Active Outline

General Information

Course ID (CB01A and CB01B)
CETHD010.
Course Title (CB02)
Introduction to Ethnic Studies
Course Credit Status
Credit - Degree Applicable
Effective Term
Fall 2024
Course Description
This ethnic studies course is an interdisciplinary examination of major concepts and controversies in the study of race, racial inequality, and racism in the United States. Students will explore race and ethnicity as historical and contemporary categories of identiï¬Âcation, focusing on the lived experiences and racialized subordination of African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinx Americans, and Native Americans. Students will analyze intersecting processes of subordination, paying attention to race, class, gender, religion, national origin, citizenship, and language. Students will examine resistance, community organizing, social movements, and policy debates to assess and engage in efforts for racial equity, social justice, and self-determination.
Faculty Requirements
Course Family
Not Applicable

Course Justification

This course meets the general education requirements for °®¶¹´«Ã½, CSU GE, and IGETC. It is UC and CSU transferable. It also serves as a required course for the A.A. degree in Intercultural Studies. It is an introductory course to the ï¬Âeld of ethnic studies and provides a comparative and systemic approach to analyzing racism and racial inequality in the United States.

Foothill Equivalency

Does the course have a Foothill equivalent?
Yes
Foothill Course ID
SOC F023.

Course Philosophy

Formerly Statement

Formerly Statement
(Formerly ICS D004.)

Course Development Options

Basic Skill Status (CB08)
Course is not a basic skills course.
Grade Options
  • Letter Grade
  • Pass/No Pass
Repeat Limit
0

Transferability & Gen. Ed. Options

Transferability
Transferable to both UC and CSU
°®¶¹´«Ã½ GEArea(s)StatusDetails
2GDX°®¶¹´«Ã½ GE Area D - Social and Behavioral SciencesApproved
CSU GEArea(s)StatusDetails
CGDYCSU GE Area D - Social SciencesApproved
CGFXCSU GE Area F - Ethnic StudiesApproved
IGETCArea(s)StatusDetails
IG4XIGETC Area 4 - Social and Behavioral SciencesApproved
IG7XIGETC Area 7 - Ethnic StudiesApproved
C-IDArea(s)StatusDetails
SOCISociologyApprovedC-ID SOCI 150

Units and Hours

Summary

Minimum Credit Units
4.0
Maximum Credit Units
4.0

Weekly Student Hours

TypeIn ClassOut of Class
Lecture Hours4.08.0
Laboratory Hours0.00.0

Course Student Hours

Course Duration (Weeks)
12.0
Hours per unit divisor
36.0
Course In-Class (Contact) Hours
Lecture
48.0
Laboratory
0.0
Total
48.0
Course Out-of-Class Hours
Lecture
96.0
Laboratory
0.0
NA
0.0
Total
96.0

Prerequisite(s)

Corequisite(s)

Advisory(ies)

EWRT D001A or EWRT D01AH or ESL D005.

Limitation(s) on Enrollment

Entrance Skill(s)

General Course Statement(s)

(See general education pages for the requirements this course meets.)

Methods of Instruction

Lecture and visual aids.

Discussion of assigned readings.

Collaborative learning and small group exercises.

Discussion of course topics and videos in relation to real life examples drawn from students' experiences and observations.

Quiz and examination review performed in class.

Guest speakers

Field observation and field trips

In-class essays

In-class exploration of Internet sites

Assignments

  1. Readings from the primary text and supplemental articles, reports, handouts, online sites, and videos.
  2. Quizzes, exams, and/or written assignments such as:
    1. Short commentaries based on assigned questions, readings, and videos.
    2. Reflections that examine personal learning experiences in the course and in relation to course material.
    3. Analytical essays that explicate and apply key course topics and themes, describe involvement in community activities and synthesize research findings.
    4. Summaries of key ideas drawn from assigned readings and videos.
    5. Peer feedback on the work of classmates. 
  3. Group projects and presentations that incorporate topics, themes, arguments, and points of view introduced by the course in order to analyze and evaluate patterns of racial inequality and racism in the U.S. and societal efforts at racial equity and social justice.
  4. Collaborative exercises based on the above-listed writing assignments and/or in-class activities.

