Ethnic & Social Justice Studies

A transfer degree in African American Studies gives students an opportunity to receive critical transdisciplinary training with curriculum that focuses on the histories, cultures, politics, and intellectual traditions of the African Diaspora with an especial focus on the racialization of Black bodies. African American Studies, also called Black Studies or Africana Studies, is a key field of study that generates innovative paradigms for the social sciences and the humanities. Students who major in this degree are afforded a global appreciation and awareness of Blackness, which includes centering knowledge produced by African Americans and Black scholars nationally and globally. Taking African American Studies classes provides a holistic understanding of the African and African American reality. It provides opportunities to develop higher level reading, writing and critical thinking skills, and prepares students to become agents of change in their community, in society, and the world.

Earning a degree in African American, Black, or Africana Studies can prepare students for careers in law, public policy, government and politics, journalism, education, public health, social work, health care, business, international relations, and many other careers.

Chicana and Chicano Studies was born out of the student movements of the 1960s and 1970s (Chicano Power Movement) and created as a space where scholars could see themselves represented in the curriculum and amongst the faculty. As a transdisciplinary field, it draws from history, art, literature, education, sociology, theory, and many more, to examine Chicana/o and Latina/o histories, contributions, and experiences. This degree centralizes knowledge produced by Chicanx/Latinx populations. It centralizes the national and global experiences of brownness, especially as it relates to migration, citizenship, border studies, and race studies. Students who major in Chicana and Chicano Studies expand critical thinking, communication, and civic mindedness through engaging curriculum that focuses on Ethnic Studies, arts, humanities, and social sciences. We prepare our scholars for future academic and employment endeavors to be successful leaders in their communities. Our scholars learn to be ethical and culturally competent leaders in their communities. 

Earning a degree in Chicana and Chicano Studies can prepare students for graduate school and careers in education, mass media, marketing, community development, community organizing, social work, medicine, public health, law, and a wide variety of positions in federal, state, and local government.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Studies is a program dedicated to the academic study of gender and sexuality. It offers coursework that explores queer and trans issues through an intersectional lens. It encourages students to think across established disciplines in order to understand the meaning of gender and sexuality in society. Topics range from the histories of queer and trans identities to contemporary LGBTQIA+ activist movements and representations of queer and trans people in music, literature, and art. The curriculum includes the study of power and power movements, gender and sexuality, gender within race identity, gender theory, gender and ableness, and discrimination based on sexuality or gender presentation. This degree centralizes the national and global experiences of queerness, which is especially needed in light of the anti-LGBTQ+ laws that are being established across the United States.

Students who earn a degree in LGBTQ+ Studies will be on the forefront for advocating education and change that will counter the ignorance and bigotry making its way into law. Earning a degree in LGBTQ+ Studies prepares students for graduate school and careers in research, education, nonprofit work, journalism, news and media, advocate work, politics, law, social work, medicine, public health and more.