Department of Ethnic Studies
Social Sciences and Education (sse)
Department Chair: Dr. Tracey Salisbury
Office: Education Building, 2nd Floor - Room 215 (EDUC 215)
Phone: (661) 654-2208
Email: djimenez-arredondo@csub.edu
Department Mission and Description
Ethnic Studies is the study of the histories, experiences, cultures, and issues of racial ethnic groups in the United States. The Ethnic Studies discipline emphasizes the social and historical study of race and racism in the United States, and it is defined by its attention to the systemic power relations that arise from institutional, cultural, and societal, contextually imposed or chosen meanings and interpretations of “race.” While the focus is on the experiences of racialized peoples in the United States, the department also understands that race and racism are not unique or exclusive to the United States and can be juxtaposed with academic parallels made beyond geopolitical borders.
The department faculty are committed to intellectually rigorous teaching, scholarly activity that is programmatic and consequential to the field, and inclusive and supportive activism and service. From an intersectional and interdisciplinary approach, Ethnic Studies advances, challenges, and examines the social dynamics of race, racism, structural violence, settler colonialism, legalized discrimination, gendered violence, assimilation, and the resulting influences and impacts of such processes in the pursuit of human freedom and social justice.
Moreover, Ethnic Studies provides an in-depth understanding of racial-ethnic diversity, Indigenous and liberationist epistemologies, community and identity formation, education, artistic productions, and activism on the social, legal, cultural, and/or public policy front(s). Ultimately, Ethnic Studies seeks to generate thriving communities grounded in radical love, coalitional solidarities, and co-created knowledge.
ETHS 1008 Introduction to Latina/o Studies (3) 
This course will offer students of all racial and ethnic backgrounds an opportunity to understand the historical, cultural, political, and economic contributions of Latinas/Latinos and Chicanas/Chicanos in US Society. Drawing from a myriad of research, literature, and collective experiences, this course will provide practical tools that help evidence the significance of Chicanas/os Latinas/os in the US. In particular, Introduction to Latina/o Studies will allow students a chance to better understand Latinas/os in the academy and US society at large by introducing them to the interdisciplinary field of Latinx Studies. Prerequisite: Completion of GE A2 and GE A3. Satisfies general education Area C2 Humanities and Theme Q: Quality of Life.
Requisite(s): Prerequisite: Completion of lower division GE Area A2 and GE Area A3.
General Education Attribute(s): C2 Humanities, GE (C2) Humanities, Theme Q: Quality of Life
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ETHS 1108 Introduction to Comparative Ethnic Studies (3)
This course will provide an overview into the field of Ethnic Studies by introducing students to the construction and development of race and ethnicity in US society, and how it relates, connects, and operates with other forces such as gender and class. Specifically, our class will be invested in finding the historical, political, economic, and social forces that have rationalized structural inequalities. Since this class is designed to interrogate the master narrative of U.S. history and culture, much of our readings and discussions will center the experiences and voices of First Nation American Indians, Black America, Latinx and Chicanx peoples and Asian Americans, to better assess notions of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In fact, we will see how racialized concepts are central to American life, recognizing their connectedness to other forms of domination. Through course readings and discussions, as well as class lecture and film screenings, we will familiarize ourselves with power relations as they pertain to the social construction of racial and ethnic identities. Satisfies general education Area C2 Humanities and Theme Q: Quality of Life.
General Education Attribute(s): C2 Humanities, GE (C2) Humanities, Theme Q: Quality of Life
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ETHS 1208 Introduction to Ethnic Studies (3)
On November 6, 1968, a coalition of student groups at San Francisco State University demanded that the university institute an ethnic studies program leading to the birth of an inclusive multicultural democracy and Ethnic Studies is an interdisciplinary and comparative study of race and ethnicity with special focus on four historically defined racialized core groups: First Nations, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latina and Latino Americans. This course will be invested in finding the historical, political, economic, and social forces that have rationalized structural inequalities and also examines racial dynamics as they intersect with gender, sexuality, class, and nation. Prerequisite or Corequisite: GE A1. Satisfies general education Area F Ethnic Studies and Theme R: Revolutionary Ideas and Innovations.