Methods of Evaluation

  1. Participation in class discussions and collaborative exercises to be evaluated on engagement with course material, respect for fellow classmates, and completion of exercises.
  2. Quizzes, exams, and written assignments to be evaluated based on the accuracy of responses, degree of completion, clarity of communication, precision and depth of analysis based on the course material, personal reflection, involvement in community activities, and research findings.
  3. Group projects and presentations to be evaluated based on rubric focusing on the degree of completion, clarity of communication, the extent of engagement with the audience, and precision and depth of analysis based on the course material, personal reflection, involvement in community activities, and research findings.
  4. Final essay, exam, or project to be evaluated based on a rubric focusing on the degree of completion, clarity of communication, the extent of engagement with the audience, and precision and depth of analysis.

Essential Student Materials/Essential College Facilities

Essential Student Materials: 
  • None.
Essential College Facilities:
  • None.

Examples of Primary Texts and References

AuthorTitlePublisherDate/EditionISBN
Jennifer EberhrdtBiased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice that Shapes What We See, Think, and DoViking20190735224935
Eduardo Bonilla-SilvaRacism without Racists: Colorblind Racism and the Persistence of Racial InequalityRowman & Littlefield Publishers20211538151413
Moon Kie-JungBeneath the Surface of White Supremacy: Denaturalizing U.S. Racisms Past and PresentStanford University Press20150804795193
Natalia Molina (Editor), Daniel Martinez HoSang (Editor), Ramón A. Gutiérrez (Editor)\Relational Formations of Race: Theory, Method, and PracticeUC Press20199780520299672
Nada Elia (Editor), David M. Hernández (Editor), Jodi Kim (Editor), Shana L. Redmond (Editor), Dylan Rodríguez (Editor), Sarita Echavez (Editor)Critical Ethnic Studies: A ReaderDuke University Press20160822361272

Examples of Supporting Texts and References

None.

Learning Outcomes and Objectives

Course Objectives

  • Apply theory and knowledge produced by Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latina and Latino Americans to describe the critical events, histories, cultures, intellectual traditions, contributions, lived experiences, and social struggles of these groups with a focus on agency and group-affirmation in an appraisal of the origins, development, and impact of ethnic studies.
  • Analyze and articulate changing conceptualizations of race in the sciences as institutionalized constructions of naturalized racial differences (i.e. whiteness, blackness, indigeneity, Orientalism, mestizaje) as well as conceptualizations of race, racialization, and racism in ethnic studies with a transdisciplinary perspective.
  • Analyze and articulate social scientific approaches to racial inequality with concepts such as race, racism, racialization, ethnicity, and equity from multiple disciplinary perspectives, including theories and knowledge produced by Native American Studies, African American Studies, Asian American Studies, Latina and Latino Studies, and comparative ethnic studies.
  • Analyze critically the intersection of race and racism as they relate to class, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, citizenship, immigration status, religion and/or language in multiple social and institutional contexts, such as work, families, schools, and the criminal justice system.
  • Analyze societal patterns of racial and ethnic inequality using current and historical data to highlight the intersectionality of factors shaping life chances, such as race, gender, class, age, sexuality, education, citizenship, national origin, and geography.
  • Review critically how examples of struggle, resistance, solidarity, and liberation--as experienced and enacted by Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans and Latina and Latino Americans--are relevant to current and structural issues through comparative analyses of racial formations through U.S. state apparatuses, in personal narratives, and in community efforts for self-determination.
  • Describe and engage actively with anti-racist and anti-colonial issues, practices, social movements, and/or policy debates in Native American, African American, Asian American, and/or Latina and Latino American communities in their struggles for a just and more equitable society, through community involvement and/or participant observation, primary and secondary source research, class activities and discussion.

CSLOs

  • Analyze and articulate the concepts of race, racialization, ethnicity, racism, equity, and anti-racism in relation to class, gender, sexuality, religion, spirituality, national origin, immigrant status, citizenship, sovereignty, and/or language by researching a contemporary pattern of racialized inequality pertaining to one or more of the following groups: African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Latina and Latino Americans.

