Ethnic Studies

Ethnic Studies is an interdisciplinary field that examines the histories, cultures, experiences, and contributions of racial and ethnic groups, particularly those historically marginalized in the United States and globally. Drawing from disciplines such as history, sociology, political science, literature, and cultural studies, the field explores how race, ethnicity, power, and identity are socially constructed and contested over time.

Courses in Ethnic Studies analyze systems of inequality, including racism, colonialism, and structural discrimination, while also highlighting resistance, social movements, and efforts toward equity and justice. Students engage with diverse perspectives and methodologies to better understand the intersections of race with class, gender, sexuality, and other dimensions of identity.

Ethnic Studies assists all students to develop and utilize a critical lens to foster empowerment, cultural humility, resilience, hope, self-worth, and community solidarity in a way that is responsive to all our students.

Faculty

Pineda, Ramon

Career Opportunities

Bachelor’s or advanced degree is usually necessary. Career opportunities are the following: educator, community outreach, social worker, youth advocate, case manager, policy analysis, legislative aid, civil rights investigator, community liaison for local, state, or federal government, cultural program coordinator, grant writer.

Transfer

California State University, San Bernardino: Bachelor of Arts in Ethnic Studies
California State University, Fullerton: Bachelor of Arts in Ethnic Studies
University of California, Riverside: Bachelor of Arts in Ethnic Studies
University of California, Riverside: Bachelor of Arts in African American Studies
University of California, Riverside: Bachelor of Arts in Asian American Studies
University of California, Riverside: Bachelor of Arts in Chicano Studies
University of California, Riverside: Bachelor of Arts in Native American Studies
University of Redlands: Bachelor of Arts in Race and Ethnic Studies

For the most up-to-date information on these programs and others, visit assist.org. Please stop by the Transfer Center in Building 23 or make an appointment with a counselor if you have questions.

Program Learning Outcomes

Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) are statements of the kind of learning a program hopes a student will achieve. The PLOs describe the knowledge, skills, problem-solving, communication and values that apply to all certificates and/or degrees within that program.

Upon completion of this program, students should be able to:

To demonstrate a basic understanding of the core concepts in the ethnic studies field.
Demonstrate the ability to make connections between ethnicity/race and other aspects of social life (i.e. economy, politics, cultural values, and gender relations).
Analyze both historic and contemporary patterns and issues in multi-ethnic societies
Students will be able to identify and analyze the causes of inequities in the United States.
Students will identify and analyze social policies that have the potential to alleviate inequalities.

Ethnic Studies Courses

ETH 101 Introduction to Chicana/O Studies (3.0 Units)

This course offers a broad survey of intersectional and interdisciplinary approaches in Chicanx and Latinx Studies. Students are introduced to the key issues, experiences, and methodologies that shape the field, with particular attention to how "Chicanx," "Latinx," and "American" identities are created, contested, and re-imagined. Through this lens, the course encourages critical reconsideration of the political and cultural borders that define the United States. .

Lecture Hours: 54.0

Transfer: Transfers to both UC/CSU

ETH 102 Introduction to African American Studies (3.0 Units)

This is a survey of the history of African Americans from their origins in Africa to the present covering the political, cultural, social, and economic experiences of African Americans. Students will encounter the social, economic, and legal institutions which characterized being black in the United States at various periods in the nation's history. Topics include African civilization, slavery, the Diaspora, abolition, reconstruction, segregation, Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Movement, African Americans in politics, and race in Modern America. Grade option. .

Lecture Hours: 54.0

Transfer: Transfers to both UC/CSU

ETH 103 Introduction to Asian American Studies (3.0 Units)

This introductory-level Ethnic Studies course provides a critical and interdisciplinary study of the Asian American experience from the 19th century to the present. Students will engage with a variety of scholarly, literary, and visual texts to understand how the field of Asian American Studies confronts issues of immigration, racialization, exclusion, assimilation, and community-building. Using frameworks such as Critical Race Theory, the course will analyze the intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, socioeconomic class, national origin, and ability. Topics such as colonialism, decolonization, activism, and resistance will be explored to highlight how Asian Americans have negotiated and often resisted these forces through political and creative expression, emphasizing concepts of agency, community cultural wealth, and group-affirmation. Grade option. .

