Introduction
Plan and promote sustainable methodologies
The Social Justice and Sustainability (S.J.S.) major builds on Franklin’s commitment to fostering a more just and sustainable world. A self-designed major, it aims to allow students to explore key topics, theories, skills and applications at the intersections of social justice and sustainability. The S.J.S. program has the explicit goal of helping the next generation of leaders, public servants, and private citizens to understand and navigate the key issues facing our world today. It provides students with interdisciplinary and experiential learning opportunities that link theoretical approaches to practical applications. This major helps students think across disciplines, through explorations of theories, concepts, case studies, and issues in Social Justice and Sustainability. The major is designed to develop skills in areas such as conflict resolution, advocacy, policy design, analysis and implementation, sustainable business plans, and sustainability design, assessment, and communication. The major integrates the practical application of theoretical knowledge and skills in the form of fieldwork, service, internships, and academic travels. The major in Social Justice and Sustainability provides excellent preparation for a variety of careers in the public and private sectors. Potential future careers include possibilities in local and international agencies; with advocacy groups for human rights, environmental justice, welfare, or sustainability; in community organizations, in development and aid organizations, in governmental institutions, in think tanks, and in consulting firms. Graduates could work as crisis mediators, policy analysts, conflict resolution specialists, journalists, media producers, organizers or lobbyists. Depending on the focus chosen, this major is also an excellent choice for students considering graduate studies in the social sciences, the humanities, economics, environmental studies, and law, as well as further study related to social, political, and economic equality.
Social Justice and Sustainability Requirements
*All Bachelor of Arts degrees require a total of 120 credits consisting of Core Requirements, Major Requirements, and General Elective courses. Prerequisites may be required for courses outside of the major.
Administrative Procedures
The S.J.S. major is self-designed and closely monitored by trained S.J.S. advisors and the S.J.S. Advisory Board responsible for the major. The S.J.S. advisors represent their candidates at an annual S.J.S. Advisory Board meeting. There are four overarching topics that anchor the major and help orient students as they find their specific focus: Understanding Poverty and Wealth, Environmental Limits, Human and Nature Rights, and Global Migration and Mobility.
Immediately after declaring their S.J.S. major, students will work closely with one of the S.J.S. advisors to design their curriculum as it relates to their own specifically defined approach and chosen focus. This curriculum will be presented to the S.J.S. Advisory Board as a formal proposal of study after completion of the foundation course. The formal proposal must include the choice of a focus in one of the overarching topics, the plan of 200 and 300-level courses to be taken for the initial year of coursework in the major, a list of three internship possibilities and a rationale for how these fit into the self-designed curriculum.
After the initial coursework, two further proposals to be submitted to the S.J.S. Advisory Board will outline the remaining coursework and the area and content of the two chosen capstone courses.
Eligibility and Requirements
This program is designed specifically for ambitious and independent students who wish to take on the challenge of designing their own major in Social Justice and Sustainability. Students with a GPA of 3.2 or higher after completion of 30 credits at Franklin (or who transfer in with 30 or more credits and a transfer GPA of 3.2 or higher) are eligible to pursue the program.
Cost & Fees
US Nationals / Permanent Residents and Canadian Nationals Academic Tuition Includes Academic Travel (Required, two weeks each semester): $40,800 per year
All Other Nationalities Academic Tuition Includes Academic Travel(Required, two weeks each semester): CHF 49,100 per year
Scholarships & Financial Aid
At Franklin, we see financing your education as an investment and partnership among you, your family, and the University. About 70 percent of Franklin students receive financial aid in a variety of forms, such as need- and merit-based scholarships, government, and private aid and engagement incentives. Franklin offers scholarships, financial aid, and other initiatives, and various external programs are available based on citizenship and need assessment. Together we will create your financial aid package and carefully guide you through your financing options.
Our Campus
Visit Franklin University Switzerland and see why so many students feel at home on our campus and in the Lugano community.
We welcome you and your friends and family to experience what it means to live and learn in our safe, international environment.
Dual Accreditation
Franklin University Switzerland is accredited in both the United States and Switzerland.
That means that your degree is truly international, with automatic validity in two countries, and that you have an advantage to pursuing an international career or furthering your study in the US or Switzerland. The doors opened by a Franklin education go far beyond these two countries, though, and most countries in the world will grant equivalence to a Franklin degree if you have your sights set elsewhere.
Franklin maintains this recognition through periodic quality assurance reviews by authorities from the US and Switzerland.
Where Our Graduates Go
Employers look for candidates with a reliable skill set, and Franklin students have it! Within a year of graduation, 95% of our students obtain full-time employment in a wide variety of sectors, as shown in the graphic. At Franklin, you’ll get the education you need and acquire the skills employers want.
Since we began in 1970, there are now over 7,000 alumni already making a difference in their home towns, and in new, exciting locations around the globe. Let FUS help you get where you want to go.
Just listen to what our alumni have to say.
