Offered at: San Luis Obispo Campus
An Ethnic Studies minor provides students with special competence in the histories and experiences of historically marginalized communities in the United States, and with the critical skills with which to understand their complex social issues. Students majoring in subjects across the university curriculum find Ethnic Studies useful, particularly when their interests require a deeper understanding of race, ethnicity, class, gender and sexuality in the United States and beyond. The minor prepares students for careers in education, government, and community organizations among other areas; and, prepares them for graduate and professional schools in areas such as the law, social work, health, and the arts and sciences.
Program Learning Objectives
- Define and apply key concepts, contexts, and scholarship in Ethnic Studies.
- Demonstrate understanding of the specificities of heterogeneous communities shaped by and shaping the U.S. nation-state in addition to broad ethnic studies concepts and contexts.
- Apply inter- and multidisciplinary, comparative, and intersectional approaches to critically analyze discourses, practices, and institutions that maintain structural inequality.
- Communicate in writing and in alternative media one’s own arguments and the arguments of others within the field of ethnic studies and in at least one other discipline.
Minor Requirements and Curriculum
The minor must be completed prior to, or at the same time as, the requirements for the bachelor's degree. A major and a minor may not be taken in the same degree program, and a minor is not required for a degree. Requirements for the minor include:
- At least half of the units must be from upper-division courses (3000-4000 level).
- At least half of the units must be taken at Cal Poly (in residence).
- No more than one-third of the units will be taken with credit-no credit grading (CR/NC), not counting courses with mandatory CR/NC. Departments may further limit CR/NC grading if desired.
- A minimum 2.0 GPA is required in all units counted for completion of the minor.
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| REQUIRED COURSES | ||
| ES 1112 | Race, Culture, and Politics in the United States | 3 |
| Select from the following: | 3 | |
| Global Origins of Race in the U.S. | ||
| Introduction to American Indian Studies | ||
| Introduction to African American Studies | ||
| Introduction to Latina/o/x Studies | ||
| Introduction to Asian American Studies | ||
| Upper-Division ES Elective | ||
| Select any 3000-4000 level ES course | 4 | |
| Upper-Division Approved Electives | ||
| Select from the following: | 6-8 | |
| Art of the Americas | ||
| Asian Art Survey | ||
| Social Justice Art: Activist Cultures, Politics, and Pedagogies | ||
| Children's Development in Diverse Cultures | ||
| Intercultural Communication | ||
| Critical Cultural Studies and Communication | ||
| Intergroup Communication | ||
| Race and Rhetoric | ||
| Multiethnic Literature of the U.S. | ||
| African American Literature | ||
| Asian American Literature | ||
| Chicana/o/x Non-Fiction Literature | ||
| Latina/o/x Literature of the United States | ||
| Chicana/o/x Literature | ||
| Latina/o/x Poetry | ||
| Race and American Literature | ||
| Hip-Hop, Poetics, and Politics | ||
| Beyonce: Race, Feminism, and Politics | ||
| Race and Media Studies | ||
| Chicana/o/x Film | ||
| African American Genders and Sexualities | ||
| Chinese American Experiences | ||
| Filipina/o/x American Experiences | ||
| Cultural Production and Ethnicity | ||
| Queer Ethnic Studies | ||
| Gender, Race, Culture, Science, and Technology | ||
| Gender, Race, Class, Nation: Critical Computing and Engineering Studies | ||
| Indigeneity and the Land | ||
| Critical Race Theory | ||
| Social Constructions of Whiteness | ||
| Racial Capitalism | ||
| Special Problems for Advanced Undergraduates | ||
| Ethnic Studies: Theoretical Foundations | ||
| Decolonial Theory | ||
| Feminist and Queer/Trans of Color Theories | ||
| Indigenous Peoples, International Law, and Policy | ||
| Community Engaged Scholarship | ||
| Special Advanced Topics | ||
| The Transatlantic Slave Trade | ||
| Cultures of the African Diaspora | ||
| East Asian Cultures and Civilizations | ||
| Modern Middle East | ||
| Modern East Asia | ||
| A Cultural History of Southeast Asia | ||
| Colonial Latin America | ||
| Modern Latin America | ||
| Black History in the United States to 1877 | ||
| Black History in the United States since 1877 | ||
| Modern Korea | ||
| Modern Japan | ||
| Modern China | ||
| Southeast Asia in 20th and 21st Century | ||
| The History of Vietnam | ||
| Precolonial African History | ||
| History of the U.S. West, Southwest Borderlands, and California | ||
| Questions and Issues in Latin American History | ||
| Questions and Issues in Asian History | ||
| Questions and Issues in African History | ||
| Arabia and the Arab Gulf States | ||
| Imperialism and Postcolonial Studies | ||
| Jazz History and Theory | ||
| Chinese and East Asian Philosophy | ||
| Politics of Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality in the U.S. | ||
| Civil Rights in the U.S. | ||
| Social Movements and Political Protest | ||
| The Politics of Poverty | ||
| Intergroup Dialogues | ||
| Social Movements | ||
| Global Race and Ethnic Relations | ||
| Migration | ||
| Sociology of the Global South | ||
| Incarceration and Society: Perspectives on the Criminal Justice System | ||
| Chicanx/Latinx Works in Spanish | ||
| Chicanx/Latinx Works in English | ||
| Diversity in U.S. Theatre | ||
| Feminist/Queer Transnational Studies | ||
| Feminist Theory | ||
| Queer Theory | ||
| Humanities in World Cultures | ||
| Humanities in Chicanx/Latinx Cultures | ||
| Critical Issues in Latin American Studies | ||
| Total Units | 16 | |