Associate Degree Program Enables Students to Apply Critical Thinking to Concepts of Justice

The Academic Literacy and Linguistics department at Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC/CUNY) now offers an Associate of Arts (A.A.) in Critical Thinking and Justice program.

Graduates of the program will be prepared to transfer seamlessly to the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Humanities and Justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY.

Academic literacy and linguistics are disciplines embedded in many fields, and woven throughout the Critical Thinking and Justice courses.

Students in the Critical Thinking and Justice program will learn strategies for reading critically in humanities fields such as philosophy and history. They will apply those skills to examine concepts that have shaped the U.S. legal system, including a focus on the relationship between law and justice and its impact on daily life.

Critical Thinking and Justice majors will also read and discuss activist writings from around the world, with a focus on the relationship between activism and literacy, how activism leads to social change and the role of activism in a democracy. They will examine revolutions and non-violent protests, and identify rhetorical strategies used to build consensus in political and social justice movements.

The critical processing of information is a survival skill

The introduction of the Critical Thinking and Justice major, set to launch with its first cohort in Fall 2022, is well timed.

“This pandemic has reminded us that not knowing how to read, interpret and process abstract information is detrimental,” says Rosario Torres-Guevara, Associate Professor and Deputy Chair in the Academic Literacy and Linguistics department who was instrumental in putting the new major together.

Professor Torres-Guevara explains that “applying a critical lens to everything we do, from the personal to the professional, is a survival skill. We thought of this major as providing a foundation through which our students can master this skill. The application of critical thinking, critical literacy and scientific inquiry to explore meanings of justice will not only help our students broaden their understanding of current socioeconomic developments, but it will also serve as point of departure for careers related to economics, education, criminal justice, law, literacy and philosophy, among others.”

Concentration in Journalism speaks to goals of Writing and Literature majors

While BMCC is constantly adding associate degree programs to its academic offerings — there are now over 55 degree programs to choose from — new concentrations are also being developed to support the goals and strengths of students in existing majors.

One example of a few years back is the cybersecurity concentration offered within the BMCC Computer Information Systems and Computer Network Technology associate degree programs.

A more recent example is the Journalism concentration offered for Writing and Literature majors in the BMCC English department.

Writing and Literature majors at BMCC who envision a career investigating, researching and writing news stories for print and other media outlets, can now choose courses on the fundamentals of journalism, news writing and feature writing.

 

For more information on the Writing and Literature as well as Youth Studies majors within the BMCC English department, call (212) 220-8270.

For more information on the Critical Thinking and Justice program within the BMCC Academic Literacy and Linguistics department, contact (212) 220-1396 or email ALL@bmcc.cuny.edu.