Social Justice and Activism - units 2025/26
In the pursuit of social justice and effective activism, the first step is to understand the problem - to identify what, where and why systems are breaking down, societies are fracturing, and prejudice is proliferating. The next step is to learn about how to effect change from within and outside these systems, through examples from around the world and across history.
This study theme brings together these two things, with units on the study of society, governments, and mindsets or worldviews, and those focused more centrally on activism, be it through policy-making, protest, or cultural transformation.
You will find units on:
- Black humanities, race & ethnicity
- class
- gender & sexuality
- crime and the justice system
- political frameworks
- policy development
- migration & citizenship
This theme is available for General Pathway students. You can choose as many (or as few) units from this study theme as you like. There are no requirements to pick units only within this list.
Pre-requisites
- Year 1 – units suitable for all students.
- Year 2 – for students with some university study in a relevant discipline (see below for details of the related discipline for each unit).
- Year 3 – for students with a strong background of study in a relevant discipline (see below for details of the related discipline for each unit).
Feature units
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Decolonise the Future! - UNIV10009 (TB2)
How should we, as ‘global citizens’, face the long-lasting legacies of empire and colonialism? This unit introduces students to these key issues and questions.
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Education, Climate Change and Social Justice - EDUC10008 (TB1)
Explore how education can prepare students to deal with the pressing challenges facing our planet and societies.
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Making of the Modern World Order - POLI10008 (TB1)
Examine the socio-economic and political changes associated with European expansion and colonialism, and its continuing legacies in contemporary capitalist societies.
Year 1
Pre-requisites: suitable for all students.
Teaching Block 1
- Education and Social Change - EDUC10002 (Education)
- Education, Climate Change and Social Justice - EDUC10008 (Education)
- Intersections and Inequalities - SOCI10012 (Sociology)
- Logic and Critical Thinking - PHIL10032 (Philosophy) - this unit also runs in Teaching Block 2
- Making of the Modern World Order - POLI10008 (Politics)
- Representations of Crime and Harm - SPOL10037 (Policy Studies)
- Understanding Crime, Harm and Society - SPOL10020 (Policy Studies)
- World in Crisis? - GEOG16001 (Geographical Sciences)
Teaching Block 2
- Creative Futures: Tools for Changing the World - UNIV10007 (University-wide)
- Decolonise the Future! - UNIV10009 (University-wide)
- ‘Fight the Power’: Democracy and Protest - HIST10068 (History)
- Gender and the Modern World - HIST10069 (History)
- Globalisation and Development - ECON10053 (Economics)
- Logic and Critical Thinking - PHIL10032 (Philosophy) - this unit also runs in Teaching Block 1
- Reading Identities - ENGL10062 (English Literature)
- Representations: This is not my America - HUMS10014 (Faculty of Arts)
- Responding to Crime and Social Harm - SPOL10031 (Policy Studies)
- Slavery - HIST10046 (History)
Year 2
Pre-requisites: some university study in a relevant discipline.
Teaching Block 1
- Africa in Global Perspective - HIST20141 (History)
- Asia in Global Perspective- HIST20143 (History)
- Black Cinema - FATV20039 (Film and TV)
- Global Justice - POLI20010 (Politics)
- Ideas and Society: Approaching Gender and Sexuality - AFAC20010 (Liberal Arts)
- Poverty, Social Exclusion & Social Policy - SPOL20019 (Policy Studies)
Teaching Block 2
- Philosophy, Social Theory and Geography - GEOG25110 (Geographical Sciences)
- The Public Role of the Historian - HIST20145 (History)
Year 3
Pre-requisities: strong background of study in a relevant discipline.
Teaching Block 1
- Memory - HIST30113 (History)
- Organisational Crime and Corruption - EFIM30047 (Management, Business School)
- Pedagogies for Social Justice - EDUC30033 (Education)
- Sexualities - HIST30118 (History)
- Urban Inequality - GEOG30044 (Geographical Sciences)
Teaching Block 2
- Feminist Philosophy - PHIL30123 (Philosophy)
- Queer Screens - FATV30029 (Film and TV)
- Race - HIST30117 (History)
What you can study at Bristol
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Study Guides
Study Guides are updated every April for the following academic year.