Curriculum

The Education for Social Justice graduate certificate is a 12-credit certificate. All students seeking the certificate are required to take ELPS 620: Education for Social Justice, which introduces students to a range of social justice topics in P-20 education (note: ELPS 620 is not a prerequisite for other courses in the certificate). The course is offered annually in the Fall semesters. The additional 9-credits may be taken from a list of approved courses.

There is no required field experience, however, up to 3-credits of field experience credits may be taken to fulfill the 12-credit requirement for the ESJ certificate. All field experiences should be coordinated on an individual basis with an SOE faculty member. Field experiences may not be taken until after the completion of ELPS 620.

For a full description of the courses, please review the Iowa State University course catalog

List of Approved Courses

The courses listed below are approved to meet the certificate requirements, effective fall 2018. Any substitutions require prior approval. Prior approval of ELPS 591 (field experience) and CI 590F and CI690F (special topics), which are independent courses, is also needed for them to count toward the certificate. 

If you have questions about courses, please contact soegradsupport@iastate.edu.


EDUC 520 – Bilingualism, Bilingual Education, and Latinx Youth*
EDUC 522 – Teaching and Learning Iowa History
EDUC 577 – Historical Perspectives on Technology Equity: Implications for Policy and Practice
EDUC 578
 – Pedagogy, Equality of Opportunity, and the Education of Blacks in the U.S.**
EDUC 583X – Inequality & Education*
EDUC 593F – Workshops: Social and Cultural Studies
EDUC 590F – Special Topics: Social and Cultural Studies
EDUC 690F – Advanced Special Topics: Social and Cultural Studies

ELPS 620 – Education for Social Justice (core, required course)*
ELPS 621 – Pedagogies of Dissent*
ELPS 622 – Decolonizing Praxis*
ELPS 624 – Critical Race Theory
ELPS 625 – Gender and Sexuality in Education
ELPS 591 – Social Justice Field Experiences*

EDADM 651 – Ethics, Spirituality, & Social Justice in Administrative Practice
RESEV 680 – Critical Issues in Qualitative Research**

HGED 593 – Workshops
HGED 573 – Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Student Affairs (limited to students in Student Affairs)*
HGED 673X – Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education**

*Runs every year
**Runs every other year
If no asterisk, runs depending on faculty availability

Need More Information?

Graduate support specialist

soegradsupport@iastate.edu