Department of History, College of Liberal Arts
Effective Fall, 2002
Contact: Nancy Gentile-Ford, Director, 206 Centennial Hall, 389-4410, ford@bloomu.edu
The minor provides student with an opportunity to take an interdisciplinary approach to the study of ethnicity. This allows students to analyze and compare the experiences of various ethnic groups within the United States.
The minor's comparative perspective gives students a unique opportunity to select and link courses from a variety of departments within the College of Liberal Arts.
The program also encourages students to connect the experiences of people of various ethnicities within the United States to those in other countries both from a current and historical context.
The minor includes 18 credits, two courses from each of three categories.
Core courses provide students with a broad background in the study of ethnicity. These courses help students develop a critical framework for analysis. Courses address the complex national and international forces that have shaped ethnicity in the U.S., as they relate to gender, class, generation, race, religion, regional, urban, rural, sexual and political identity.
Focus courses allow students to pursue a concentrated examination of particular ethnic groups. Classes examine the oppressive forces of discrimination and racism. However, they also explore ethnic group empowerment by studying creative strategies used to negotiate and construct ethnic identity. This includes the creation of kinship networks, ethnic enclaves and ethnic community associations.
Global/Elective courses allow students to develop an individualized program of study based upon their own interests.
The minor is overseen by an advisory committee with representatives from the Multicultural Center and Departments of English, Political Science, Languages and Cultures, Educational Studies and Secondary Education, Sociology, Social Work and Criminal Justice, History, Communication Studies and Theatre Arts and Anthropology.
Core Courses - designed to provide students with a broad background of ethnicity in the United States. Choose two from the following nine courses:
20.388 Gender/Race/Class
26.490 Playwrights of Color
42.224 The Immigrant Experience
42.404 History of the American West
44.375 Multiculturalist Theory
45.215 Race and Ethnic Minorities
46.333 Ethnic Identity in the United States
08.302 Ethnic and Racial Studies (Honors course)
08.302 Diversity Seminar (Honors course)
Focus Courses - designed to provide students with a concentrated study of the various ethnic groups within the United States. Choose two from the following courses:
12.213 U.S. Hispanics: Culture and Literature
12.214 The Hispanic World Today (in Spanish)
20.152 Literature and Society: African-Americans in Rural Pennsylvania
20.287 Black Women Writers
20.436 African-American Literature
42.228 African-American History
42.395 African-American Radicalism and the 20th Century
42.404 Slavery in Colonial America
42.404 Native American History
42.430 Caribbean Slave Society
42.431 The Caribbean in the Post-Emancipation Era
46.340 Native North Americans
08.220 The Caribbean Community in the Trans-Atlantic World (Honors course - Cultures and Literature
08.302 The Caribbean Community in the Trans-Atlantic World (Honors course - History)
Global and Elective Courses - students may:
Global courses allow students to link their knowledge in the United States with those in other countries.
Courses approved to date:
12.212 Spanish-American Culture and Civilizations
42.131 Asian Civilization to 1500
42.132 Asian Civilization since 1500
42.141 Modern China and Japan
42.143 Black Africa
42.354 Modern Japan
42.405 The Jews of Europe
44.371 Political Systems of Africa
46.102 Anthropology and World Problems
46.200 Principles of Cultural Anthropology
46.310 Aztecs and Mayas
46.450 People and Cultures of South America
To petition additional global courses not approved above, provide the director of the Ethnic Studies Minor with a course syllabus. The Ethnic Studies Committee must approve all global courses and internships.