Ethnic Studies Courses

These listings are sourced from Curricunet, and some courses may not be offered every semester. For additional information, contact the academic department, speak with counseling or refer to the current Class Schedule and College Catalog.

ES 1 - Introduction to Ethnic Studies    ( 3.00 - Units )
An introduction to Ethnic Studies: an interdisciplinary and comparative study of race and ethnicity with a special focus on four historically defined racialized core groups: Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latina/o/x/e Americans. The course will review core concepts and frameworks from Ethnic Studies disciplines, such as racism, white supremacy, settler colonialism, imperialism, self-determination, liberation, decolonization, intersectionality, abolition, anti-racism, and more. Students will apply theories and knowledge produced by communities of color and typically studied in: African American/Black Studies, American Indian/Native American Studies, Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies, and Chicana/o/x/e and Latina/o/x/e Studies. The course will also examine examples of struggle, solidarity and resistance while engaging in current justice and equity movements focused on dismantling white supremacy, colonialism, imperialism, and other forms of oppression targeting communities of color.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)
  1. Apply theory and knowledge produced by one or more of the core four disciplines: American Indian/Native American Studies, Chicana/o/x or Latina/o/x/ Studies, African American/Black Studies, and/or Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies;
  2. explain the significance of the study of racial/ethnic groups in the United States;
  3. Describe and actively engage with anti-racist, abolitionist, anti-colonial, and anti-imperial thought, issues, practices, and movements.

ES 2 - Contemporary Ethnic Minority Families in the U.S.    ( 3.00 - Units )
Examination of the diversity of contemporary United States ethnic minority families with an emphasis on comparison and contrast. Family dynamics and processes will be the primary focus within the context of ethnicity. Adaptation and responses to dominant group social constructs and social structures will also be examined. Groups to include: African American; Asian American; Mexican, Central and Latin American; Native American; Middle Eastern American.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)
  1. Compare and analyze the demographics of families across the United States
  2. Illustrate the relevance of ethnicity in the examination of families across the United States
  3. Understand how social institutions affect families and structures across the United States

ES 3 - Introduction to Muslim-American Studies    ( 3.00 - Units )
An examination of the diversity of Muslim communities in the United States with an emphasis on comparing and contrasting their histories, cultures and experiences. Topics include: patterns of migration; religious beliefs and practice; acculturation and assimilation; political involvement; education and employment; 9/11 and its aftermath; relations with the broader Muslim world.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)
  1. Demonstrate understanding of the influence of media on the public perception of Muslims in the United States, and appropriate methods to change social perceptions
  2. Describe the diversity of Muslim communities in the U.S. by comparing and contrasting their significant properties.
  3. Identify relevant historical facts, concepts, images and issues, and analyze the future prospects of Muslim Americans.

ES 4 - Intro to Latinx Studies    ( 3.00 - Units )
A pan-Latina/o, comparative, and interdisciplinary approach to major themes and issues related to the Latinx community in the U.S., including: race and racism, indigenous culture, colonialism, war, genocide, migration, transnationalism, citizenship, identity, language, gender, family, labor, neoliberalism, education, expression, and resistance. A critical examination of modern Latin American history and indigenous and African cultures connected to the Latinx diaspora, including Chicana/o, Mexican, Central American, South American, and Caribbean-American communities in the U.S.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)
  1. Analyze the impact of European colonialism, conquest, and genocide of indigenous populations in the Americas on Latin American history, identity, and culture.
  2. Examine the role of gender and sexuality in Latinx culture, religious/spiritual practice, nationality, identity, family, and relationships.
  3. Compare and contrast the experiences of Chicana/o, Mexican, Central American, South American, and Caribbean-American communities.

ES 5 - Critiquing Race and Gender in Popular Culture    ( 3.00 - Units )
A critical examination of representations of people of color in popular culture, from historically significant to contemporary examples. Using an intersectional lens of race, ethnicity, gender, class, and sexuality, students will analyze representations from mainstream films, independent cultural productions, music, visual art, and social media, and how characters and communities of color are portrayed and interpret these images as consumers of media. Topics include Hollywood stereotyping, media influencing political and social events, cultural citizenship, and the role of new media, such as video games and social media platforms like YouTube. Students will learn how to critically examine and thoughtfully compare works, while using the lenses of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class to break down decode messages.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)
  1. Enhance research skills to critique representations of race, class, gender, and sexuality in popular culture;
  2. Recognize the historical construction of images of people of color in American popular culture and its effects in perpetuating racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia;
  3. Analyze intersectional representations of race, gender, sexuality, and class in aesthetic experiences, artistic expressions, or communicative practices as they relate to media-based cultural and artistic contexts

ES 6 - Introduction to Pacific Islands and Oceania Studies    ( 3.00 - Units )
This course is an interdisciplinary and comparative study of race and ethnicity with a special focus on the cultures, histories, traditions, experiences, struggles and resistance of the people of the Pacific Islands and Oceania (Polynesian, Micronesian, Melanesian communities) under the broader categorization of one of the four historically defined racialized core groups in Ethnic Studies: Asian American and Pacific Islanders. It consists of an examination of Oceania's history through the pre-colonial period to present events and issues. Key themes include: racism, racialization, self-determination, imperialism, colonialism, settler colonialism, decolonization, immigration, intersecting identities, resistance, justice, liberation, solidarity, and the creative expression of the people of Oceania throughout the diaspora. Groups include: Native Hawai’ian, Samoan, Samoan American, Tongan, Maori, Tahitian. Fijian, Solomon Islanders, Chamorro, Papua New Guinea, Palauan, Marshallese, and Native American.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)
  1. Analyze the impact of colonialism and settler colonialism on Asian American and Pacific Islander history, identity, and culture and various sovereignty, resistance and/or decolonial movements;
  2. Demonstrate an understanding of the intersection of race, ethnicity, culture, as they relate to class, gender, sexuality, religion, spirituality, national origin, immigration status, and more among the diverse communities within the Pacific Islands and Oceania;
  3. Examine various struggles, resistance efforts, racial and social justice efforts, solidarity, and liberation movements as enacted by Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders relevant to current and structural issues on communal, national, international, and/or transnational levels.

ES 7 - Women of Color in the United States: Introduction to Race, Gender, and Sexuality Studies    ( 3.00 - Units )
Critical examination of the historical and socio-cultural experiences of African American, Latinx/a, Asian American, Native American, Arab American, and Pacific Islander women through a feminist perspective. The course will study gender and how it intersects with race, ethnicity, nationality, class, sexuality, religion, and other systems of difference and power. The course will consider various issues related to how racism, capitalism, patriarchy, war, sexual violence and other systems of power intersect to influence the lives of women of color in the United States, as they may relate to work, family, politics, identity, resistance, and artistic expression. Students will also be introduced to Women’s Studies and the study of gender and sexuality

Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)
  1. demonstrate understanding of how race, gender, and class are social constructions.
  2. compare and contrast the historical and contemporary experiences of at least two of the following groups: African American, Latina, Asian American, Native American, Arab American, and Pacific Islander women in the United States.
  3. demonstrate understanding of how class, racial, and sexual politics intersect to construct women of color’s experiences in the U.S.

ES 10 - Introduction to Asian American Studies    ( 3.00 - Units )
An examination of the experiences and perspectives of Asian Americans from mid-1800's to the present. Major topics will include immigration, law, citizenship, racialization, colonialism, imperialism, war, family, political involvement, social movements, education, and employment. Provides a comparative context for understanding the panethnic movement.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)
  1. Analyze significant social issues within various Asian American communities.
  2. Learn about the diversity among Asian groups.
  3. Understand the immigration experience of these groups.

ES 11 - Solidarity in Asian American and Pacific Islander Communities    ( 3.00 - Units )
This course explores the core experiences, histories, cultures, and theories with an emphasis on solidarity across the broad and diverse Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities, including East Asian Americans, Southeast Asian Americans, South Asian Americans, Filipinx Americans, Pacific Islander Americans, and Arab Americans. Ethnic Studies, Asian American Studies, and Pacific Islander Studies frameworks and core competencies will be applied to describe critical events and intellectual traditions, including: AAPI solidarity within and among other ethnic/racialized groups; impacts of white supremacy and racialization; impacts of wars, colonization, and imperialism; intersectionality, decoloniality, self-determination, anti-racism, liberation, and sovereignty in order to build a just and equitable society.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)
  1. explain and access examples of Asian American and Pacific Islander resistance, social justice, solidarity, and/or liberation movements;
  2. critically analyze texts and theories related to Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies;
  3. probe an historical or contemporary event/issue involving Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders through an intersectional analysis of racialization and racism in relation to gender, class, national origin, sexuality, religion, citizenship, and/or language.

ES 12 - Chicanx and Latinx Expressive Cultures and Resistance    ( 3.00 - Units )
This course provides an interdisciplinary approach to the study of Chicana/o/x and Latina/o/x expressive cultures, whose composition spans differences along the lines of citizenship, race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexuality, language, and more. Readings and course material will cover Chicana/o/x and Latina/o/x representation, identities, and the role of race, gender, nationality, sexuality, and class in creative expression in everyday life and social movements. Key topics include resistance, self-determination, liberation, decolonization, sovereignty, transnationalism, imperialism, colonialism, and racial and social justice. We will explore these main topics through Chicana/o/x and Latina/o/x cultural expressions.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)
  1. explain and interpret the role of Chicana/o/x and Latina/o/x art, artists, and artistic production in their historical and cultural context;
  2. explain the relationship of some Chicana/o/x and Latina/o/x art and artists to social movements and political moments in U.S. history;
  3. describe and analyze the similarities and particularities of different Chicana/o/x and Latina/o/x art and artists.

ES 13 - Pacific Islander Expressive Cultures    ( 3.00 - Units )
This course centers cultural expressions of Pacific islander people in Oceania and the Diaspora. Using an Ethnic Studies and Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies framing, this course will center and discuss Pacific Islander creation and expressions in response to dismantling oppressive systems like settler colonialism, white supremacy, and racialization, while reclaiming and reinventing cultural and artistic narratives and identities related to themes of decolonization, sovereignty, anti-racism, self-determination, liberation, solidarity, and intersectionality. A centering of resistance, social and cultural movements, and intersectional identities through Oceania/Pacific Islander music, poetry, film, visual arts, dance, multiple forms of media, and the humanities.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)
  1. Identify the centrality of the ocean across a range of Pacific Islander cultural practices;
  2. Critically analyze the intersection of race and racism as they relate to class, gender, sexuality, religion, spirituality, national origin, immigration status, ability, tribal citizenship, sovereignty, language, and/or age in Pacific Islander cultural and artistic expressions;
  3. Critically review how struggle, resistance, racial and social justice, solidarity, and liberation, as experienced, expressed, and enacted by Pacific Islander American arts and cultural expression.

ES 21 - The African American Experience in U.S. History From Reconstruction    ( 3.00 - Units )
This course presents a survey of the history of the United States from the perspective of African Americans. It presents that perspective in the contexts of the experiences of Native peoples, Europeans, Asian Americans and Hispanics/Latinos after 1865. The course explores the economic, cultural, institutional, political history of African Americans from the post-Civil War period to the present. The African American relationship with national, California state and local governments will also be covered. May not receive credit if ES 21 has been completed.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)
  1. Evaluate and analyze the causes and consequences of political, economic and social change as they pertain to African Americans in the 20th century.
  2. Compare and contrast the intersections of race, class, and gender in shaping African American history.
  3. Demonstrate a body of knowledge about and critical understanding of historical events, issues, and ideas, which informed and shaped the experiences of African Americans in the 20th century.

ES 25 - American Indian History and Culture    ( 3.00 - Units )
Historical survey of American Indians in the United States from earliest times to the present day. Emphasis on Indian societies and cultures, Indian relations with predominant cultures, Indian movement for self-preservation, and historical background necessary to understand contemporary problems of the Indians. Emphasis on the Indians of California and the West.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)
  1. Synthesize factual information and historical evidence from a variety of sources and identify the connections between them.

ES 42 - Asian American History: 18th Century to 1945    ( 3.00 - Units )
An exploration of Asian American history from the 18th century to WWII. A critical and comparative analysis of the impacts of race, racialization, white supremacy, orientalism, colonialism, imperialism, war, social inequity, and migration on the first wave of immigrants from China, Japan, Korea, India and the Philippines. Special emphasis will be placed on labor and immigration policies, citizenship, community, social and political resistance, solidarity, and on the intersection of race, ethnicity, immigration status, gender, and class. This course will ask students to examine how Asian American history transforms U.S. history. This course includes analysis of the U. S. Constitution, Supreme Court Rulings, and California State and local government issues related to the rights of Asian Americans.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)
  1. Synthesize factual information and historical evidence from a variety of sources and identify the connections between them.
  2. Demonstrate a body of knowledge about and critical understanding of historical eras, their key events and ideas, and the process of change over time.
  3. Analyze the causes and consequences of political, economic and social change.
  4. Compare and contrast the struggles and contributions of Asian Americans in the formation of the United States and California, with other major groups like European Americans, African Americans, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Chicanx/Latinx.

ES 43 - Asian American History: Early 20th Century - 21st Century    ( 3.00 - Units )
A historical survey and critical comparative analysis of the impacts of race, racialization, white supremacy, imperialism, war, social inequity, and migration on Asian Americans from the early 20th century to the present. Major topics will include wars, refugees, immigration policies and settlement patterns, citizenship, laws, labor and socioeconomic class, decolonization, anti-racist struggles, resistance and solidarity, education, discrimination, and social identity. An intersectional frame will be applied, examining the role of race, ethnicity, immigration status, religion, language, gender, sexuality, and class. The course will interrogate the term “Asian American” and apply comparative analysis among diverse groups including Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, South Asian, and Southeast Asian. This course includes analysis of the U. S. Constitution, Supreme Court Rulings, and California State and local government issues related to the rights of Asian Americans.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)
  1. Synthesize factual information and historical evidence from a variety of sources and identify the connections between them.
  2. Demonstrate a body of knowledge about and critical understanding of historical eras, their key events and ideas, and the process of change over time.
  3. Analyze the causes and consequences of political, economic and social change.
  4. Compare and contrast the struggles and contributions of Asian Americans in the formation of the United States and California, with other major groups like European Americans, African Americans, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Chicanx/Latinx.

ES 52 - United States History from a Chicano Perspective I    ( 3.00 - Units )
A survey of the social, political, economic, and cultural history of the Chicana/o experience within the context of U.S. history from Mesoamerican origins to the Reconstruction era. Students will critically analyze the struggles of Chicanas/os in the historical development of the United States with comparisons to other groups. Students will also analyze and critique race and racism, colonialism and white supremacy, while also centering movements for sovereignty, self-determination and anti-racism. Major topics include European colonization, Indigenous cultures and slavery, the formation of the American political system, structural racism and segregation, the U.S. War with Mexico, and the American Civil War. This course includes analysis of the U.S. Constitution, Supreme Court Rulings, and California State and local government issues related to the rights of Mexican and Mexican Americans.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)
  1. Analyze the causes and consequences of political, economic, and social change.
  2. Demonstrate a body of knowledge about and critical understanding of eras, their key events and ideas, and the process of change over time.
  3. Analyze the causes and consequences of political, economic, and social change.
  4. Critically analyze the struggles and contributions of Mexican Americans in the development of California and the United States with comparisons to other major groups like European Americans, African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders.

ES 53 - United States History from a Chicano Perspective II    ( 3.00 - Units )
A survey course of the social, political, economic, and cultural history of the Chicana/o experience within the context of U.S. history from the Reconstruction era to the present. Students will critically analyze the struggles of Mexican Americans in the historical development of California and the United States with comparisons to other groups. The course will also include analysis and critique of structural racism, white supremacy and racial violence while also centering movements for civil rights, self-determination, and anti-racism.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)
  1. Analyze the causes and consequences of political, economic, and social change.
  2. Demonstrate a body of knowledge about and critical understanding of eras, their key events and ideas, and the process of change over time.
  3. Synthesize factual information and historical evidence from a variety of sources and identify the connections between them.
  4. Critically analyze the struggles and contributions of Mexican Americans in the development of California and the United States with comparisons to other major groups like European Americans, African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders.

ES 62 - The African-American Experience in U.S. History Through the Civil War    ( 3.00 - Units )
This course presents a survey of the history of the United States from the perspective of African Americans. It presents that perspective in the contexts of the experiences of Native peoples, European Americans, Asian Americans and Latinos/Latinas before 1865. A critical and comparative analysis of the impacts of race, racialization, white supremacy, gender, class, colonialism, imperialism, war, social inequity, and migration on African Americans. Special emphasis will be placed on labor, citizenship, community, social and political resistance, solidarity, and the intersection of race, gender, and class. Early African history, the trade in African slaves, and exploration of the political, economic, demographic and social influences shaping African American life and culture prior to 1865 will be examined. The U.S. government and the Constitution, the California government and Constitution, and other constitutional models for comparison and contrast will also be covered.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)
  1. Analyze the causes and consequences of political, economic and social change.
  2. Synthesize factual information and historical evidence from a variety of sources and identify the connections between them.
  3. Demonstrate a body of knowledge about and critical understanding of historical eras, their key events and ideas, and the process of change over time.
  4. Compare and contrast the struggles and contributions of African Americans in the formation of the United States and California, with other major groups like European Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Chicanx/Latinx.

ES 63 - The African American Experience in U.S. History From Reconstruction    ( 3.00 - Units )
This course presents a survey of the history of the United States from the perspective of African Americans. It presents that perspective in the contexts of the experiences of Native peoples, European Americans, Asian Americans and Latinos/Latinas after 1865. A critical and comparative analysis of the impacts of race, racialization, white supremacy, gender, class, colonialism, imperialism, war, social inequity, and migration on African Americans. Special emphasis will be placed on labor, citizenship, community, social and political resistance, solidarity, and the intersection of race, gender, and class. The course explores the economic, cultural, institutional, political history of African Americans from the post-Civil War period to the present. The African American relationship with national, California state and local governments will also be covered.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)
  1. analyze the causes and consequences of political, economic and social change.\;
  2. synthesize factual information and historical evidence from a variety of sources and identify the connections between them;
  3. demonstrate a body of knowledge about and critical understanding of historical eras, their key events and ideas, and the process of change over time.
  4. Compare and contrast the struggles and contributions of African Americans in the formation of the United States and California, with other major groups like European Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Chicanx/Latinx.