College Requirements

Race & Ethnicity

The LS&A faculty added the Race & Ethnicity requirement in 1991 after long and thoughtful discussion. The faculty does believe that because racial and ethnic intolerance has fundamentally affected the development of contemporary American society and because its effects will continue to be felt well into the future, all students should take at least one course that deals on a fairly sophisticated level with topics such as the historical development of racism, and the social, political, and economic effects of racism and other types of discrimination.

In an article for the Spring, 1991 edition of LSAmagazine, LS&A Dean Goldenberg wrote that the faculty "agreed that racism is an urgent problem facing the University and society at large and that it is desirable that courses in the College address questions of race and ethnicity and teach students to think analytically and critically about such topics.... The aim [of the requirement] is to provide students with relevant information about an important social issue since the changing world and work-place the student will enter will require being better able to listen to and understand a diversity of voices."

Courses approved to meet the Race & Ethnicity requirement will address issues arising from racial or ethnic intolerance. In approving the requirement, the faculty of the College made the following statements:

Required content.All courses satisfying the requirement must provide discussion, consistent with disciplinary approaches, of:

the meaning of race, ethnicity, and racism;
racial and ethnic intolerance and resulting inequality as it occurs in the United States or elsewhere;
comparisons of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, social class, or gender.

Required focus.

Every course satisfying the requirement must devote substantial, but not necessarily exclusive, attention to the required content. Courses may meet this requirement by various means consistent with disciplines or fields of study, and faculty members from all departments are urged to think creatively about how their fields might contribute to the requirement.
Although it is hoped that many of these courses will focus on the United States, it is not required that they do so. Courses that deal with these issues in other societies, or that study them comparatively, may also meet the requirement.

Students who are new to the College of LS&A (that is, first time enrolled as an LS&A student) in the Fall Term of 1991, and thereafter, must (in any term before graduation) receive credit for one of the approved Race and Ethnicity (R&E) courses. Each term's listing will vary as courses are added or deleted by the College of LS&A Curriculum Committee. The College offers several courses taught by a number of different departments each term. Although the list of courses that fulfill this requirement varies from term to term, all such courses are designed to give students exposure to questions focusing on the meaning of race and racism, racial and ethnic intolerance and resulting inequality, and comparisons with other types of discrimination.

The courses that have been granted blanket approval for meeting the requirement are:

Afroamerican and African Studies

303/Soc. 303. Race and Ethnic Relations. (4; 3 in the half-term). (SS).

American Culture

212. Introduction to Latino Studies – Social Science. (3). (SS).

213. Introduction to Latino Studies – Humanities. (3). (HU).

214. Introduction to Asian American Studies – Social Science. (3). (SS).

215. Introduction to Asian American Studies – Humanities. (3). (HU).

216. Introduction to Native American Studies – Social Science. (3). (SS).

217. Introduction to Native American Studies – Humanities. (3). (HU).

240/WS 240. Introduction to Women's Studies. (4; 3 in the half-term). (HU).

243/WS 243. Introduction to Study of Latinas in the U.S. (3). (HU).

312/Hist. 377. History of Latinos in the U.S. (3). (Excl).

399. Race, Racism, and Ethnicity. (4; 3 in the half-term). (SS).

Cultural Anthropology

101. Introduction to Anthropology. (4). (SS).

272/Ling. 272. Language in Society. (4). (SS).

History

377/Amer. Cult. 312. History of Latinos in the U.S. (3). (Excl).

Linguistics

272/Anthro. 272. Language in Society. (4). (SS).

Romance Languages and Literatures

French 469. African and Caribbean Literature. (3). (Excl).

Sociology

103. Introduction to Sociology Through Race and Ethnicity. (4; 3 in the half-term). (SS).

303/CAAS 303. Race and Ethnic Relations. (4; 3 in the half-term). (SS).

University Courses

298. Race, Racism, and Ethnicity. (4). (HU).

Women's Studies

240/Amer. Cult. 240. Introduction to Women's Studies. (4; 3 in the half-term). (HU).

243/Amer. Cult. 243. Introduction to Study of Latinas in the U.S. (3). (HU).

Other courses are approved on a term-by-term basis. It is most important that you are careful to elect the section of the course taught by the faculty member whose name is listed with the course. Other sections of the course have not been approved to meet this requirement and may not be substituted. Courses meeting the R&E requirement may also help meet either distribution or concentration or composition requirements.

Advanced Placement credit can not be used to meet this requirement.

Fall Term, 1997 Race & Ethnicity Courses (10-Dec-98)

This list is subject to change by the College of LS&A Curriculum Committee.

Afroamerican and African Studies

303/Soc. 303. Race and Ethnic Relations. (4). (SS).

358. Topics in Black World Studies. (3). (Excl).
Section 001 – Economic History of African Americans.
(Whatley)

470/Film-Video 470. Cultural Issues in Cinema. (3). (HU).
(Ukadike)

American Culture

100. What is an American? (4). (SS).
(Scobey)

213. Introduction to Latino Studies – Humanities. (3). (HU).

214. Introduction to Asian American Studies – Social Science. (3). (SS).

217. Introduction to Native American Studies – Humanities. (3). (HU).

240/WS 240. Introduction to Women's Studies. (4). (HU).

304/Soc. 304. American Immigration. (3). (SS).
(Pedraza)

311. Topics in Ethnic Studies. (3). (HU).
Section 002 – The Writings of Latinas: Texts of the Borderlands. (Moya-Raggio)

314/Hist. 378. History of Asian Americans in the U.S. (4). (Excl).
(Nomura)

327/English 387. Latino/Latina Literature of the U.S. (3). (HU).
(Gonzalez)

351. Race and American Cinema. (4). (HU).
(De La Vega-Hurtado).

410. Hispanics in the United States. (3). (Excl).
Section 002 – Women in Prison: Gender and Crime Among Blacks and Latinas. (Jose-Kampfner)

Anthropology

Biological 361. Biology, Society, Culture. (3). (NS).
Caspari)

Cultural 101. Introduction to Anthropology. (4). (SS).

Cultural 315. Native American Peoples of North America. (4). (SS).
(Bierwert)

Cultural 447. Racism, and Human Nature. (3). (Excl).

Cultural 474/Linguistics 410. Language and Discrimination. (3). (SS).
(Milroy)
**retroactive add to R&E 3/11/99

Asian Languages and Cultures

Asian Studies 121/Hist. 121. Great Traditions of East Asia. (4). (HU).
(Murphey)

English

270. Introduction to American Literature. (3). (HU).
Section 001. (Kowalski)

317. Literature and Culture. (3). (HU).
Section 003 – Race and Gender in American Performance and Literature. (Sell)

387/Amer. Cult. 327. Latino/Latina Literature of the U.S. (3). (HU).
Section 001 – Chicano/a Narrative. (Gonzalez)

Film and Video Studies

470/CAAS 470. Cultural Issues in Cinema. (3). (HU).
(Ukadike)

History

121/Asian Studies 121. Great Traditions of East Asia. (4). (HU).
(Murphey)

197. Freshman Seminar. (3). (HU).
Section 003 – Gender, Race and Class in American History. (Morantz-Sanchez)

210/MARC 210. Early Middle Ages, 300-1100. (4). (SS).
(Squatriti)

378/Amer. Cult. 314. History of Asian Americans in the U.S. (4). (Excl).
(Nomura)

460. American Colonial History to 1776. (3). (SS).
(Juster)

Judaic Studies

296/HJCS 296/Rel. 296. Perspectives on the Holocaust. (4). (HU).
(Ginsburg)

Linguistics

410/Cultural Anthropology 474. Language and Discrimination. (3). (SS).
(Milroy)
**retroactive add to R&E 3/11/99

Medieval and Renaissance Collegium

210/Hist. 210. Early Middle Ages, 300-1100. (4). (SS).
(Squatriti)

Near Eastern Studies

Hebrew and Jewish Cultural Studies 296/Judaic Studies 296/Rel. 296. Perspectives on the Holocaust. (4). (HU).
(Ginsburg)

Philosophy

355. Contemporary Moral Problems. (4). (HU).
(Railton)

455. Contemporary Moral Problems. (4). (Excl).
(Railton)

Political Science

497. Undergraduate Seminar in Comparative and Foreign Government. (3). (Excl).
Section 001 – Ethnicity and Politics in the Former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. (Gitelman)

Psychology

120. First-Year Seminar in Psychology as a Social Science. (3). (SS).
Section 011 – I, Too, Sing America: Culture and Psychology. (Behling)
Section 013 – The Psychology of Culture, Power, and Human Relations. (Beale)
Section 014- Racism Underground: Hidden and Not So Hidden Prejudice in America. (Denise Sekaquaptewa)

**Section 014 added retroactively 1998 November

501. Special Problems in Psychology as a Social Science. (1-4). (Excl).
Section 005 – African-American Women in Context. (3 credits). (Hunter)

Religion

296/HJCS 296/Judaic Studies 296. Perspectives on the Holocaust. (4). (HU).
(Ginsburg)

Residential College

Core 100. First-Year Seminar.
Section 011 – Writing About Cultural Communities. (Larimore)
Section 013 – Rethinking American History: The Asian American Experience. (Nomura)

Humanities 317. The Writings of Latinas. (4). (HU).
Section 001 – Texts of the Borderlands. (Moya-Raggio)

Romance Languages and Literatures

French 363. Caribbean Studies. (3). (Excl).
Section 001 – Desiring Across Borders: Métissage, Gender, and Identity in the French Caribbean (in French). (Hayes)

Russian and East European Studies (REES)

490/Soc. 490/WS 492. Women and Islam: A Sociological Perspective. (3). (Excl).
(Göçek)

Slavic Languages and Literatures

Slavic Surveys 225. Arts and Cultures of Central Europe. (3). (HU). (Carpenter, Toman, Eagle)

Sociology

100. Principles of Sociology. (4). (SS).
Section 001. (Kimeldorf)
Section 020. (Hasso)

105. First Year Seminar in Sociology. (3). (SS).
Section 001 – Transforming America Then and Now. (Pedraza)
Section 002 – Intergroup Relations, Conflict, and Community Building. (Schoem)

195. Principles of Sociology. (Honors). (4). (SS).
(Harris)

205. Poverty, Race, and Health. (3). (Excl).
(Williams)

303/CAAS 303. Race and Ethnic Relations. (4). (SS).

304/Amer. Cult. 304. American Immigration. (3). (SS).
(Pedraza)

490/REES 490/WS 492. Women and Islam: A Sociological Perspective. (3). (Excl).
(Göçek)

University Courses

151. First-Year Social ScienceSeminar. (3). (SS).
Section 006 – Race and Power in the Americas. (Skurski)

Women's Studies

240/Amer. Cult. 240. Introduction to Women's Studies. (4). (HU).

346. African-American Women in Context. (3). (SS).
(Hunter)

483. Special Topics. (3). (Excl).
Section 001 – Women in Prison: Gender and Crime Among Blacks and Latinas. (Jose-Kampfner)
492/Soc. 490/REES 490. Women and Islam: A Sociological Perspective. (3). (Excl).
(Goçek)

Natural Resources and Environment

While this course may be used to satisfy the R&E requirement, the course credits count as non-LS&A.

492. Environmental Justice: Domestic and International. (3). (non-LS&A). (Bryant)

University of Michigan | College of LS&A | Student Academic Affairs |

This page maintained by LSA Academic Information and Publications, G415 Mason Hall