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Northwestern University

Perspectives 1: U.S. Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity

NOTE: Students who started taking classes at Northwestern in Spring 2023 or earlier are not required to complete the US and Global Perspectives (see the the prior degree requirements). The information below pertains to students who start at Northwestern after Spring 2023.

This perspective addresses the impact of histories, institutions, and/or social structures on groups and on individuals primarily in the United States, focusing on the interconnected issues of racism/antiracism, equality/inequality and justice/injustice.

learning objectives

In courses satisfying this perspective students will:

choosing courses

Note that a perspective course may simultaneously count for any other requirement in which it is approved (such as foundational discipline, major, or the advanced expression requirement).

Approved Courses

U.S. Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity
Subject Number Title
ANTHRO 221-0 Social and Health Inequalities1
ANTHRO 235-0 Language in Asian America (with ASIAN_AM 235-0)1
ANTHRO 382-0 Political Ecology (with ENVR_POL 384-0)1
ASIAN_AM 235-0 Language in Asian America (with ANTHRO 235-0)1
ASIAN_AM 247-0 Asian Americans and Popular Culture4
ASIAN_AM 251-0 Introduction to Critical Mixed Race Studies (with BLK_ST 251-0)1
ASIAN_AM 275-0 Introduction to Asian American Literature (with ENGLISH 275-0)4
ASIAN_AM 276-0 Topics in Asian American Literature (with ENGLISH 276-0)4
BLK_ST 210-0 Survey of African American Literature4
BLK_ST 212-1 Introduction to African-American History: Key Concepts from 1700-1861 (with HISTORY 212-1)2
BLK_ST 212-2 Introduction to African American History: Emancipation to Civil Rights Movement (with HISTORY 212-2)2
BLK_ST 214-0 Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies1
BLK_ST 215-0 Introduction to Black Social & Political Life1
BLK_ST 220-0 Civil Rights and Black Liberation2
BLK_ST 247-0 Black Life. Trans Life.
BLK_ST 236-0 Introduction to African-American Studies1,4
BLK_ST 251-0 Introduction to Critical Mixed Race Studies (with ASIAN_AM 251-0)1
BLK_ST 262-0 Introduction to Black Religions (with RELIGION 262-0)2
BLK_ST 317-0 Black Political Thought1
BLK_ST 320-0 Social Meaning of Race1
BLK_ST 325-0 Education for Black Liberation1
BLK_ST 334-0 Gender and Black Masculinity1
BLK_ST 350-0 Theorizing Blackness4
BLK_ST 360-0 Major Authors4
BLK_ST 365-0 Black Chicago1
ENGLISH 266-0 Introduction to African American Literature4
ENGLISH 267-0 Topics in African American Literature4
ENGLISH 274-0 Introduction to Native American and Indigenous Literatures4
ENGLISH 275-0 Introduction to Asian American Literature (with ASIAN_AM 275-0)4
ENGLISH 276-0 Topics in Asian American Literature (with ASIAN_AM 276-0)4
ENGLISH 277-0 Intro to Latinx Literature (with LATINO 277-0 and SPANISH 277-0)4
ENGLISH 366-0 Studies in African American Literature4
ENGLISH 374-0 Studies in Native American and Indigenous Literatures4
ENGLISH 375-0 Studies in Asian American Literature4
ENGLISH 377-0 Studies in Latina and Latino Literature4
ENVR_POL 212-0 Environment and Society (with SOCIOL 212-0)1
ENVR_POL 309-0 American Environmental History (with HISTORY 309-0)2
ENVR_POL 339-0 Silent but Loud: Negotiating Health in a Cultural, Food, Poverty, and Environmental Caste (with GBL_HLTH 339-0)1
ENVR_POL 384-0 Political Ecology (with ANTHRO 382-0)1
GBL_HLTH 221-0 Beyond Porn: Sexuality, Health and Pleasure (with GNDR_ST 221-0)1
GBL_HLTH 303-0 (Re)mixing Qualitative Methods1
GBL_HLTH 318-0 Community-based Participatory Research1
GBL_HLTH 339-0 Silent but Loud: Negotiating Health in a Cultural, Food, Poverty, and Environmental Caste (with ENVR_POL 339-0)1
GNDR_ST 220-0 Sexual Subjects: Introduction to Sexuality Studies
GNDR_ST 221-0 Beyond Porn: Sexuality, Health and Pleasure (with GBL_HLTH 221-0)1
GNDR_ST 230-0 Traditions in Feminist Thought2
GNDR_ST 235-0 Beyond the Binary: Transgender and Race
GNDR_ST 324-0 U.S. Gay and Lesbian History (with HISTORY 324-0)2
GNDR_ST 340-0 Gender, Sexuality and the Law (with LEGAL_ST 340-0)1
