Comparative Ethnic Studies (BA)

Offered at: San Luis Obispo Campus

Ethnic Studies is an intellectual and political project that uses inter- and multidisciplinary approaches to understand and transform enactments of power, to which, in the modern era, productions of race and ethnicity have been central. The aim of Ethnic Studies is to provide students with an understanding of the historical processes (including slavery, capitalism, genocide, colonialism, nativism, war) that form the United States as a nation-state and as an imagined community, and their differential impact on diverse communities within local, national, and global contexts. The field of Ethnic Studies critically attends to research methodologies and frameworks of knowledge to examine how these legacies impact access to political power, allocate economic resources, and influence cultural expression. Ethnic Studies courses draw from and engage with a number of academic fields, including: post/decolonial studies, cultural studies, human rights studies, Indigenous studies, migration studies, legal studies, environmental studies, gender studies, sexuality and queer studies, and science and technology studies. Through a critical and comparative study of interlocking and intersecting systems of oppression embedded in the formation of the U.S. nation, students develop a greater understanding of the legacies of racism, discrimination, and inequity in the United States as well as of the movements for social justice. Students also learn about the diverse peoples of the Americas, specifically Indigenous and Latinx Peoples, and the African and Asian diasporas who have been historically displaced, disenfranchised, and silenced. Ethnic Studies seeks to provide a relevant education—one that has a deep commitment to justice, equity, and social and institutional transformation.

Housed in the College of Liberal Arts, the Ethnic Studies Department at Cal Poly encourages critical dialogue about race, ethnicity, and decolonization across the entire university curriculum. The department offers a number of courses that fulfill general education, Ethnic Studies, and United States Cultural Pluralism graduation requirements. A minor in Ethnic Studies is open to all majors and provides a useful complement to the differing types of inquiry used in the wide variety of disciplines throughout the University.