  • Describe and actively engage with an anti-racist and anti-colonial issue, practice, community-based movement, and/or policy debate through community involvement and/or participant observation, primary and secondary source research, and critical review of the experiences and enactments of Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans and/or Latina and Latino Americans in a current struggle for a just and equitable society.

Outline

  1. Apply theory and knowledge produced by Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latina and Latino Americans to describe the critical events, histories, cultures, intellectual traditions, contributions, lived experiences, and social struggles of these groups with a focus on agency and group-affirmation in an appraisal of the origins, development, and impact of ethnic studies.
    1. Intellectual project of ethnic studies and its formation in academic institutions nationally and locally.
      1. Social reforms and civil rights legislation in post-WWII and civil rights periods in the U.S.
      2. Analysis of inequality in the education system based on theoretical and politicized critiques of racial inequity, Eurocentrism, capitalism, and academic knowledge production.
      3. Case studies of ethnic studies departments and programs such as the 1968 San Francisco State College strike and De Anza College from 1968-1970.
      4. Survey of trends in social sciences scholarship and theoretical perspectives on Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latina and Latino Americans prior to the development of ethnic studies.
      5. Contributions of ethnic studies to the social sciences in terms of critical events, histories, cultures, intellectual traditions, lived experiences, and social struggles of Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latina and Latino Americans.
    2. Current conditions of ethnic studies nationally and locally.
      1. Intellectual and institutional changes and trends in ethnic studies from the 1960s to present.
      2. Ethnic studies at °®¶¹´«Ã½ College.
      3. Recent studies on the impact of ethnic studies
      4. Current debates over ethnic studies, such as requirements in California for high school graduation, the California State University system, and community colleges.
  2. Analyze and articulate changing conceptualizations of race in the sciences as institutionalized constructions of naturalized racial differences (i.e. whiteness, blackness, indigeneity, Orientalism, mestizaje) as well as conceptualizations of race, racialization, and racism in ethnic studies with a transdisciplinary perspective. 
    1. Development of race as a concept in science from 16th to 20th century and in relation to the period of encounters between Europe and New World as well as the development of Atlantic slave trade.
      1. Early modern taxonomies of "race," "peoples," "nations," types," and "species" by naturalists and other scientists in the 16th through 18th century.
      2. Changing measures of human difference (such as physical attributes, skin color, cranial size, intellect, moral qualities, psychological dispositions) that shape emergent notions of "biological race" in the 18th and 19th centuries.
      3. Emergent 19th and popular 20th-century ideology of race in the United States informed by scientific claims of distinct biological categories of innate human difference such as J.F. Blumenbach's five major divisions: Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Ethiopian/Negroid, American Indian, and Malayan (1775).
      4. Influence of scientific notions of race on social policies in the 19th and 20th centuries, such as Eugenics, immigration, education, and poverty relief.
    2. Changing definitions of race in the law from the colonial period to post-civil rights the United States.
      1. Institutionalization of slavery (i.e., status of "slave" and "free") and a variety of state laws defining "white," "black," and "Indian" based on changing criteria such as maternal lineage, blood quantum, and ancestry during the colonial, early republic, and antebellum periods of United States.
      2. Creation of racial qualifications for citizenship and naturalization under the law from the 18th century until the mid-20th century.
      3. Challenges to racial restrictions of citizenship, naturalization, civil rights, and equal protection under the law in 19th and 20th-century U.S.
      4. Changing U.S. census categories of racial and ethnic identification from 1790 until present in historical context.
    3. Evolving and comparative definitions of race and ethnicity within ethnic studies and with a transdisciplinary context. 
      1. Focus on the concept of culture within anthropology in contrast to race based on disciplinary debates about racial difference in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
      2. The definition of race and ethnicity as social structures and the emphasis on theories of racial formation and comparative racialization within ethnic studies, cultural studies, American studies, and sociology.
      3. Theories of ethnicity formation such as Horace Kallen's, Isaac Berkson's, Stephen Cornell and Douglas Hartmann's, and Victoria Hattam's contentions about the role of ancestry/primordialist claims and constructs of cultural distinctiveness.
      4. Post-structuralist theory and emphasis on discursive formations of race and ethnicity, as well as subjectivity within ethnic studies and cultural studies.
      5. 1998 American Anthropological Association's position on race.
  3. Analyze and articulate social scientific approaches to racial inequality with concepts such as race, racism, racialization, ethnicity,

    and equity from multiple disciplinary perspectives, including theories and knowledge produced by Native American Studies,

