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The Ethnic Studies Program and the courses that make up its offerings
address questions of racial and ethnic identity and relations among ethnic
groups, and is supervised by a faculty committee composed of the course
instructors.
In order to receive Ethnic Studies credit a course must devote a significant
portion of its content to the study of subordinate racial or ethnic groups,
where a subordinate group is understood as one whose members are, or have
historically been, disadvantaged and subjected to unequal treatment by
the dominant group in a society, the latter understood as a group whose
members have superior access to or control over a society's economic,
political, or social power. Specific courses may emphasize the cultural
practices of one or more racial or ethnic groups or on the interrelationships
between subordinate and dominant racial or ethnic groups.
A minimum of ten course credits including:
- EST 123 (Introduction to Ethnic Studies). This
course should be taken as early as possible.
- Four core courses: ANT 101 (Cultural Anthropology),
EDU 240 (Human Relations), REL
222 (Religions of the World), and SOC 348
(Race and Ethnic Relations).
- Four courses selected from the electives listed
below, at least two of which must be at the 300 level and no more
than three of which may be chosen from one department.
- EST 485 (Readings and Research in Ethnic Studies).
Prerequisite: EST 123 and at least six additional courses that may be
counted towards the Ethnic Studies Major.
Required Courses:
- EST 123. Introduction to Ethnic Studies.
Examination of the meaning of ethnicity, race, and minority status.
The relationship between race, class, and ethnicity. The psychology
of prejudice. Structural discrimination. The evolution of ethnic interactions.
The course is interdisciplinary in method and cross-cultural in perspective.
This course should be taken as early as possible. MONAGAN
- ANT 101. Cultural Anthropology. Cross-cultural,
critical perspective on human behavior and culture. Diversity of human
cultures from hunter-gatherers to industrialized city dwellers. Implications
of economic, social, political, symbolic, and religious systems for
the lives of men and women. Emphasis on Non-Western cultures. (Social
Science) MONAGAN
- EDU 240. Human Relations. The study of
prejudice and discrimination in race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age,
and sexuality. Topics include the ways of life, history, cultural contributions,
and educational experiences of Americans with African, Hispanic, Asian,
and Native American Indian ancestry. A careful study of individual and
group values, lifestyles, cultural and sexual diversity, and persons
with handicapping conditions. Six hours of observation-practicum. (Social
Science) DAMON-MOORE or HIGHLAND
- REL 222. Religions of the World. Comparative
in-depth survey of the major world religions, including the monotheistic
traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; the Indo-European traditions
of India, Persia, and Greece; and the religions of East Asia. Systematic
attention to historical interrelations among traditions as well as differences
in worldview and the significance of these differences for understanding
human nature and culture. (Humanities) VERNOFF
- SOC 348. Race and Ethnic Relations. Various
theoretical perspectives on race and ethnic relations, focusing on the
United States. Topics include immigration policy, civil rights and social
change, treaty rights and assimilation, prejudice and discrimination,
cultural pluralism and ethnic conflict. Prerequisite: SOC 101 or EST
123. (Social Science) OLSON [Hierarchy]
- EST 485. Readings/Research in Ethnic Studies.
Student-designed individual research in selected areas. Focus to be
a research paper or project whose subject matter has been approved both
by the professor directing the paper/project and by the Ethnic Studies
Program Committee. May be taken under the direction of any professor
currently offering courses listed as part of the Ethnic Studies Major.
Prerequisites: a declared major in Ethnic Studies, EST 123 and at least
six additional courses that may be counted towards the Ethnic Studies
Major, permission of the instructor, and approval by the Ethnic Studies
Program Committee.
Elective Courses:
- ANT 202. Indigenous Peoples and Cultures of North America.
Ethnographic survey of the sociocultural systems developed by indigenous
Americans north of Mexico. Ecological factors, subsistence practices,
social organizations, and belief systems, along with contemporary issues
of change, contact, and cultural survival. Offered every third year.
(Social Science)
- ANT 206. West Indian People and Culture. Ethnographic examination
of the descendants of East Indian and Chinese indentured servants, and
African slaves. Topics include maroonage, retentions, kinship and gender
roles, the spirit world, fiesta, and cultural pluralism. Registration,
when the course is taught off campus, entails additional costs. Prerequisites:
ANT 101 and permission of instructor. Alternate years. (Social Science)
MONAGAN
- ANT 208. Cross-Cultural Love and Family. Cross-cultural examination
of family and kinship systems, with a focus on mixed families in the
United States, the West Indies, and Brazil. Implications for kinship,
syncretism, social stratification, values, and the cultural definitions
of race, color, and ethnicity. Offered every third year. (Social Science)
MONAGAN
- ANT 275. The Black Woman in America. Focus on the cultural
perceptions and societal roles of Black women in the United States and
in the Caribbean. Slavery, maroonage, kinship, religion, aging, social
activism, and feminism are among the topics covered. Anthropological
literature is augmented by historical, autobiographical, and literary
sources. Offered every third year. (Social Science) MONAGAN
- ART 202 Ceramics I, when taught in Mexico. Complete process
from preparation of clay to glaze firing, using a variety of techniques.