Lecture Hours: 54.0

Transfer: Transfers to both UC/CSU

ETH 104 Introduction to Native American Studies (3.0 Units)

An introduction to the interdisciplinary field of Native American Studies, exploring the complexity and diversity of the Indigenous Peoples of the lands now called North America, with an emphasis on the lands now called the United States. It is centered on perspectives from Native North American Indigenous People and their Nations directly, gaining further insight from 'Western' academic fields such as the biophysical sciences, humanities, social sciences, and critical social theory, such as the study of race, power, and class. Connecting Indigenous traditions with the work Indigenous Nations have and continue to do across the past, present, and future will be emphasized, especially around resistance and resilience, decolonization, environmental management, and sovereignty-building.

Lecture Hours: 54.0

Transfer: Transfers to CSU only

ETH 105 Ethnic and Racial Minorites (3.0 Units)

ETH 105 surveys the major ethnic and racial minorities in the United States to provide students with a better understanding of the socio-economic, cultural, and political practices and institutions that support or challenge racism, and racial and ethnic inequalities. The course also studies historical and contemporary patterns of interaction between intersectional identities of the four core ethnic populations of Asian Americans, Chicanx/Latinx, African Americans, and Native/Indigenous Americans within the United States.

Recommended Preparation: ENGL 101.0

Lecture Hours: 54.0

Transfer: Transfers to CSU only

ETH 106 Contemporary Ethnic Woman (3.0 Units)

Ethnic Studies 106 surveys the contemporary status of ethnic women in the United States. Students analyze the lived experiences of women in Native American, African American, Asian American, and Latina communities in the United States with a special emphasis on agency and group affirmation. Topics include anti-racism, feminism, and equity. .

Recommended Preparation: ENGL 101.0 or ENGL 101H

Lecture Hours: 54.0

Transfer: Transfers to both UC/CSU

ETH 114 Introduction to Native American Studies (3.0 Units)

This course is an introduction to the field of Native American and Indigenous Studies. An interdisciplinary approach is employed to acquaint students with the most significant social, political, religious, and artistic aspects of various Indigenous peoples of North America focusing on the twentieth century to the present. Topics covered include: the development of Native American Studies as a field of academic inquiry; Native philosophy and religious traditions; indigeneity, racialization, and identity; settler colonialism; urbanization; intertribal relations; gender and sexuality; art, literature, and cultural production; environmental justice; and the context in which Indigenous peoples have sought to maintain their sovereignty. Grade Option. .

Lecture Hours: 54.0

Transfer: Transfers to CSU only

ETH 115 Introduction to Racial and Ethnic Groups (3.0 Units)

Using sociological and interdisciplinary approaches, this course introduces students to major concepts, theories, processes, and events in the study of racial and ethnic groups. It focuses on the historical and contemporary experiences of Native Americans, Latino/a/x and Chicano/a Americans, African Americans, and Asian Americans as a way of exploring ideas such as individual and systemic racisms, colonialism and decolonization, racial/ethnic stratification, marginalization, white privilege, and intersectionality. It also explores the ways in which these groups have resisted, adapted, and sometimes thrived in ways that have made significant and enduring contributions to our society. More broadly, the course also investigates the processes and circumstances that have led to the construction of race and racial categories in the modern world. Grade Option. .

Lecture Hours: 54.0

Transfer: Transfers to CSU only

ETH 116 Ethnic Women of Color in the United States (3.0 Units)

This interdisciplinary course provides a critical and comparative study of women of color from four core ethnic groups in the United States: American Indian/Native American, African American, Asian American, and Chicana/o/x/é/é or Latina/o/x/é/é. The curriculum analyzes key Ethnic Studies concepts, including race, racism, and intersectionality, to examine how systemic oppression and liberation have shaped the historical and contemporary lived experiences of these communities. The course emphasizes anti-racist, anti-colonial, and anti-imperial thought, focusing on the strategies of resistance and empowerment developed by women of color to challenge structural violence and promote social change. Grade Option. .

Lecture Hours: 54.0

Transfer: Transfers to CSU only

Faculty

Career Opportunities

Transfer

Programs of Study

Program Learning Outcomes

Ethnic Studies Courses

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