Ethnic Studies

Welcome to the Ethnic Studies course! Ethnic Studies courses operate from the consideration that race and racism have been, and continue to be, profoundly powerful social and cultural forces in American society. These courses focus on the experiences of African Americans, Asian Americans, Chicanas/os and Latinas/os, Native Americans, and other racialized peoples in the US. Courses are grounded in the concrete situations of people of color, and use a methodological framing that emphasizes both the structural dimensions of race and racism and the associated cultural dimensions (Adapted from UC Berkeley, Department of Ethnic Studies).

 

The major purpose of this course is to educate students to be politically, socially, and economically conscious about their personal connections to local and national history. Ethnic Studies focuses on themes of social justice, social responsibility, and social change. The course spans from past to present, from politics to social reform, allowing students to identify similar social patterns and universal qualities present in other societies, including their own. This course will focus on the experiences of African American, Asian Americans, Latino American, and American Indians. This course will also include an Identity section where students will consider concepts related to their own personal, group, and/or national identity.