    African American Studies, Asian American Studies, Latina and Latino Studies, and comparative ethnic studies.
    1. National debates and social issues of racial and ethnic inequality in the 20th and 21st century United States.
      1. Definitions of racial and ethnic inequality that count as societal problems deserving of collective action.
      2. Context of civil rights movement and social reform efforts to address racial and ethnic inequality.
      3. Context of post-civil rights era and national conversation in 21st century about race and racial inequality in the United States.
      4. Identification and critical evaluation of claims of post-raciality in the context of changing political periods. Ex: post-Obama America.
    2. Contemporary theoretical perspectives on racial stratification with emphasis on sociological perspective.
      1. Functionalist approaches to stratification, such as Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore's ideas and critiques of their explanations.
      2. Assimilationist theories of ethnicity such as theories of Anglo conformity, segmented assimilation, and pluralist models of assimilation.
      3. Conflict approaches to stratification, such as class and race conflict models.
      4. Cultural analyses of social stratification, such as social reproduction approaches.
    3. Critiques of racial inequality based on theories of the origin of racism (i.e., racial inequality and ideology) in the U.S. from a historical socio-cultural approach.
      1. Analysis and critique of contemporary racial discourse in the U.S. based on articulations of biologized racist ideology during the 19th century.
      2. Analysis and critique of 20th-century scientific claims about "race" as a concept distinct from the concepts of "culture" and "ethnicity".
      3. Analysis and comparison of formative and contemporary processes of racialization for groups in the U.S. in the context of subordination and domination. Examples of group experiences include those of American Indians, Native Hawaiians, African Americans and Americans of African ancestry, Mexican Americans and other Latinos, Asian Americans, and European Americans
      4. Examination of triangulation of racial formations among various groups, such as Blacks, American Indians, and whites in Southeast in 19th and 20th centuries; Blacks, Chinese and whites in American South in late 19th and early 20th century; and Japanese, Mexicans, and whites in West in early 20th century
    4. Theories of international and national economic divisions of labor and critiques of the capitalist system and race from the political economic approach.
      1. World systems theories and historical critiques of European colonialism and imperialism.
      2. Analysis of gender stratification, with theories of patriarchy and critiques of the capitalistic division of labor.
      3. Migration and labor market segmentation theories.
      4. Analyses of racialized and gendered migrant, diasporic, and transnational labor.
    5. Major concepts used in current theoretical approaches to analyzing racialized inequality and racism from multiple disciplinary perspectives, including ethnic studies.
      1. Concepts of and research on prejudice and stereotypes, implicit bias/association, and labeling theory, with emphasis on psychological studies.
      2. Concepts of and research on individual and institutional discrimination, and privilege with emphasis on ethnic studies, sociology, and critical white studies.
      3. Concepts of and research on racial ideology, racial formation, and racial identity development, with emphasis on historical, socio-cultural, and comparative ethnic studies.
      4. Theoretical and empirical inquiries into the debate over the relationship between "race" and "class."
      5. Idea of multiculturalism and critiques of its neoliberal ideology and its occlusion of dominance and subordination in social relations with emphasis on socio-cultural studies.
      6. Post-civil rights retheorizing of the concept of racism, including ideas such as structural racism, laissez-faire racism, colorblind racism, and modern racism, with emphasis on sociological studies.
      7. Rethinking of America's color line in terms of various models: white/non-white binary, black/non-black binary, white/honorary white/collective black tri-racial system.
  4. Analyze critically the intersection of race and racism as they relate to class, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, citizenship, immigration

    status, religion, and/or language in multiple social and institutional contexts, such as work, families, schools, and the criminal justice system.
    1. Discussions of industries, labor, and workplace.
      1. Studies of employment and migration in central cities/urban, metropolitan, rural, and suburban areas of United

