Cal-GETC Area 6 (Ethnic Studies)

Ethnic Studies is the critical and interdisciplinary study of race, ethnicity, and indigeneity with a focus on the experiences and perspectives of Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, Latina/o/x Americans, and other people of color within and beyond the United States. This course explores key theories, scholarly works, and ideas that have formed the basis of the broad multidisciplinary field of Ethnic Studies. Various perspectives are examined to discover the ways in which race and racism have been, and continue to be, powerful social, cultural and political forces, and their connections to other axes of stratification including gender, class, sexuality and legal status. This course examines the effects of institutional racism, coloniality, marginalization, socio-economic and political discrimination, and ethnocentrism on American ethnic and racial groups.

This course introduces students to the field of African American and Black studies. As a survey course, it traces the historical and current social conditions and contributions of Black and African-descended people in the U.S. It provides broad and interdisciplinary perspectives, examining and exploring significant figures, ideas, issues, and methodologies central to understanding the African American experience. Course topics include history, social movements, politics, community, art, spirituality, cultural production, intersectional identity formation, gender, sexuality, class, family, social justice, agency, and self-affirmation. Moreover, the course critically analyzes race and ethnicity, racialization, equity, ethnocentrism, Eurocentrism, and white supremacy. Students will develop critical tools, frameworks, and vocabulary for further study in the field.