Registration, when the course is taught in Mexico, entails additional costs. May be repeated as ART 302. (Fine Arts) HANSON [SA]
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Ophelia Morales demonstrates her work to Cornell students
Bradley Olin and Stephanie Penn, Tzintzuntzan, Michoacan Mexico. |
- ART 261. Topics: Nonwestern Art. Selected areas of nonwestern
art. Course offerings based on availability of instructor. May be repeated
for credit if topics are different. (Humanities) [AH]
- ART 263. African Art and the Diaspora. Survey of the visual
arts of ancient Egypt, the Equatorial Forest, and the Savannah regions
of Africa. Introduces a wide range of African traditions and their continuation
in the Americas. Students examine how institutions value African art.
Offered every third year. (Humanities) McOMBER [AH]
- ART 266. Art of the Native Peoples of North America. Introduces
students to traditional and contemporary art made by indigenous individuals
and groups in North America. Participants examine sculpture, painting,
pottery, textiles, and human adornment. The course is organized according
to cultural areas; however, common thematic issues and the effects of
colonialism are stressed in discussion and assigned readings. Offered
every third year. (Humanities) McOMBER [AH]
- ENG 351. African-American Literature. Study of African-American
literature and/or film. Topics may include African-American women writers
and directors. Prerequisite: Writing-designated course (W). Offered
every third year. (Humanities) HANKINS
- ENG 367. Multicultural Literature. Major authors across cultures.
Critical analysis of texts by national and international writers of
"minority" status. May include groups marginalized by ethnicity
(non-Anglo-American), sexual orientation, and socioeconomic class. Prerequisite:
Writing-designated course (W). Alternate years. (Humanities) COOPERMAN
- FRE 304. Francophone Cultures of North America. Contemporary
Francophone culture from the perspectives of media, politics, intellectual
life, and popular culture. Particular focus on the cultures of Acadia,
Louisiana, and Québec. Includes a five-day trip to Louisiana.
Prerequisite: FRE 205 or 206. Alternate years. (Humanities) BONEY
- HIS 116 Introductory Seminar in History, when the topic is "The
Holocaust". Reading of both primary and secondary sources as
the basis for class discussion and papers. (Humanities)
- HIS 251. Federal Indian Policy. Relations between Native American
nations and the federal government. Central theme is the clash of cultures
in the westward movement. Treaties, removal, land allotment, federal
recognition in the twentieth century, and a review of the current scene.
Offered subject to availability of faculty. (Humanities)
- HIS 255. American Lives, when the topic is "African-Americans.''
American history through autobiographies, memoirs, and biographies.
(Humanities) LUCAS or STEWART
- HIS 350. Colonial America. The English colonies in North America
to 1760. Prerequisite: junior standing or permission of instructor.
(Humanities) LUCAS
- HIS 354. United States Social History Since 1940. World War
II as a turning point in civil rights, gender issues, class, foreign
policy, and the consumer revolution. Prerequisite: junior standing or
permission of instructor. (Humanities) STEWART
- HIS 356. African-Americans in U.S. History. Selected topics
on the nature of the Black experience in America. Prerequisite: junior
standing or permission of instructor. Alternate years. (Humanities)
LUCAS or STEWART
- HIS 357. Seminar in American History, when the topic is "Japanese
Americans." Examination of a particular theme or set of themes
in American history. Topics vary from year to year. Not offered every
year. May be repeated for credit. (Humanities)
- MUS 220. Jazz History. Jazz in America from its roots in Africa
and Western Europe to present-day styles and practices. Open to all
students. Offered every third year. (Humanities) CHAMBERLAIN
- PHI 301. Asian Philosophy. Study of Eastern philosophies such
as Daoism, Carvaka, Buddhism, Samkhya, Yoga, Vedanta and Zen through
their classic texts. Alternate years. (Humanities) K. BROWN
- POL 335. Seminar in International Relations and Comparative Government,
when the topic is "Ethnicity and Ethnic Conflicts in Today's World.''
