Democracy and Justice Studies is SC&D's new name

One of UW-Green Bay’s cornerstone academic units has a new name, effective Friday, July 1.

Faculty member in Social Change and Development have adopted the name Democracy and Justice Studies. They say it better fits an evolving curriculum, builds on the unit’s strengths, and accurately reflects the nature of the program and its priorities.

The major, which originated as the Modernization Processes concentration and became Social Change and Development in 1977, currently enrolls about 100 majors and serves many hundred others who pursue minors or topics of interest under the program’s umbrella. Alumni records show 727 graduates hold either a major or minor in SC&D.

In a letter to current students, Prof. Kim Nielsen, the unit’s chairperson, called it “an exciting time of change and innovation” for the program.

Democracy and Justice Studies will stay true to its roots and examine how and why societies develop, and whether their political, economic, cultural and social relations and activities promote justice, freedom, equality, and democracy. The program’s advocates say it comes as close as any at today’s UW-Green Bay to embodying the school’s founding principles of interdisciplinary, problem-focused scholarship.

The widely praised Historical Perspectives Lecture Series has brought renowned scholars from across the nation to the UW-Green Bay campus for several lectures annually since 1985. The academic program is also known for professors who publish widely and have, in recent years, dominated the annual UW-Green Bay Founders Association Awards. Multiple honorees include historian Andrew Kersten (a three-time recipient) and two-time honorees Nielsen and Harvey Kaye.