gender dynamics in our society affect the way we approach sexual violence? This course will address recent work on these issues by applied ethicists, political philosophers, legal experts, and social critics. Through critical reading, writing, and discussion, students will work toward a better understanding of how race and gender pose special challenges for conceptualizing and achieving social justice in modern societies.