Requisite(s): Prerequisite or Corequisite A1
General Education Attribute(s): GE (F) Ethnic Studies, Theme R: Rev Ideas & Innovatns
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
ETHS 1308 Introduction to Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies (3)
This course will offer students an opportunity to understand the historical, cultural, political, and economic contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI). It will provide a brief history and selected issues of Americans of Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Southeast Asians (e.g., Vietnamese, Hmong, Mien), South Asian (e.g., Sikh, Pakistani), and Pacific Islander (e.g., Hawaiian, Samoan) ancestry. It will allow students a chance to better understand AAPI in the academy and US society at large by introducing them interdisciplinary field Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies. Satisfies general education Area F Ethnic Studies.
General Education Attribute(s): GE (F) Ethnic Studies
ETHS 1408 Introduction to Black Studies (3)
Introduction to Black Studies (ETHS 1408) offers a broad interdisciplinary introduction to important historical, political, cultural, and artistic issues concerning people of African descent in the United States and on a smaller scope globally. Students will examine the historical and cultural experiences of African Americans from the beginning of Ancestral Africa (circa 500 B.C.E) to 21st century Black America. Significant emphasis will be placed on developing an understanding of the role of protest and resistance in African American history and the influence of Black Americans activism shaping numerous socio-political movements of the larger United States. Through readings, documentaries, and discussion, the course will illustrate the multiple ways in which African Americans have helped build the socio-cultural fabric of America and through protest and resistance of oppression represented the true meaning of freedom in the United States.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ETHS 1508 Introduction to Chicana/o/x Studies (3)
Introduction to Chicana/o/x Studies is a focused, intersectional, and critical survey of Chicano/a history, political thought, and social activisms in the U.S. It examines the Chicanx community, the field of Chicana/o Studies and struggles to secure racial, economic, cultural justice. Satisfies general education Area F Ethnic Studies.
General Education Attribute(s): GE (F) Ethnic Studies
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
ETHS 2200 Critical Race, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (3)
This is a introductory course examining the interdisciplinary theories, and scholarly research and readings that help interpret, critique, and analyze racial-ethnic, gender, and sexuality concepts within the discipline of Ethnic Studies. Several theories will be introduced including intersectionality, critical race studies, feminist theory, queer theory, settler colonialism, race and racism, racial formation theory, postcolonial or diaspora(s), etc.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ETHS 3200 Research Methods for Ethnic Studies (3)
This is a survey course examining the interdisciplinary theories and concepts that help interpret and analyze racial-ethnic (along with class, gender and sexuality) as well as incorporating study of dynamics and relations, domestically and/or internationally. Several theories will be introduced including intersectionality, critical race studies, queer theory, settler colonialism, race and racism, racial formation theory, postcolonial or diaspora(s). Students will be introduced to social science methods for conducting research in racial-ethnic communities. Attention to various qualitative methods (i.e., focus groups, participant observation, needs assessment, field notes, interviews, and analysis of documents, texts, or archives) as a means to understand and contribute to empowering affected communities as well as learning ethical considerations for interacting with marginalized communities. Students will practice how to implement, collect, and/or analyze data.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ETHS 3210 Race and Resistance in the Digital World (3)
The course offers students an opportunity to explore and understand the complex issues of race, class and gender in digital culture within the United States and the ¿global¿ community. In particular, it will examine the relationships between race, class, gender and digital technology, and question how digital media serves to complicate, diversify, deconstruct and recreate cultural and social boundaries in the understanding of race, class, and gender, as well as, how concepts of race, class and gender are embodied in digital technologies. Students will examine tensions, anxieties and conflicts around race, class, gender, technology, and hegemonic culture, as well as the possibilities for alternative identities, communities, and cultures that digital technology offers. Students will create scholarly multimedia projects to express, reflect, and analyze their own attitudes on the issues of race, class, and gender in digital culture, and consider how living in a diverse society can function as a form of social and cultural enrichment. Further, this course will examine the ways in which race and ethnicity have shaped debates about politics, power, and digital technologies. Lastly, this course will emphasize how historically oppressed peoples use digital media to build community and struggle for social justice.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ETHS 3220 Introduction to Queer and Trans Ethnic Studies (3)
