Center for Social Justice
The Center for Social Justice (CSJ) embodies one of the enduring elements of Earlham’s history and purpose: linking our passions for social justice to deep learning, engagement and purposeful futures. The CSJ helps equip students for lifelong engagement on social justice issues through initiatives that build skills and knowledge across the disciplines in and out of the classroom.
Our vision
The pursuit of social justice can, at times, feel really simple and, at others, rather more complicated. The CSJ makes no claims about universal justice. Having said that, we work hard for our world or at least our little corner of the world, to be less inhospitable towards bodies that have been historically marginalized.
Our mission
Working towards social justice involves both self-reflection and also clear, achievable, practical steps. Without deep understanding and consistent evaluation, even the most progressive plans and policies rapidly lose touch with issues of the moment. And, too, even the most profound theoretical insights become largely irrelevant in the absence of any embodied possibilities. Thus, the CSJ invites students, staff, faculty and the many communities in which we all find ourselves to always consider two underlying imperatives: thinking and acting social justice.
Theorizing and embodying social justice requires each of us to do our part. You are an ally, friend, support in some contexts and, in others, in need of support. At the broadest level, the twin goals of the CSJ are to equip you with the tools to be a thoughtful, effective ally and to afford you spaces in which you can breathe easy and be your unique self to your fullest without fear of violence. Let us be clear that it is ultimately violence that we are negotiating.
The CSJ invites students, staff, faculty and the many communities in which we all find ourselves to always consider two underlying imperatives: thinking and acting social justice.
Groundwork for advocacy
The Center for Social Justice can help you develop the knowledge and skills you need to address a variety of community issues.
Develop leadership skills
From planning Earlham’s campus-wide Peace and Social Justice Week to student-initiated projects, the CSJ supports student engagement in Earlham’s longstanding tradition of activism.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work
The CSJ partners with academic departments, student groups and individuals on campus to combat issues of contemporary significance, beginning with anti-racist work. You can play a vital role in helping to select speakers, plan programming and engage with one another and staff and faculty in these endeavors.
Related majors
- African and African American studies
- Environmental sustainability
- International studies
- Politics
- Public policy
- Social services
- Women’s, gender and sexuality studies
Related applied minors
Hands-on experience with national legislation
Given that policy is one important domain of social justice engagement, the CSJ sponsors Earlham students’ participation in Spring Lobby Weekend in Washington D.C. to advocate to impact the legislative process.
Through workshops, panels, and speakers, the weekend exposes students to key policy issues of the day and prepares them for the experience of lobbying their senators and representatives. This annual event is organized by the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), the oldest and largest peace-lobbying organization in Washington, D.C.
Enacting real-world change
As an Earlham student, you could be awarded $10,000 for envisioning a project that improves lives while fostering peace, broadly understood.
Stories of Success
Our students enact real-world change through Projects for Peace and the Earlham Peace Prize and go on to do amazing things, like Summia Tora, a recent Rhodes Scholar.
Get involved.
Be a part of the CSJ’s mission to promote awareness and analysis of social justice issues by participating in student-initiated projects, choosing speakers, collaborating with faculty on research, making site-visits and more.
Students with a plan to better the lives of others may be selected for the Projects for Peace award or the Earlham Peace Prize. These annual awards of $10,000 have enabled students to enact real-world change, from Indiana to Nepal and in between.
Through events sponsored by the CSJ or in collaboration with other groups, you’ll engage with peers on a wide variety of topics that impact our own daily lives and populations across the global community. Participate in Peace and Justice Week, student advocacy organizations, service placements at local nonprofits, voting and election awareness, conflict resolution, and more.
The CSJ hires students each semester to work towards broadening and deepening our impact on campus and in our communities. You can apply for positions that focus on certain responsibilities within the team.
The Peace Corps Prep applied minor at Earlham College will prepare you for international development fieldwork and potential Peace Corps service.
CSJ staff and faculty
Keep in touch with our center on Facebook. You can also get to know the faculty and staff that set our Epic students up for success.
Meet the CSJ team ⟶