Open Educational Resources and Social Justice Studies

This collection was curated by an ASCCC OERI discipline lead. A comprehensive list of current discipline leads is available.

Resources by C-ID

Note: the “Resources by C-ID” section includes not only Social Justice Studies (SJS) courses, but also the Sociology (SOCI) descriptors that are referenced in the Social Justice Studies Transfer Model Curriculum core.

Introduction to Social Justice (C-ID SJS 110)/Introduction to Race and Ethnicity (C-ID SOCI 150)

• Immigrant and Refugee Families (Ballard et al.) – LibreTexts (CC BY-NC)

  Immigrant and Refugee Families: Global Perspectives on Displacement and Resettlement Experiences offers an interdisciplinary perspective on immigrant and refugee families’ challenges and resilience across multiple domains, including economic, political, health, and human rights. This text uses a family systems lens to discuss the challenges and strengths of immigrant and refugee families in the United States. Chapters address immigration policy, human rights issues, economic stress, mental health and traumatic stress, domestic violence, substance abuse, family resilience, and methods of integratio

• Minority Studies (Dunn) – LibreTexts (CC BY)
• Race and Ethnic Relations in the U.S.: An Intersectional Approach (2021) – LibreTexts (CC BY-NC-SA)

  Supported by the ASCCC-OERI, this open text was compiled by six diverse, community college sociology faculty from Long Beach City College, Cerritos College, and Santiago Canyon College. With an eye on social justice and intersectionality, the text provides a sociological analysis of the history, demographics, and contemporary experiences of the following race-ethnic groups: African Americans, Asian American Pacific Islanders, Euro Americans, Latinx, Native Americans, Middle Eastern Americans, and immigrants. This text is suitable for a sociology course on race and ethnic relations or a social justice studies introductory course.

• Beyond Race: Cultural Influences on Human Social Life (Kennedy, 2018) (CC BY-NC-SA)

  This brief (5 chapter) text is not a complete text and focuses relevant theory and research in cultural sociology.

Introduction to Women’s Studies (C-ID SJS 120)

• Gender and Sexualities: An Inquiry (Damron and Reitenauer, 2018) (CC BY-NC)

  This resource provides an interdisciplinary and intersectional framework for thinking critically about the historical and contemporary applications of knowledge about gender and sexuality. This may be straightforward in some arenas, but we will find navigating gender and sexuality terminologies (e.g., sexual orientation, what constitutes “sex” in particular places and times, sexual identity, gender and gender identity, among many other discussions) to be a rigorous historical, personal, political, philosophical, and anthropological study (to name just a few of the intellectual traditions we encounter). Throughout we encourage readers to interrogate social ideals and other narratives that aim to “naturalize” gender and sexuality. In other words, we will address gender and sexual identities and practices and meaning as historical, cultural, and political phenomena. We will question whether contemporary categories infer that bodily practices, pleasures, and knowledge are permanently tethered to universal, transhistorical ideals and thought. We will investigate the intersectional contexts where sexualities and genders take shape and provide. Finally, throughout readers and students should begin to understand the rich and deep efforts of gender and sexuality based social movements and thought and appreciate the ethical significances of various claims about gender and sexuality.

• Introduction to Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies (Kang, Lessard, & Heston, 2017) (CC BY 4.0)

  This textbook introduces key feminist concepts and analytical frameworks used in the interdisciplinary Women, Gender, Sexualities field. It unpacks the social construction of knowledge and categories of difference, processes and structures of power and inequality, with a focus on gendered labor in the global economy, and the historical development of feminist social movements. The book emphasizes feminist sociological approaches to analyzing structures of power, drawing heavily from empirical feminist research.

Introduction to LGBTQ+ Studies (C-ID SJS 130)

• Introduction to LGBTQ+ Studies: A Cross-Disciplinary Approach (Amory, Massey, Miller, and Brown) (CC BY)
• The American LGBTQ Rights Movement: an introduction- Morgan and Rodriguez (Humboldt State University Press) (CC BY-SA)

Introduction to Gender (C-ID SOCI 140)

The list below was obtained from Open Educational Resources and Sociology. Additional resources for this course may be available above under Introduction to Women’s Studies (C-ID SJS 120).

• Gender and Sexualities: An Inquiry (Damron and Reitenauer, 2018) (CC BY-NC)

  This resource provides an interdisciplinary and intersectional framework for thinking critically about the historical and contemporary applications of knowledge about gender and sexuality. This may be straightforward in some arenas, but we will find navigating gender and sexuality terminologies (e.g., sexual orientation, what constitutes “sex” in particular places and times, sexual identity, gender and gender identity, among many other discussions) to be a rigorous historical, personal, political, philosophical, and anthropological study (to name just a few of the intellectual traditions we encounter). Throughout we encourage readers to interrogate social ideals and other narratives that aim to “naturalize” gender and sexuality. In other words, we will address gender and sexual identities and practices and meaning as historical, cultural, and political phenomena. We will question whether contemporary categories infer that bodily practices, pleasures, and knowledge are permanently tethered to universal, transhistorical ideals and thought. We will investigate the intersectional contexts where sexualities and genders take shape and provide. Finally, throughout readers and students should begin to understand the rich and deep efforts of gender and sexuality based social movements and thought and appreciate the ethical significances of various claims about gender and sexuality.

• Introduction to Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies (Kang, Lessard, & Heston, 2017) (CC BY 4.0)

  This textbook introduces key feminist concepts and analytical frameworks used in the interdisciplinary Women, Gender, Sexualities field. It unpacks the social construction of knowledge and categories of difference, processes and structures of power and inequality, with a focus on gendered labor in the global economy, and the historical development of feminist social movements. The book emphasizes feminist sociological approaches to analyzing structures of power, drawing heavily from empirical feminist research.

• Global Women’s Issues: Women in the World Today, extended version (Bureau of International Information Programs, United States Department of State) (Public Domain)
• Introduction to Women’s Studies (College of the Canyons, 2017) (CC BY 4.0)
• Gendered Lives: Global Issues- Milne Open Textbooks (Fernandez and Nelson, 2021) (CC BY)
• The American LGBTQ Rights Movement: an introduction- Morgan and Rodriguez (Humboldt State University Press) (CC BY-SA)

Additional Resources by Population-Focus (Discipline-focus varies)

• African American
• Asian American
• Chicana/o/x
• Native American

Social Justice Studies – General Resources

Using an OER resource that is missing from the list above? If so, please let us know.

This page last updated on September 27, 2023.