School of Humanities and Social Sciences
HSS Courses That Address Race, Racism, Policing, and Structural Inequality
Use this guide to facilitate your intellectual exploration of the causes, consequences, and possible solutions to the social problems that shape our politics and our lives.
The School of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS), sitting at the heart of a great urban college, educates students to be leaders of character, wisdom, and influence in an interdependent, global society through high quality humanities and social science programs. An HSS education is not bound by our classrooms, because Brooklyn is a diverse educational laboratory that enables our students to regularly apply their learning to real-world challenges, bringing what they learn by experience into sharper focus in our classrooms. When you take classes in any of our 45 departments or programs you will work with world-class faculty who know that a humanities and social science education is important preparation for a changing world and a shifting economy. Therefore, HSS students are intellectually ambitious and adaptable to change. Our students build critical thinking and analytical skills and the capacity to articulate evidence-based decisions that will be required of the jobs emerging in the 21st century. The work we do manifests what Michael S. Roth has written in Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters: "[a] reflexive, pragmatic liberal education is our best hope of preparing students to shape change and not be the victims of it."
Mission Statement
The School of Humanities and Social Sciences is the intellectual hub of Brooklyn College. HSS empowers interdisciplinary team-based problem solving, rooted in rigorous disciplinary training. We foster collaborative engagement among faculty, students, and communities, in the co-creation of knowledge. Our students build skills in critical thinking, creative expression, data analysis, and the capacity to articulate evidence-based decisions. HSS prepares students to be adaptive and resilient in a rapidly changing global economy, and to be effective publicly engaged citizens in a rapidly changing society.
Student Achievements
Phylicia Thomas '21
Phylicia, a communications major, was selected as a 2021 Multicultural Advertising Intern Program (MAIP) Fellow, interning at Mother.
MAIP's mission is to provide and showcase the advertising industry with the best talent through world-class development opportunities.
Anna Gotlib Interviewed by Engaged Philosophy
Gotlib, an associate professor in the Philosophy Department, uses public philosophy to create connection—across life circumstance, profession, medium, ideas, humanity—and opens spaces for minds to grow and maybe change.
Contact Information
Dean: Kenneth A. Gould
Location: 3238 Boylan Hall
Phone: 718.951.3136
Fax: 718.951.4132
Twitter: @BCThinkers
Instagram: @bcthinkers
What Our Alumni Are Doing Now
Brandon P. Martinez '16
Doctoral Candidate, Sociology, University of Miami
Brandon Martinez is a doctoral candidate of sociology at the University of Miami and research associate at CUNY Institute of State and Local Governance, where he works on the Safety and Justice Challenge, Criminal Justice Initiative's Prevention Portfolio, and Center for Trauma Innovation. Brandon's research examines racial-ethnic inequalities in the criminal justice system and the housing market, and his published work appears in the peer-reviewed journals Crime & Delinquency, Critical Sociology, and Sociological Forum. Previously, he worked on a collaborative research project with the ACLU of Florida and has contributed to research on court-assisted reentry and pretrial detention. Brandon earned an M.A. in sociology at the University of Miami and a B.A. in sociology at Brooklyn College.
Selected Articles
- Time, Money, and Punishment: Institutional Racial-Ethnic Inequalities in Pretrial Detention and Case Outcomes
- How Race Counts for Latinx Homeownership (with Professor Alan A. Aja, Puerto Rican and Latino Studies)
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