This ethnic studies course is an interdisciplinary examination of major concepts and controversies in the study of race, racial inequality, and racism in the United States. Students will explore race and ethnicity as historical and contemporary categories of identification, focusing on the lived experiences and racialized subordination of African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinx Americans, and Native Americans. Students will analyze intersecting processes of subordination, paying attention to race, class, gender, religion, national origin, citizenship, and language. Students will examine resistance, community organizing, social movements, and policy debates to assess and engage in efforts for racial equity, social justice, and self-determination.
Student Learning Outcome: Analyze and articulate the concepts of race, racialization, ethnicity, racism, equity, and anti-racism in relation to class, gender, sexuality, religion, spirituality, national origin, immigrant status, citizenship, sovereignty, and/or language by researching a contemporary pattern of racialized inequality pertaining to one or more of the following groups: African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Latina and Latino Americans.
Student Learning Outcome: Describe and actively engage with an anti-racist and anti-colonial issue, practice, community-based movement, and/or policy debate through community involvement and/or participant observation, primary and secondary source research, and critical review of the experiences and enactments of Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans and/or Latina and Latino Americans in a current struggle for a just and equitable society.
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
Apply theory and knowledge produced by Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latina and Latino Americans to describe the critical events, histories, cultures, intellectual traditions, contributions, lived experiences, and social struggles of these groups with a focus on agency and group-affirmation in an appraisal of the origins, development, and impact of ethnic studies.
Analyze and articulate changing conceptualizations of race in the sciences as institutionalized constructions of naturalized racial differences (i.e. whiteness, blackness, indigeneity, Orientalism, mestizaje) as well as conceptualizations of race, racialization, and racism in ethnic studies with a transdisciplinary perspective.
Analyze and articulate social scientific approaches to racial inequality with concepts such as race, racism, racialization, ethnicity, and equity from multiple disciplinary perspectives, including theories and knowledge produced by Native American Studies, African American Studies, Asian American Studies, Latina and Latino Studies, and comparative ethnic studies.
Analyze critically the intersection of race and racism as they relate to class, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, citizenship, immigration status, religion and/or language in multiple social and institutional contexts, such as work, families, schools, and the criminal justice system.
Analyze societal patterns of racial and ethnic inequality using current and historical data to highlight the intersectionality of factors shaping life chances, such as race, gender, class, age, sexuality, education, citizenship, national origin, and geography.
Review critically how examples of struggle, resistance, solidarity, and liberation--as experienced and enacted by Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans and Latina and Latino Americans--are relevant to current and structural issues through comparative analyses of racial formations through U.S. state apparatuses, in personal narratives, and in community efforts for self-determination.
Describe and engage actively with anti-racist and anti-colonial issues, practices, social movements, and/or policy debates in Native American, African American, Asian American, and/or Latina and Latino American communities in their struggles for a just and more equitable society, through community involvement and/or participant observation, primary and secondary source research, class activities and discussion.
Great news! In an effort to cut direct costs of education for students, there is no required textbook for this course. All reading material will be provided in electronic format online via Canvas. We will be using ZTC material [OER, articles, scholarly journals, and chapter excerpts from various authors.
E-book, 2024. Erika Gutierrez, Janét Hund, Shaheen Johnson, Carlos Ramos, Lisette Rodriguez, & Joy Tsuhako Race and Ethnic Relations in the U.S.: An Intersectional Approach
E-book, 2023: Kay Fischer, Mario Alberto Viveros Espinoza-Kulick, Ulysses Acevedo, Teresa Hodges, Melissa Leal, and Tamara Cheshire Introduction to Ethnic Studies.
Supplemental readings/ material will be provided via Canvas
Please visit the California Community College's Online Education Initiative: Online Ready website to learn more about online learning and learn effective strategies to be successful in online courses.
Having regular access to a computer with a reliable Internet connection is required. You will need a word processing program capable of saving word formats such as .doc, .docx or .pdf.
Check out the technical requirements for your computer and browser in order to maximize Canvas functionality: Test your computer's readiness
While Chrome is the preferred browser for most Canvas interactions, Canvas supports the latest versions of every browser release. It's highly recommended that you update to the newest version of whatever browser you are using as well as the most up-to-date Flash plug-in. Check out the Canvas Browser Support page for the most recent information.
You can search the Canvas Guides or contact the Canvas Support Helpline by clicking the Help icon (circle with a question mark) in the Account menu.