This course is an interdisciplinary history and critical examination of how queer and trans Indigenous people and people of color in the U.S. have been challenged and responded to capitalism, racism, sexism, settler colonialism, political marginalization, and anti-trans and queer violence. Queer socio-political movements and coalition building will be addressed as well as the forward and backward progress that has influenced and impacted queer and trans Indigenous people and people of color in American and beyond.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ETHS 3230 Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Horror (3)
The horror film holds a special status within popular culture, particularly in community of color. The art of fear continues to fascinate audiences, but the horror film is more than just a cheap adrenaline rush. This course will take an in depth look at the horror film from the classics to the foreign to the contemporary, focusing on the history and themes of the genre, specifically in relation to gender, sexuality, and race representations. Through diverse and insightful readings, screenings of selected films, and discussion and analyses of the films, students will gain meaningful insight into the representations of gender and race in the art of fear and its connection to our understanding of culture at large. There will be a special focus on African American and Latino horror films to help further examine the theoretical frameworks of gender, race, socio-economic class, sexuality, and other issues in society and culture. How does real-life horror and fictional horror reflect society and culture? How is popular culture used to reinforce and dispel stereotypes as well as subjective/objective beliefs/ideas in society? Lastly, students will be taught how to read, critique, and write about film and literature.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ETHS 3240 Neoliberalism (3)
Neoliberal ideology centers primarily on elevating the role of the private sector in the public sphere, deregulation, and reducing barriers to trade. Today, both major political parties in the U.S. have many neoliberal adherents as this political and cultural thinking has become pervasive. Critics of this ideology argue that it has had a deleterious effect on the well-being of people of color and poor people across the country, often pointing to the removal of funding for public programs aimed at helping these communities as well as to the way in which free trade agreements have led to restrictive and draconian migration policies and practices. Supporters of neoliberalism point to individual success stories and a legally protected ¿color-blind¿ meritocracy as proof of a triumphant ideology. In this course, we examine the processes by which neoliberalism came to prevail and is maintained in the U.S. as well as the political, economic, and cultural discourse that has emerged since its introduction. Special attention is given to how these policies and ideologies have impacted communities of color and how these communities have responded.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ETHS 3310 Climate Justice & Environmental Racism (3)
We will begin with offering a Critical Pacific Islands & Oceania Studies framework for exploring environmental and climate justice issues from an Oceanic perspective to give contexts to the role of white supremacist capitalist patriarchal institutions on Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander (NH/PI) communities in the US. This includes Native Hawaiians in Hawai`i, Oceanians living within US territories
(Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa), and COFA migrants (the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Palau, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands). Structured historically and thematically, this course explores the impact of environmental racism on NH/PI communities both in the US
and Oceania. Through reading primary and secondary source materials, students will learn to critically analyze
and interpret from liberatory frameworks (including an Ethnic Studies framework and Oceanic worldviews)
historical trends in environmental resource use in Oceania, understand the connections between imperialism and
militarization with a focus on the nuclear-testing era, and examine NH/PI responses and acts of resistance to
these oppressive systems.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ETHS 3320 NH/PI Youth & Community Activism (3)
We will begin with offering a Critical Pacific Islands & Oceania Studies framework for exploring Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander community activism, highlighting and