        States with attention to the racialized and gendered "poor," "working class," "middle-class/professional," and "elite."
      2. Comparisons of histories, job positions, experiences, and self-identities along class, gender, ethnicity, sexuality,

        citizenship, immigration status, religion, language, and race.
      3. Stereotypes and social status by labor type across industries and in the workplace with attention to racialization

        across class, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, citizenship, religion, immigration status, and/or language.
    2. Discussions of home and family relations.
      1. Studies of division of labor and household expectations with attention to race, class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity,

        citizenship, immigration status, religion, and/or language.
      2. Comparisons of household decision-making and hierarchies with attention to race, class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity,

        citizenship, immigration status, religion, and/or language.
    3. Discussions of the education system and schools.
      1. Studies of academic achievement and family educational histories with attention to racialization and class, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, citizenship, immigration status, religion, and/or language.
      2. Comparisons of educational aspirations and student self-identities in schools with attention to racialization and class, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, citizenship, immigration status, religion, and/or language.
      3. Studies on stereotypes and social statuses of students with attention to racialization and class, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, citizenship, immigration status, religion, and/or language.
    4. Discussions of the criminal justice system.
      1. Studies of racial disparities in arrests, convictions, and sentencing with attention to cross-cutting dimensions of

        class, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, citizenship, immigration status, religion, and/or language.
      2. Studies of mass incarceration, immigrant detention, immigrant deportation, missing persons, and the death

        penalty in relation to Native American, African American, Asian American, and Latina and Latino American

        communities.
  5. Analyze societal patterns of racial and ethnic inequality using current and historical data to highlight the intersectionality of factors shaping life chances, such as race, gender, class, age, sexuality, education, citizenship, national origin, and geography.
    1. Operative terms for academic and general-public evaluations of inequality: concepts such as life chances, stratification, hierarchy, in/equity, equality, parity, under/representation, self-determination, civil rights, and social justice.
    2. Measures of social and economic well-being by race, gender, class, sexuality, education, citizenship, age, national origin, and geography.
      1. Employment and occupational distributions.
      2. Income, wealth, and poverty levels.
      3. Educational attainment and economic returns on education.
      4. Measures of health and access to health care.
      5. Distribution of descriptive representation in various arenas of the public sector (such as the criminal justice system; and executive, legislative, judicial branches of government), the private for-profit sector (such as corporate institutions), and the private non-profit sector (such as philanthropy).
  6. Review critically how examples of struggle, resistance, solidarity, and liberation--as experienced and enacted by Native Americans,

    African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latina and Latino Americans--are relevant to current and structural issues through

    comparative analyses of racial formations through U.S. state apparatuses, in personal narratives, and in community efforts for self-determination.
    1. Discussion and examination of the dominance-subordination dialectic in the scholarship of racial and ethnic groups, including the field of ethnic studies.
    2. Examination of the historical and contemporary articulations of racialized identities according to the U.S. Census Bureau, civil rights-era social movements, and post-civil rights-era debates over affirmative action, reparations, indigenous rights, immigration, citizenship, and racial violence.
    3. Study of identity formation and subject-making through theories of racialization in qualitative socio-cultural studies.
    4. Comparison of self-concepts, personal narratives, community-based campaigns for decolonization, liberation, and anti-racism by Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latina and Latino Americans.
  7. Describe and engage actively with anti-racist and anti-colonial issues, practices, social movements, and/or policy debates in Native

    American, African American, Asian American, and/or Latina and Latino American communities in their struggles for a just and more equitable society, through community involvement and/or participant observation, primary and secondary source research, class activities, and discussion.
    1. Examine historical and contemporary social reform and collective organizing efforts such as the abolitionist movement, the Niagra movement, the civil rights movements, the Black Power movement, the Chicano movement, the American Indian Movement, the Asian American movement, the Young Lords, the immigrant rights movement, the abolitionist movement, domestic workers organizing, ethnic studies campaigns, etc.
    2. Assess and evaluate contemporary social and policy debates such as mass incarceration, the corporatization of the criminal justice system, schooling and educational stratification, immigration reform, affirmative action, state-sanctioned racial violence, racial scapegoating during the pandemic, death penalty, tribal gaming, and tribal land claims.
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