Ethnic Studies

Meets graduation requirements: ES

NOTE: This is a one semester course designed to be paired with Health

“This Ethnic Studies course is designed to develop an understanding of how race, ethnicity, nationality, and culture have shaped and continue to shape individuals and society in the United States. The course prepares students to participate in concurrent or subsequent social studies and literature courses with a solid understanding of historical trends and historical thinking. This course is designed to provide students with the knowledge to achieve an understanding of and an appreciation for the various cultures in their community. The focus is around the experiences of African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos/as, and other racialized peoples in the United States. Students will be engaged in both intellectually and emotionally rigorous content constructed around issues of ethnicity, identity, service, and social justice. Students will research and examine how 20th Century events reveal power, privilege, ethnocentricity, systemic oppression, and cultural hegemony that influence their individual experiences into the 21st Century.” -Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, CDE, California State Board Approved in March of 2021

Meets graduation requirements: ES

Meet UC a-g requirements: g 

Critical Approaches to Cinema - Ethnic Studies asks students to watch films through four critical lenses, or approaches.This course lays the foundation for the study of reading visual media. Students will learn two theoretical frameworks common to a typical advanced English course: an Aesthetic Approach and a Mythological Approach. Students will move beyond a plot-level understanding of the story to interpret how structures of film—sound and lighting, framing and camera angles, tropes and archetypes—create meaning. The course is designed to meet the California Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum anchor standards by using film as the central text for exploring identity, histories, systems of power, and agency/solidarity/futures. Through the Civic Approach, students critically analyze how films reflect, challenge, or reinforce power structures and inequalities, paying particular attention to the representation of African American, Chicano/Latino, Asian American, Native American, and other communities. This analysis engages students in questioning stereotypes, examining who has power and who does not, and considering how filmmakers use storytelling to advance or resist dominant ideologies. Through the Cultural Approach, students study a wide range of global and U.S. films that highlight diverse voices and cultural perspectives, emphasizing the importance of understanding multiple ways of seeing and knowing. Together, these approaches ensure that students engage with the lived experiences and contributions of marginalized communities, while also recognizing the role of cinema in shaping cultural literacy, building empathy, and fostering a vision of equity and social justice. 

Meets graduation requirement: ES

Meets UC/CSU a-g requirement: g

This course is a year-long, college-preparatory class designed as an overview of the field of sociology aligned to meet the California Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. Students will be introduced to the four major domains of the National Standards for High School Sociology including, but not limited to, sociological concepts, theories, and procedures in the areas of collective behavior, crime, politics, race, ethnicity, education, health, gender, culture, and societal controversies. Students will explore each of these domains via the Ethnic Studies themes of Identity, History & Movement, Systems of Power, and Social Movements. It is also designed to explore the multifaceted experiences of marginalized groups in the United States, focusing on African American, Asian American, Latinx, Indigenous, and other racialized communities. It is intended to strengthen general study skills (e.g., analytical reading, expository writing, and oral communications), provide students an opportunity to begin work that could lead directly into a major program of study, and expose students, at some depth, to new disciplines that support college and career readiness.  

Meets graduation requirements: FA/ES/EL

Meets UC a-g requirements: f

Students will explore themes of identity, culture, social justice, and activism through the visual arts. Artivism (art + activism) will serve as the central theme throughout the course, as students investigate the intersection of race, ethnicity, and creative expression. Students will study diverse artists, engage in storytelling and community documentation, and produce original works that reflect personal and collective histories. The course culminates in a student-curated exhibition showcasing their learning and creativity.