Intro to Ethnic Studies

This course presents an interdisciplinary study of traditionally marginalized populations in the United States specifically African American, Asian American, Chicana/o-Latina/o, and Native American - through a social justice pedagogy and perspective. In Introduction to Ethnic Studies, students will investigate, analyze, and evaluate how constructs of race, class, gender, and sexuality intersect with notions of power and privilege to impact the African American, Asian American, Chicana/o-Latina/o, and Native American communities struggle towards self-determination and social justice in the United States. Traditionally, the experiences and contributions of African Americans, Asian Americans, Chicanas/os-Latinas/os, and Native Americans within the American historical narrative has been noticeably absent, thus requiring the need for students to engage in an academically rigorous and more inclusive historical and contemporaneous analysis of these respective communities to more accurately reflect their contributions and experiences as central, and not marginal, to the American historical narrative.

The Unit plans below are recommended for Intro to Ethnic Studies courses in regular and extended day programs.