centering youth activist movements in the US and Oceania. We¿ll connect contemporary NH/PI community activism in the Central Valley and Southern California regions to state and national activist movements as well as to NH/PI community activist movements throughout Oceania. For example we¿ll learn about and hear guest speakers from organizations like the Central Valley Pacific Islander Alliance (based in Fresno, CA), the Southern California Community Response Team (formerly the Southern California COVID-19 Response Team) as well as the closely connected national group the Pacific Islander COVID-19 Response Team, Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (based in the Los Angeles, CA region), the Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Alliance, and the United Territories of Pacific Islander Alliance (a queer and transgender led Pacific Islander network of informal and formal organizations throughout the US and other parts of the world that began in San Francisco, CA and has a strong west coast presence). The course will highlight youth activism, especially in the context of higher educational institutions at places like the University of Hawai`i-M¿noa, University of the South Pacific (Suva, Fiji) to the CSU system and community colleges (like the City College of San Francisco) historically and contemporarily. The course is designed to hear directly from current NH/PI community organizations and leaders and learn about their ideas and definition of activism.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ETHS 3340 Filipinos and the Farmworkers Movement (3)
Grounded in Asian American Studies, (AAS) and Ethnic Studies frameworks (ESF), this course will examine
the often lost and forgotten histories of Filipinos and the farmworkers movement.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ETHS 3410 The Black Sport Experience (3)
The Black Sport Experience will examine the history and influence of sport and physical activity on the lives of Black people in the United States and beyond. This course will examine and critique the narratives and frameworks that shape and alter the sporting experiences of Black athletes, sport icons, coaches, owners, sport executives, sport media figures, critiqued and presented when Black lives are the center of discussion. Additionally, this course will consider the socio-political economic power that Black athletes have gained and examine what impact this has had on sport, the sport industry, and larger society. Prerequisite: GE Area F course.
Requisite(s): Prerequisite: GE Area F course.
ETHS 3420 Afrofuturism: in Search of the Black Fantastic (3)
This course will examine the historical and cultural aspects and effects of speculative fiction and futuristic ideology in relation to African Americans. Students will explore several examples of the centering of African Americans in science fiction and fantasy in the forms of short stories, novels, artwork, graphic novels, films, music, and television. Prerequisite: GE Area F course.
Requisite(s): Prerequisite: GE Area F course.
ETHS 3430 The History and Influence of Rap Music and Hip Hop Culture (3)
This course will examine how rap music and hip-hop culture has progressed from East Coast-based, urban underground art form and youth movement to become one of the most dominating musical genres and cultural influencers within the upper echelons of mainstream music and popular culture in America as well as abroad. The course will address how rap music and hip-hop culture have become integrated into mainstream society and analyze its overall influence on current culture in broad terms of race, class, gender, and sexuality. Prerequisite: GE Area F course.
Requisite(s): Prerequisite: GE Area F course.
ETHS 3440 Blacks in American Society (3)
An interdisciplinary analysis focusing on the role of people of African descent in contemporary American society. Subjects for discussion and lecture include the degree to which black people are involved in and influence such diverse areas as business, politics, religion, the arts, law, economics and the future of blacks in America.The course will also address on a smaller level, black immigrants and black people globally.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ETHS 3450 Black Popular Culture (3)
This course critically examines the definitions and development of black popular culture from the rise of blackface minstrelsy performances in the 1800s to the present day. The course will primarily focus on black popular culture in the United States but will also consider the work of diasporic authors and artists and the international implications of American media. The course will draw upon theories and concepts in media studies, cultural studies, and rhetoric to center the critique and discussion of black popular cultural texts such as television shows, films, music, poetry, theater, and fashion. Additionally, this course will investigate and interrogate social conceptions of popular culture, ¿authenticity,¿ Blackness, Black masculinity, Black femininity, Black queerness, and Black respectability.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ETHS 3460 Black Queer Culture and History (3)
