St. Lawrence University: United States Cultural and Ethnic Studies

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Minor Requirements Combined Major Advisory Board Return to Academics	United States Cultural and Ethnic Studies Minor offered United States ethnic studies is a program designed to engage students in a critical analysis of the United States as a society with multiple, overlapping and contested forms of diversity, and to situate that study in a global context. United States ethnic studies is a program that recognizes the contributions of ethnic, gender and queer studies in any curriculum that aspires to teach students about United States citizenship, culture and identity. The United States ethnic studies minor incorporates the ideological and pedagogical critiques of a unified “American identity” generated by ethnic, gender and queer studies. However, proceeding from the ideological premise that all identities are relational, United States ethnic studies courses provoke students to critique the boundaries of identity that are often implicit in identity categories based on race, ethnicity and/or gender and sexuality. We would like students to understand that the ways they identify (whether as black, white, biracial, Latino, Asian-American, African-American, Native American, gay/lesbian/bisexual or any of the other many possibilities and combinations) are constructed in particular historical and cultural contexts, and that no single identity is ever formed without an impact on other identities. We ask students to consider the historical and contemporary interrelations among the diverse groups that form the United States and we encourage students to think critically about how power, privilege and opportunity are distributed in the United States, especially along the categories of identity that are based on race and ethnicity. To that end, the curriculum encourages students to ask how categories of identity develop, how they change over time and how they continuously influence individuals, culture and social policy. Minor Requirements The United States ethnic studies minor consists of six courses spread across at least three different disciplines. All students must take Global Studies 102 (Race, Culture, Identity) and concentrate in one of two tracks offered in United States ethnic studies: African-American studies or comparative ethnicity. 1. Concentration in African-American Studies Students are required to take courses in both African-American history/social sciences and African-American forms of expressive culture. Two but no more than three courses can be chosen from each area. Students are required to take courses in at least two different disciplines. Choose two but no more than three courses from the following list (Literature/Expressive Culture): English 230. Introduction to African American Literature 238. Survey of American Literature 255. African-American Drama. Music 342. New Orleans Music and Society Performance and Communication Arts 255. African-American Drama Choose two but no more than three courses from the following list (History/Social Science): Government 351. African American Political and Social Thought History 263. African American History to 1865 264. African American History 1865-Present 273. Civil Rights Movement. Special Topics Courses 247, 248. Special Topics. Special topics courses offer students the opportunity to study specific topics in African-American studies when offered by departments. 347, 348. Special Topics. These courses are seminar-level classes offering students the opportunity to study specific topics in African-American studies when offered by departments. 2. Concentration in Comparative Ethnicity This track is designed to give students an explicitly comparative approach to the study of various ethnic groups in the United States. Students are required to take one of the following: Global Studies 250. LaFrontera: Cultural Identities on the Mexican-U.S. Border. 336. Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity. Sociology 112. Inequality. 228. Racial and Ethnic Groups. Students should choose two courses from two of the following three ethnic studies categories representing the study of two different ethnic groups: Choose two from the following: English 230. Introduction to African-American Literature. 238. Survey of American Literature. 255. African-American Drama. History 263. African-American History to 1865. 264. African-American History 1865-Present. 273. Civil Rights Movement. Government 351. African-American Political and Social Thought. Performance and Communication Arts 255. African-American Drama. Special Topics Courses 247, 248. Special Topics. Special topics courses offer students the opportunity to study specific topics in African-American studies when offered by departments. 347, 348. Special Topics. These courses are seminar-level classes offering students the opportunity to study specific topics in African-American studies when offered by departments. Native American Studies Choose two from the following: English 263. Native American Fiction. 344. Ethnic American Writers. History 229. Introduction to Native American History. 351. Iroquois History. Performance and Communication Arts 322. Native American Oral Traditions. Special Topics Courses 247, 248. Special Topics. Special topics courses offer students the opportunity to study specific topics in Native American studies when offered by departments. 347, 348. Special Topics. These courses are seminar-level classes offering students the opportunity to study specific topics in Native American studies when offered by departments. Latino and Chicano Studies Choose two from the following: Caribbean and Latin American Studies 104. Survey of Caribbean and Latin American Studies. Global Studies 250. LaFrontera: Cultural Identities on the Mexican-U.S. Border. Modern Languages and Literatures Spanish 241. Latinos in the United States. Special Topics Courses 247, 248. Special Topics. Special topics courses offer students the opportunity to study specific topics in Latino and Chicano studies when offered by departments. 347, 348. Special Topics. These courses are seminar-level classes offering students the opportunity to study specific topics in Latino and Chicano studies when offered by departments. Advisory Board Peter Joseph Bailey, A.B., New School for Social Research; M.A., Johns Hopkins; Ph.D., Southern California Professor of English and Chair of Department Andrea J. Nouryeh, B.A., Wisconsin; M.A., Columbia; Ph.D., New York Associate Professor of Performance and Communication Arts and Co-chair of Department and Coordinator of African Studies Donna Alvah, B.A., California ( Irvine); M.A., Ph.D., California ( Davis) Assistant Professor and Margaret Vilas Chair of History Martha Chew Sanchez, B.A., M.A., University of Texas ( El Paso); Ph.D., New Mexico Assistant Professor of Global Studies Evette Hornsby-Minor, B.S., M.S., Ed.D., San Diego State Assistant Professor of Gender Studies Mary Jane Smith, B.A., Georgia; M.A., Ph.D., Louisiana State Assistant Professor of History and Coordinator of U.S. Cultural and Ethnic Studies
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