Equity & Social Justice Programs

 

American Ethnic Studies	Gender & Women's Studies	Multicultural Studies
African American Studies American Indian Studies Asian American Studies Ethnomusicology	Gender Studies Women's Studies LGBTQ Studies	African Cultures Environmental Justice
Planning Sheet for American Ethnic Studies Degree	Planning Sheet for Gender & Women's Studies Degree	Planning Sheet for African Studies Degree
		Multicultural Understanding (25 Credits)   Multicultural Understanding (15 Credits)

 

 

 

American Ethnic Studies

American Ethnic Studies includes African American Studies, and American Indian Studies. We are currently developing programs in Asian American Studies and Latino/a Studies.  In all of these program areas, students develop awareness, knowledge, skills in issues of particular racial groups of various social classes, genders, abilitities, and sexual orientations, with emphasis on social action.

 

African American Studies is an academic discipline where students examine in depth issues of race, gender, social class and cultural diversity throughout the African diaspora. We pay specific attention to the historical, cultural, intellectual, and social development of people of African descent. Students will examine the Black experience, dominant U.S. culture, and continuities and commonalities across national and racial borders.

 

American Indian Studies is an academic discipline focused on the histories, languages, cultures, environments, arts and contemporary situations of American Indian nations and people. The discipline is designed to protect the integrity, identity and sovereignty of the indigenous peoples in the America and to create a learning environment conducive to critical and creative thought. 

 

Asian American Studies examines the historical and contemporary experiences of Asians leaving their countries of origin, arriving in the United States, and creating a new life in America.  This includes those who trace their origins to east, south, and southeast Asia, as well as the Pacific Islands.  We will explore the history, culture, politics, and social organization of Asian American communities.  The courses are experiential and community based.

 

Ethnomusicology is a discipline devoted to the study of social and cultural aspects of traditional, popular, and immigrant music and dance in countries all over the world.  We seek to understand the whole human process within which music is imagined, discussed and made, and to relate specific musical sounds, behaviors and ideas to their broader social, cultural and political contexts. Latino/a Studies is under development; check with a faculty member for updates.

 

Gender & Women's Studies

Gender and Women's Studies focuses on the study of gender as a central aspect of human existence.  How does gender affect the conditions of our lives?  When analysis of these conditions reveals discrimination, how can we create change?

 

Gender Studies highlights the system of sex/gender construction and focuses on femininities and masculinities.  The field examines how these social categories structure patterns of power.  Gender Studies challenges the woman/man dualism and acknowledges multiple gender identities, including transgender identities.

 

Women's Studies makes visible the process by which we are shaped as gendered beings, and examines the institutions that participate in this shaping: family, education, employment, politics, the media, etc. 

 

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender  Queer Studies is under development; check with a faculty member for updates.

 

Multicultural Studies

Multicultural Studies is a discipline that helps us understand how race, social class, gender, and sexual orientation impact our access to power and privilege.  We begin with a focus on where we live and work now, and expand our awareness, knowledge and skills from there.

 

African Studies focuses on specific cultures and nations of the African continent, by exploring their experiences in the context of the post-colonial African diaspora. Issues of racial and national identity formation, economic justice, political power, and social privilege are addressed in both contemporary and historical contexts. The aim is to guide students towards more informed and ethical decision making, and active citizenship, in order to foster greater equity and justice in the modern world.

 

Environmental Justice is an interdisciplinary, problem-solving approach that identifies and examines how inequalities arise in an environmental context. Environmental problems cross disciplinary lines as well as local, regional and national boundaries. Environmental Justice examines the historical, scientific, social, legal, cultural, and political complexities of the relationship between people and the environment Taking a single disciplinary approach cannot solve the social, political and environmental problems; therefore, EJ draws on the frameworks of many disciplines to solve and understand these complex problems.