Minor in Ethnic Studies in the United States (Spring 2008)
Department of History, College of Liberal Arts
Effective Spring 2008
General Information
Contact: Professor Nancy Gentile Ford, Director, 112 Old Science Hall, 389-4164, nford@bloomu.edu
The minor provides students 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.
Requirements
Core Courses - designed to provide students with a broad background of ethnicity in the United States.
Choose two from the following nine courses:
- 20.152 Growing up Other
- 20.388 Gender/Race/Class
- 26.490 Playwrights of Color
- 41.200 Geography of the United States and Canada
- 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
- 20.281 U.S. Latino Literature
- 20.287 Black Women Writers
- 20.334 Studies in American Literature (Topic: Whiteness in American Literature)
- 20.436 African-American Literature
- 42.228 African-American History
- 42.395 African-American Radicalism and the 20th Century
- 42.404 Topics in American History: Native American History
- 46.240 Native North Americans
- 46.311 Archaeology of North East North America
Global and Elective Courses - students may:
- Select or petition global courses
- Select additional elective courses from the core or focus lists
- Design an ethnic studies internship
Global courses allow students to link their knowledge in the United States with those in other countries.
Courses approved to date:
- 10.212 French Today
- 11.211 German Culture & Civilizations
- 12.212 Spanish-American Culture and Civilizations
- 41.100 World Regional Geography
- 41.102 World Cultural Geography
- 41.203 Geography of Australia
- 41.204 Geography of South Asia
- 42.131 Asian Civilization to 1500
- 42.132 Asian Civilization since 1500
- 42.141 Modern China and Japan
- 42.151 History of Africa to 1884-1885
- 42.143 Black Africa
- 42.354 Modern Japan
- 42.355 East Asia Since 1800
- 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
- 46.320 Contemporary World Cultures
- 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.