Sample Courses
- Racial Formation and Performance explores how race has been constructed in the United States through performances and displays of the body, including world’s fairs, minstrelsy, film, and tourist performances.
- Race and Ethnicity and the Law addresses issues of social justice and the participation of Asian Americans, African Americans, Chicanos and
Latinos, and Native Americans in the legal system. - Women of Color Issues and Concerns looks at contemporary social issues and feminism among women of color in the United States.
- History of Native American Education examines the historical conflict between traditional culture and knowledge transmission among Native Americans and the assimilationist education system and practices of Euro-American culture.
Hands On Learning
The ethnic studies program is dedicated to establishing relationships with communities of color both within and outside the university. While community service is not a requirement for the major, most ethnic studies students contribute to local nonprofits, often receiving credit for their work.
You may participate in a variety of campus organizations, including the Oregon Students of Color Coalition (OSCC), the Multicultural Center (MCC), and more specific groups, such as the Asian/Pacific American Student Union (APASU), Movimiento Estudianti Chicanos de Aztlan (MEChA), the Black Student Union (BSU), and the Native American Student Union (NASU), as well as the Coalition Against Environmental Racism.
Interdisciplinary Opportunities
Ethnic studies is one of the most interdisciplinary majors at the UO. “We offer an interdisciplinary perspective on race and ethnicity, as well as an opportunity to pursue those topics in greater depth than in traditional departments,” says program director Michael Hames-García. In addition to the introductory sequence and a class on theories of race, ethnic studies majors are required to take a breadth of courses from other departments that can include comparative literature, history, sociology, philosophy, anthropology, and English.