Ethnic Studies
Department Affiliation: Philosophy
Dating back to the social activism in the United States of the late 1960’s, ethnic studies focused on historically marginalized racial and ethnic groups including American Indians, Asian Americans, African American/Blacks, and Latina/Latinos. Ethnic studies challenged the social construction of race within the US and in particular the power inequities between marginalized communities and those with power and privilege. Today, Ethnic Studies is a transdisciplinary field that critically examines intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality, migration, and other structures of power. Ethnic Studies names, contests, and resists systems of hierarchy and uplifts alternate ways of knowing, researching, and the experiences of marginalized communities.
Program Objectives
Students will be able to critically examine how constructions of race and racism are embedded in institutions, structures, and everyday life. Students will analyze socioeconomic and political experiences, artistic expression and popular culture, and movements of resistance, activism, and insurrection. Students will also explore issues related to the slave trade and indentured labor, as well as patterns of migration resulting from human trafficking, colonialism, imperialism, capitalism, and globalization.