Examination of a particular topic or issue in international relations
or in comparative government. Content varies from year to year. Prerequisite:
either POL 242 or 243. Offered subject to availability of faculty. (Social
Science)
- POL 361. Race, Sex, and the Constitution: Public Law in the Age
of Multiculturalism. Exploration of Constitutional principles including
equal protection of the laws, privacy, and freedom of speech as they
apply to issues of race, gender, and ethnicity: race and sex discrimination,
equal opportunity, affirmative action, abortion, pornography, privacy
rights, hate speech, political correctness, etc. Prerequisites: POL
262 and junior standing. Alternate years. (Social Science) ALLIN
- POL 367. Urban Politics. Selected problems of urban America,
their consequences for city dwellers and the nation. Feasibility and
desirability of various policy solutions. Prerequisite: POL 262. Alternate
years. (Social Science) ALLIN
- PSY 276. Multicultural Psychology. An examination and critique
of psychological knowledge from a multicultural perspective. Topics
include: the social construction of Western psychology; cultural variations
in concepts of personality, intelligence, human development, social
behavior, gender, and abnormal behavior; research methodology issues;
culture and communication; and psychological perspectives on oppression,
prejudice, and racism. Alternate years. (Social Science) ENNS or NELSON
- REL 335. Religions of Ancient Mexico. History and phenomenology
of religions in Mesoamerica from Olmec beginnings, with special attention
to the worldviews of Aztec and Mayan civilizations and their unique
place in the global religious picture. Prerequisite: sophomore standing
or approval of instructor. Alternate years. (Humanities) VERNOFF [CM]
- REL 342. Judaism. Basic concepts, practices, and worldview
of post-biblical Judaism. Interpretation of Jewish religious life as
it existed in Eastern Europe until recent times. Background readings
in the history of Jewish people, religion, and thought. Prerequisite:
sophomore standing or approval of instructor. Alternate years. (Humanities)
VERNOFF [JS]
- REL 362. Holocaust and Response. Theological developments in
the contemporary interaction between Judaism and Christianity as shaped
by the watershed events of the Nazi Holocaust and the return of the
Jewish People to the Land of Israel, with attention to the claim that
basic changes in Western religious understanding are now inevitable.
Prerequisite: sophomore standing or approval of instructor. Alternate
years. (Humanities) VERNOFF [JC]
- RUS 281. Introduction to Russian Culture and Civilization. Lectures,
readings, and discussions on historical and contemporary trends in Russian
culture with an emphasis on Russian identity and Russia's relationship
to other cultures. Lectures, readings, and discussions in English. Offered
subject to availability of faculty. Same course as RSS 281. (Humanities,
Writing Requirement) IKACH
- SOC 248. Contemporary Native Americans. Distinctive aspects
of Native American tribes and analysis of the ways in which contemporary
tribal cultures are formed by and are formative of the larger American
social structure. Goals of current tribal activism, nature of tribal
self-determination, and comparison of treaty rights and civil rights.
Alternate years. Prerequisite: SOC 101. (Social Science) OLSON [Hierarchy]
- SOC 343. Women: Oppressions and Resistances. Consideration
of gender inequality as lived reality and locus of struggle. Topics
include: cross-cultural analysis of issues of control and liberation
in women's work, styles of mothering, aging, and patterns of partnering;
sexualized/racial violence in war, slavery, and domestic service; origins
of gender inequality in Christian West; women's resistances in civil
rights, indigenous, and development struggles. Prerequisite: SOC 101.
Alternate years. (Social Science) OLSON [Hierarchy]
- SOC 376. Civil Rights and Western Racism. Examination of the
modern Civil Rights Movement. Consideration of the manifestation of
this movement as social protest, legal action, and court-sponsored social
change, and of the historical factors involved in emergence of this
movement. Prerequisite: SOC 101. Alternate years. (Social Science) OLSON
[Hierarchy]
- 383. Latinos in the U.S. Origins, development, and significance
of various aspects of Latino life in the United States, with emphasis
on three main groups (Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans). Study of Latino
culture from Columbus to the present day. Prerequisite: SPA 301. (Humanities)
OCHOA
- SPA 385. Latin American Culture and Civilization. Study of
the most important cultural and political issues in Latin American civilization
from Columbus to the present day. Chronicles, essays, and public speeches
provide the main texts and sources of information for discussions. Prerequisite:
SPA 301. Alternate years. OCHOA
- 280/380. Internship.
- 988. School for International Training. There are nine semester-long
programs that have an emphasis on ethnicity. They are located in Australia,
Brazil, Chile, China, Germany, Ghana (2), India (Tibetan Studies), and
Mali. See School
for International Training.
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