Through an applied focus at the local scale, the Social Justice and Community Engagement (SJCE) program is committed to engaged scholarship informed by critical social justice/environmental justice theories and approaches. The program fosters students’ abilities to investigate and understand the root causes of injustice and to engage in the promotion of social justice/environmental justice principles and actions at the community level.

Through course work, a community placement and a major research project (MRP), students will develop the skills that facilitate community capacity development, local-level innovation, sustainability and democratic renewal. The program provides a firm grounding in the theories and methods of SJCE, practical skills gained through the community placement and research capabilities that culminate in the capstone MRP. This provides students with the optimum combination of skills and knowledge to successfully continue into doctoral research or obtain employment in this sector.