Ethnic Studies Minor

Ethnic Studies Minor

IN THIS SECTION

Understand the experiences of historically marginalized racial and ethnic groups.

The ethnic studies minor and concentration are interdisciplinary programs focused on the experiences of historically marginalized racial and ethnic groups (including African, Latina/o, Asian, and Native Americans) within the United States. Ethnic studies promotes a broader understanding of the historical, geographical, political, economic, social, and cultural complexity of these racial/ethnic groups, and the structural inequality in which these groups’ experiences are maintained and embedded.

Ethnic studies courses often explore the rich contributions to the production of knowledge issuing from various racial/ethnic groups in the US that tend to be underrepresented in the curriculum, for example, in sciences, social sciences, arts, humanities, and the professions. Based on a discipline emerging out of civil rights movements, Ethnic studies courses also often explore historical and contemporary social movements and encourage active and reflective learning in the pursuit of racial and social justice. The curriculum emphasizes creating a community within the classroom where students learn from one another, experience personal empowerment, and develop as agents of racial and social justice in a diverse and complex world. As a result, students develop a heightened racial, ethnic, and social consciousness toward promoting a more just and equitable society.

Explore sample courses in this program.
ET-100 Introduction to Ethnic Studies
An interdisciplinary survey course analyzing socio-political, economic, historical, and contemporary issues related to African American, Latino/a American, Asian American, and Native American (ALANA) communities.
3 credits
ED-270 Diversity and Multicultural Ed
Introduction to multicultural education, equity, and social justice issues in education, including a focus on race, ethnicity, languages, class, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and disabilities.
3 credits
ED-339 Children’s Literature: Multicultural Literature for PK-9
In this class, students read, discuss, and analyze children’s and young adult literature by people of diverse backgrounds, including race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, ability, language, and country. Genres and formats may include fiction, nonfiction, biographies, novels in verse, graphic novels, fairy tales, fantasy, and wordless books. While children’s and young adult literature comprise the primary texts in this course, secondary sources from education, linguistics, English, history, sociology, anthropology, women’ studies and communications provide context and theory to guide analysis.
3 credits
EN-120 Race in Comics
Comics offer a unique combination of tools for representing race. Artists have long used either language or visual art to think about identity, but comics merge the two in new ways. In this course, students analyze innovative comics and graphic novels/nonfiction to better understand why this medium is such a productive way to reflect on racial identity. How do comics authors engage with the difficult history of racial caricature and the longstanding lack of diversity in the field? And what can the combination of image and text say about the tension between appearance and identity?
3 credits
EN-169 Ethnic Literature in the US
Study of ethnic literature in the US, focusing on African American, Asian American, Latino, and Native American writers.
3 credits
EN-170 Search for Identity
Understanding the nature and power of fiction, the relation between problems of individual identity, and the operation of the imagination.
3 credits
EN-328 Narratives of US Immigration
In this course students examine narratives of United States immigration in literature, film, and history. The immigrant narrative is both a foundational American story and also a story of the outsider to American culture. Students explore how authors navigate these conflicting poles, and how they complicate myths of the US as a melting pot and land of opportunity. Topics for discussion include assimilation and pluralism; citizenship, class, ethnicity, gender, language, nationality, race, and religion; diaspora; labor; nativism and xenophobia; and the social, legal, and political history of American immigration.
3 credits
EN-347 Studies in US Ethnic Literature
Selected topics in US ethnic literature, including thematic and comparative approaches and in-depth studies of a single ethnic literature.
3 credits
EN-370 Antislavery Literature
This course traces the literary history of the antislavery movement in the Atlantic world: writing in a range of genres (journalism, history, fiction, poetry, drama, slave narratives), antislavery writers made a significant contribution to the campaigns to end the slave trade and slavery. While the Atlantic system of legal slavery ended in the nineteenth century, an even larger system of illegal slavery still exists, and so the course concludes by considering the work of 21-century antislavery writers and what they might learn from their predecessors. In other words, can we use literary history to make slavery history?
3 credits
ET-100 Introduction to Ethnic Studies
An interdisciplinary survey course analyzing socio-political, economic, historical, and contemporary issues related to African American, Latino/a American, Asian American, and Native American (ALANA) communities.
3 credits
HC-234 Multiculturalism and Health
Examination of diverse ethnic/racial and cultural beliefs and practices affecting health and illness.
3 credits
HI-205 Native America
