The extension of social justice across society has been among the most central aims of an Antioch education since its founding in 1852. The Antioch Santa Barbara Undergraduate faculty believes a just and equitable education should serve to enhance the lives of those directly receiving the education, and encourage a society where all members have the same basic rights, security, obligations, and opportunities.

Education is a continuing reconstruction of knowledge and experience in which both its process and goal are one and the same. Learning achieves its value when it is translated into modes of action which are beneficial to society. Thus, the mission of Antioch’s BA Program, as described above, is approached through an experiential blend of theory and practice we term Praxis for Social Justice. Praxis is achieved as students become increasingly fluent in the essential competencies described in detail in the AUSB Undergraduate Core Purposes.

Praxis for social justice combines learning and doing for the purpose of encouraging critical consciousness, ethical reasoning, and socially responsible behavior. It is a cycle of action, reflection, and transfer, wherein cultural differences are understood and valued, where human dignity, the earth, and future generations are respected, and all are encouraged to participate in bringing about a more equitable and compassionate world.

Characteristics of praxis include intellectual integrity, self-determination, positive intentionality, creativity, and rational approaches to learning and understanding. Thus, Praxis for Social Justice is the process by which one’s learning in the classroom is tested in daily life and becomes an integral component of lived experience. It is the unifying principle that informs our Core Purposes and Undergraduate curriculum.