This course focuses on the lives of Black Queer and Trans communities, their experiences and struggles as well as the cultural, historical, and intellectual contributions Black Queer and Trans people have made to American and global society. While for many years the narratives of the lives of Black LGBTQ people have been silenced and erased due to stigma and intersectional oppression on the basis of race, gender, and sexuality, scholars and artists in the past four decades have worked to recover the stories of Black Queer and Trans communities throughout the diaspora. The course will dive into scholarly and artistic works that highlight these cultural contributions, while also understanding the compounded systemic violence that Black LGBTQ communities have faced and continue to face. By the end of this course students will have a strong understanding of how systems of power work to restrict the freedoms of Black Queer and Trans communities,
and how Black LGBTQ people have lived, organized, and created in spite of and in response to these oppressions. This interdisciplinary undergraduate upper level course will utilize academic texts accompanied by poetry, fiction, film, television, and visual art to understand Black Queer and Trans subjectivities.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ETHS 3490 Black Power and Politics: From Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter (3)
This is a historical survey course of Black power and movements in America. The history, influence, and impact of Black socio-political activism and political power will be examined and critiqued in its historical context as well as over long-term historical eras in America. There will be a particular focus on anti-racism, social justice, civil rights, the Black power movement, the Black Lives Matter movement, and other actions of socio-political power created and led by Black Americans. Additionally, there will be a close study of Black leadership and grass roots organizing in the Black community. There will be a challenge to address effectiveness of Black power and movements as well as a space to suggest improvements or different tactics for collective power activism of Black America.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ETHS 3510 Chicana/os Latina/os in Higher Education (3)
This course engages intersectionality as an analytical framework and pedagogical approach to explore the histories and relationships between Chicana/o Latina/o students, families, communities, and the various school settings that comprise the education pipeline, with emphasis on high school, community colleges, undergraduate and postgraduate experiences. To this end, this course incorporates multiple disciplinary perspectives--sociological, historical, literary and cultural-to understand the experiences of Chicana/os Latina/os in schools. We will also discuss important epistemological shifts in education shaped by women
and queer Chicanas Latinas. With a focus on pedagogies that are grounded in spirituality, the body, experiential knowledge, queer identities, and/or borderland sensibilities, this course invites students to develop and present a research project that focuses on the education of Chicana/os Latina/s, or a topic that incorporates the lens of Chicana feminist epistemology.
ETHS 3520 Racialized Labor (3)
This course offers an overview of labor experiences of racialized people in the United States.Labor conditions of these populations today are intricately tied to occurrences in other parts of the world and in different eras, therefore this course includes a historical and transnational approach. Additionally, students will examine the ways in which U.S. political and economic imperialism have created the idea of exploitable ethno-racial groups in the popular U.S. imaginary. Students will be encouraged to draw personal connections to course material with the goal of examining the myriad of ways in which labor is organized.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ETHS 3530 Migrations and Diasporas (3)
Today, hundreds of millions of people across the world live in a country in which they were not born. People are driven or forced to move for various reasons including: jobs, political instability, violence, poverty, famine, and more. This course examines the push and pull factors that drive migration to the United States and the diasporic populations with distinct ethnic identities that emerge. The course begins with a review of the histories of migration and diaspora-formation in the U.S. and continues with an examination of contemporary migration and migrant/diasporic communities. Students will be encouraged to draw personal connections to
course material with the goal of highlighting the widespread impact of migration.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ETHS 3610 Native American and Indigenous Peoples of the Americas (3)
This course provides students with a historical survey of Native Americans and Indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere. Told from the perspectives of Native American peoples, this course examines historical accounts, starting with the history of Indigenous lands up to the 1960s. This course explores the cultural, social, and political systems of multiple Indigenous societies across the Americas, such as California Natives, Mesoamerican civilizations, and the Tawantinsuyo in the Andean region of South America, among others. This course examines important historical periods for Native American and Indigenous peoples, such as colonization, forced removal, relocation, termination, boarding schools, assimilation, cultural genocide, and the formation of nation-States in relation to Indigenous peoples.
