Race & Ethnicity: A College Requirement

The LSA faculty added the Race and 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, LSA 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 and 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:

1. the meaning of race, ethnicity, and racism;

2. racial and ethnic intolerance and resulting inequality as it occurs in the United States or elsewhere;

3. comparisons of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, social class, or gender.

Required focus.

1. 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.

2. 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 LSA (that is, first time enrolled as an LSA 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 (RE) courses. Each term's listing will vary as courses are added or deleted by the College of LSA 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).

Cultural Anthropology

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

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

French

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

History

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

Linguistics

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

Sociology

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

University Courses

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

299. Race, Racism, and Ethnicity. (4). (SS).

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 RE 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 1995 Race & Ethnicity Courses

Afroamerican and African Studies

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

457/Econ. 476. Political Economy of Black America. (3). (Excl).
(Whatley)

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

American Culture

102. First Year Seminar in American Studies. (3). (SS).
Section 001 – What Is An American? The Making of National Identities, Past and Present. (Scobey)
Section 002 – Race, Class and Gender in American History. (Morantz-Sanchez)

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

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

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

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

307/Spanish 307. Spanish for U.S. Latinos. (3). (Excl).
(Aparicio)

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

324/Engl. 381. Asian-American Literature. (3). (HU).
(Sumida)

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

Anthropology

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

Cultural 315. Indians of North America. (4). (SS).
(Bierwert)

Cultural 356. Topics in Ethnology. (3). (Excl).
Section 002 – Cultures of Colonialism. (Stoler)

Cultural 416/Hist. 476. Latin America: The Colonial Period. (4). (SS).
(Scott)

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

Cultural 474/Ling. 410. Language and Discrimination: Language as Social Statement. (3). (SS).
(Lippi-Green)

Communication Studies

202. Freedom of Expression. (3). (SS).
(Lowenstein)

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

Economics

476/CAAS 457. Political Economy of Black America. (3). (Excl).
(Whatley)

English

140. First-Year Literary Seminar. (3). (HU).
Section 002 – Native American Literature. (Faller)

381/Amer. Cult. 324. Asian-American Literature. (3). (HU).
Section 001. (Sumida)

Film-Video

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

History

161. United States, 1865 to the Present. (4). (SS).
(Achenbaum)

366. Twentieth-Century American Wars as Social and Personal Experience. (4). (HU).
(Collier)

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

383. Modern Jewish History to 1880. (3). (Excl).
(Bodian)

476/Anthro. 416. Latin America: The Colonial Period. (4). (SS).
(Scott)

Judaic Studies

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

Linguistics

410/Anthro. 474. Language and Discrimination: Language as Social Statement. (3). (SS). (Lippi-Green)

Near Eastern Studies

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

Political Science

445. Eastern Europe: Revolution, Reaction, and Reform. (3). (Excl).
(Gitelman)

Psychology

501. Special Problems in Psychology as a Social Science. (1-4). (Excl).
Section 001 – Cross-Cultural Psychology. (3 credits). (Stevenson)

Religion

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

Residential College

Core 100. First Year Seminar. (4). (Introductory Composition).
Section 009 – Writing About Cultural Communities, Ethnicity, and Imposed Categories. (Larimore)
Section 017 – Insiders/Outsiders. (Zorn)

Social Science 360. Social Science Junior Seminar. (4). (Excl).
Section 001 – Culture as Environment: Worldviews and Cultural Agendas. (Larimore)
Section 005 – Caribbean Society and Culture: Race, Class, and Gender Perspectives. (Green)

Romance Languages and Literatures

Spanish 307/Amer. Cult. 307. Spanish for U.S. Latinos. (3). (Excl).
(Aparicio)

Slavic Surveys

225/UC 173. Arts and Cultures of Central Europe. (3). (HU).
(Toman, Eagle, Carpenter)

Sociology

105. First Year Seminar in Sociology. (3). (SS).
Section 001 – Transforming America Then and Now. (Pedraza)

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

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

412. Ethnic Identity and Intergroup Relations. (3). (Excl).
(Schoem)

450. Political Sociology. (3). (SS).
(Derluguian)

University Courses

150. First-Year Humanities Seminar.
Section 011 – English Literary Treatments of Slavery and Servitude. (Moffat)

153. First -Year Seminar (Composition).
Section 004 – Writing About Cultural Communities, Ethnicity, and Imposed Categories. (Condon)

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

Women's Studies

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

483. Special Topics. (3). (Excl).
Section 003 – Women in Prison. (José)

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