ETHnic Studies

In this module, students will examine:

• Metanarratives (single stories).
• The impact of colonialism and settler culture.
• The postcolonial effects of “spaces and places” in relation to how land and communities are managed as possible gatekeeping or segregated barriers to access and opportunity.
• The self-perception and identity of black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) groups, topics of hybridity and mimicry within and across groups.
• Discuss how marginalized cultures reclaim their history, identity, language, and culture.
• Evaluate current and historical concepts of “otherness” and “anotherness.”
• Evaluate the legacy of segregation and the cycles of oppression and violence in at-risk communities in order to discuss ways to create healthy and safe places. 
• The concept of social identity and belonging as they relate to invisibility, visibility, hypervisibility, hierarchy, equality, equity, and intersectionality.
• Identify how interconnected social identities and institutional practices intersect to promote advantages and disadvantages. 
• How communities are organized through segregation and redlining, and how each of these are undergoing changes from gerrymandering and gentrification. 
• How cultural and aspirational values are fluid instead of fixed labels.
• Debunk some geopolitical misconceptions of “Orientalism” and The Middle East, differentiating between activism and radicalism and political freedom versus restriction and repression. 
• How marginalized and at-risk communities face violence, extremism, and social upheaval.
• Discuss immigration and migration within countries.
• Examine all forms of social justice issues that put communities at risk, like voting rights, criminal justice, economic justice, and environmental justice.