ETHS 3630 Native American and Indigenous Cultural and Literary Production (3)
This course offers students a survey of Indigenous and Native American cultural and literary production from a hemispheric perspective. This course engages in an analysis of Indigenous literature, traditional and new innovations in music by Indigenous musicians, art, film, the revitalization of Indigenous sports, textiles, and other creative productions by Indigenous peopleswithin contemporary debates. Through a critical analysis of current debates, this course will examine questions of race and systemic racism, cultural appropriation, political and cultural
representation, revitalization and reclamation practices in and by Indigenous and Native communities, and self-determination and Indigenous sovereignty.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ETHS 4410 Black Feminist and Womanist Perspectives (3)
This course will examine major schools of Black feminist theory and womanist approaches to research and critique the lives and issues that Black women face within their own communities and broader society. The courses focuses on the origins, development, history and influence of Black Women's experiences, Black Feminism, Womanism, Black Feminist thought/theory, Intersectionality, Hip Hop Feminism, Hood Feminism, Black Queer theory, and the long historical practice of Black female activism and political dedication. Prerequisite: GE Area F course.
Requisite(s): Prerequisite: GE Area F course.
ETHS 4520 Bodies, Borders, and Genders (3)
This course invites students of all racial, gender, and ethnic backgrounds to research and write creatively about the embodied historical, cultural, political, literary, and poetic experiences of Girls of Color (GoC) and Women of Color (WoC) in the United States. Students will be exposed to a broad array of feminist theories, histories, and methods that intimately center the bodies, borders, and storytelling of GoC and WoC. Drawing from multimodal femtor texts, students will learn how bodies illuminate the intersections and futures of gender (transgender), borders, class, land, ethnicity, age,sexuality, disability, bilingual and bicultural experiences, nationality, citizenship, and sense of belonging. Equally important, students will be invited to engage in anti-racist, feminist, and decolonial research methods such as oral histories, Testimonios, Platicas, Autohistoria- teoría, and epistolary writing, to produce counter-stories, essays, and research compendiums for community and academic publications.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ETHS 4610 Indigenous Feminisms (3)
This course analyzes the contemporary experiences of Indigenous women from a hemispheric approach from the 1960s forward. From Indigenous-based frameworks, this course examines how Indigenous women engage with multiple strands of feminisms, such as community-based feminisms and decolonial feminisms, from their own voices and perspectives. Through this course, students will explore the strategies utilized by Indigenous women for representation and in socio-political activism. This course provides students with a theoretical lens to understand and analyze race, racism, gender, representation, identity, culture, gendered colonization, settler states, and decolonization from Indigenous-based approaches.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ETHS 4700 Special Topics in Ethnic Studies (3)
Advanced study in a specialized topic or contemporary issue in the academic field of Ethnic Studies (Asian American Studies, Asian Pacific Islander, Black Studies, Native American and Indigenous Studies, Latinx Studies) A course description will be available before registration in the semester offered. Students should check the class schedule for listing of actual topics.
Repeatable for Credit: Yes, up to 9 units
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ETHS 4800 Internship/Fieldwork in Ethnic Studies (3)
In this course, students will have the opportunity to meld academics with community fieldwork and service learning practices. Students will be placed in an organization that serves historically marginalized populations or under-served communities.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
ETHS 4908 Senior Seminar (3)
ETHS 4908 Senior Seminar serves as the capstone experience for majors in Ethnic Studies. The course also serves as a capstone for the student¿s general education experience at CSUB, reinforcing written and oral communication skills prior to graduation. Satisfies general education requirement capstone. This 4-unit capstone course draws on the interdisciplinary academic field of Ethnic Studies; recentering communities of color in historical and cultural dialogues, decolonizing and deconstructing history and society, synthesizing Ethnic studies frameworks and theories with other various disciplines, exploring how communities of color identity and address contemporary social issues within the complexities of intersectionality (i.e., race, gender, sexuality, age, ability, class). While specific course topics will vary, all will require students to demonstrate develop broad, integrative knowledge and provide opportunities for students to analyze complex issues, which integrate foundational knowledge, values, and methods from the broad discipline of Ethnic Studies.
General Education Attribute(s): Capstone
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring