Ethnic Studies

The Ethnic Studies Associate in Arts Degree is designed to provide students a holistic and transdisciplinary education with a focus on the historical and contemporary relational experiences of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in the United States. Ethnic Studies is committed to critical theorizations of race, racism, and white supremacy as foundational elements of modern social formations. Through an intersectional analysis, students examine ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality and interrogate interlocking systems of oppression in order to unsettle and disrupt them. Ethnic Studies cultivates activist-scholars by providing students opportunities to bridge academic study with community engagement. Graduates develop a liberatory vision for social change and acquire skills in community-centered leadership, media literacy, critical and creative thinking, and an ability to advance social justice for BIPOC. The major prepares students for transfer and career pathways that serve BIPOC populations in areas/fields such as education and research, community advocacy, union organizing, city planning and housing development, health and human services, mediation and conflict resolution, marketing and communications, law and policy, fine and performing arts, multicultural affairs, and more. This degree requires a total of 18 units, in addition to other graduation requirements.