This survey covers the broad sweep of Native American history and focuses on the encounter between American and European civilizations and how Native culture has adapted through the centuries. Counts for Europe/US in the history major.
3 credits
HI-208 American Immigrant History
Survey of immigration. Topics such as old-world background, impact on the United States, nativism, cultural pluralism, religion, mobility, family, and politics. Counts for Europe/United States in the history major.
3 credits
HI-217 US Social History
Considers topics and approaches in the field of social history in the United States. Counts for Europe/US in the history major.
3 credits
HI-221 African American History I
The people of African descent from the emergence of the slave trade to the Civil War, focusing on race, gender, and power. Counts for Europe/United States in the history major.
3 credits
HI-222 African American History II
The people of African descent from the end of the Civil War through the 20th century, focusing on race, class, gender, and power. Counts for Europe/United States in the history major.
3 credits
HI-230 Nicaragua, the US, and the World
The course examines the impact of globalization and imperialism on the lives of Nicaraguans at home and in their diasporic communities. Counts for Africa/Latin America in the history major.
3 credits
HI-248 Seminar on Globalization and Human Rights
A.I.D. program participants in their sophomore year explore globalization and human rights and issues of personal growth and academic development. Counts for global/thematic/methodological in the history major.
3 credits
HI-280 Introduction to African Diaspora History
Students learn about the development of the African diaspora and how it has shaped the world since antiquity. They consider the movements, experiences, and exploits of ordinary people and celebrated figures of African descent through such topics as imperial expansion; slavery, resistance, and freedom; nationalism and the civil rights movement; and current global issues. Counts for global/thematic/methodological in the history major.
3 credits
HI-320 Citizen Nation
Explores the history and meaning of citizenship in the United States, including discrimination, rights struggles, and changing citizenship criteria. Counts for Europe/US in history major.
3 credits
HI-373 African Immigration in the 20th Century
Why do we commonly hear about a “brain drain” in African countries or human rights violations of refugees entering Europe? This course examines how these current global issues developed through the history of immigration from the African continent to North America and Europe during the 20th century. Counts for global/thematic/methodological in the history major.
3 credits
PH-151 Race, Gender, and the Law
This course provides a philosophical approach to issues of race and gender as expressed in legislation, judicial interpretation, enforcement, and public policy.
3 credits
PH-178 Africana Philosophy
Explores the philosophy of the African diaspora in African, African American, and Caribbean writings. The course addresses both historical and contemporary material across intersections of race, gender, and class using philosophy, history, and literature.
3 credits
PH-254 Feminist Theory
Examines the development of feminist ideas and movements from the 18th century to the present, in the US and, particularly in recent decades, globally. A close analysis of Second Wave, Postmodern, and Black Feminist ideas are studied as a basis for writings and social action that attends to issues of race, class, gender, and sexuality, using intersectional methodologies and critiques to address issues of reproduction and health, labor and economic power, violence, and state power.
3 credits
PO-265 Racial and Ethnic Politics
This class analyzes the relationship between the United States government and racial and ethnic groups and explores the way that race is utilized in American politics. Students focus on issues affecting racial and ethnic communities in the United States, the politics behind racial and ethnic classification, and the use of racial and ethnic appeals in American political campaigns. The readings for this course cover topics such as affirmative action, criminal justice reform, and civil rights. It offers students an opportunity to analyze political speeches and advertisements that utilize race and ethnicity.
3 credits
PO-320 Citizen Nation
Explores the history and meaning of citizenship in the United States, including discrimination, rights struggles, and changing citizenship criteria.
3 credits
PS-255 Psychological Foundations of Diversity
Explores the gender, racial/ethnic, multiple-group membership, cultural, social class, religious, disability, and sexual orientation facets of diversity.
3 credits
SO-228 Latina-Latino Experiences in the US and the World
This course surveys current theoretical approaches used to explain Latina/o experiences and provides an empirical overview of how social institutions affect the daily lives of Latinas and Latinos in the US and the world.
3 credits
SO-285 Race, Class, and Gender
An introduction to dominant-minority group relations through the investigation of the patterns and dynamics of differentiation, inequality, and discrimination.
3 credits
SP-333 Hispanic Presence in US
Socio-cultural study of Hispanics in the United States, with a focus on major contemporary issues. Conducted in Spanish.
3 credits
SP-349 Spanish-American Literature
Representative works from South and Central American authors from the colonial period to the present.
3 credits

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