GNDR_ST 381-0 Queer Theory
HISTORY 210-1 History of the United States, Precolonial to the Civil War2
HISTORY 210-2 History of the United States, Reconstruction to the Present2
HISTORY 211-0 American Wars2
HISTORY 212-1 Introduction to African-American History: Key Concepts from 1700-1861 (with BLK_ST 212-1)2
HISTORY 212-2 Introduction to African American History: Emancipation to Civil Rights Movement (with BLK_ST 212-2)2
HISTORY 215-0 History of the American Family1,2
HISTORY 219-0 History of the Present2
HISTORY 221-0 Famous American Trials (with LEGAL_ST 221-0)2
HISTORY 305-0 American Immigration (with LEGAL_ST 305-0)2
HISTORY 309-0 American Environmental History (with ENVR_POL 309-0)2
HISTORY 310-1 Early American History: Conquest and Colonization, to 16882
HISTORY 318-1 Legal and Constitutional History of the United States: Colonial Period to 1850 (with LEGAL_ST 318-1)2
HISTORY 318-2 Legal and Constitutional History of the United States: 1850 to Present (with LEGAL_ST 318-2)2
HISTORY 319-0 History of US Foreign Relations2
HISTORY 324-0 U.S. Gay and Lesbian History (with GNDR_ST 324-0)2
HISTORY 327-0 Histories of Violence in the United States2
HUM 220-0 Health, Biomedicine, Culture, and Society (with SOCIOL 220-0)1
LATINO 230-0 Latine Feminist Sexualities4
LATINO 232-0 Queer and Trans Latino Studies4
LATINO 277-0 Intro to Latinx Literature (with ENGLISH 277-0 and SPANISH 277-0)4
LEGAL_ST 206-0 Law and Society (with SOCIOL 206-0)1
LEGAL_ST 221-0 Famous American Trials (with HISTORY 221-0)2
LEGAL_ST 305-0 American Immigration (with HISTORY 305-0)2
LEGAL_ST 308-0 Sociology of Law (with SOCIOL 318-0)1,3
LEGAL_ST 318-1 Legal and Constitutional History of the United States: Colonial Period to 1850 (with HISTORY 318-1)2
LEGAL_ST 318-2 Legal and Constitutional History of the United States: 1850 to Present (with HISTORY 318-2)2
LEGAL_ST 333-0 Constitutional Law II (with POLI_SCI 333-0)1
LEGAL_ST 340-0 Gender, Sexuality and the Law (with GNDR_ST 340-0)1
LEGAL_ST 347-0 Comparative Race and Ethnicity2
LEGAL_ST 348-0 Race, Politics, and the Law (with SOCIOL 348-0)1
LEGAL_ST 350-0 Psychology and Law (with PSYCH 340-0)1,3
LEGAL_ST 383-0 Gender, Sexuality and Carceral State1
LING 220-0 Language and Society1
LING 312-0 Experimental Sociolinguistics1
LING 320-0 Sociolinguistics1
PHIL 224-0 Philosophy, Race, and Racism3
PHIL 262-0 Ethical Problems and Public Issues3
POLI_SCI 220-0 American Government and Politics1
POLI_SCI 230-0 Introduction to Law in the Political Arena1
POLI_SCI 307-0 Deportation Law and Politics3
POLI_SCI 321-0 Urban Politics1
POLI_SCI 326-0 Race and Public Policy1
POLI_SCI 327-0 African American Politics1
POLI_SCI 333-0 Constitutional Law II (with LEGAL_ST 333-0)1
POLI_SCI 334-0 Latino Politics1
POLI_SCI 336-0 Immigration Politics and Policy1
POLI_SCI 338-0 Labor Politics in America1
POLI_SCI 382-0 Religion, Law, & Politics: Politics of Religious Diversity (with RELIGION 382-0)1,3
PSYCH 340-0 Psychology and Law (with LEGAL_ST 350-0)1,3
RELIGION 262-0 Introduction to Black Religions (with BLK_ST 262-0)2
RELIGION 314-0 Buddhism in the Contemporary World3
RELIGION 382-0 Religion, Law, & Politics: Politics of Religious Diversity (with POLI_SCI 382-0)1,3
SOCIOL 206-0 Law and Society (with LEGAL_ST 206-0)1
SOCIOL 210-0 Families and Societies1
SOCIOL 212-0 Environment and Society (with ENVR_POL 212-0)1
SOCIOL 216-0 Gender and Society1
SOCIOL 218-0 Education and Inequality: Focus on Chicago1
SOCIOL 220-0 Health, Biomedicine, Culture, and Society (with HUM 220-0)1
SOCIOL 223-0 Masculinities and Society1
SOCIOL 235-0 Critical Thought on Race and Ethnicity1
SOCIOL 307-0 School and Society1
SOCIOL 310-0 Sociology of the Family1
SOCIOL 318-0 Sociology of Law (with LEGAL_ST 308-0)1,3
SOCIOL 320-0 Gender, Health and Medicine1
SOCIOL 327-0 Youth and Society1
SOCIOL 348-0 Race, Politics, and the Law (with LEGAL_ST 348-0)1
SOCIOL 356-0 Sociology of Gender1
SPANISH 277-0 Intro to Latinx Literature (with ENGLISH 277-0 and LATINO 277-0)4

1Also FD-Social and Behavioral Sciences

2Also FD-Historical Studies

3Also FD-Ethical and Evaluative Thinking

4Also FD-Literature and Arts

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