Academic Catalog

Ethnic Studies (ETHN)

ETHN 1  •  INTRODUCTION TO ETHNIC STUDIES

ETHN 1 Details
Units: 4
Hours: 4 lecture per week (48 total per quarter)
Advisory: Not open to students with credit in ETHN 51.
Degree and Credit Status: Degree-Applicable Credit Course
Foothill GE: Area VI: United States Cultures & Communities, Area I: Humanities
Transferable: CSU/UC
Grade Type: Letter Grade (Request for Pass/No Pass)
Repeatability: Not Repeatable
Formerly: ETHN 51

An interdisciplinary examination of major concepts and controversies in the study of racial and ethnic difference in the United States. Exploration of race and ethnicity as historical and contemporary categories of identification in the context of social inequality. Social movements and policy debates on racial equity will be analyzed.

ETHN 2  •  INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES

ETHN 2 Details
Units: 4
Hours: 4 lecture per week (48 total per quarter)
Advisory: Not open to students with credit in ETHN 52.
Degree and Credit Status: Degree-Applicable Credit Course
Foothill GE: Area VI: United States Cultures & Communities, Area I: Humanities
Transferable: CSU/UC
Grade Type: Letter Grade (Request for Pass/No Pass)
Repeatability: Not Repeatable
Formerly: ETHN 52

Exploration of the field of African American Studies: history, literature, the arts, and culture, as well as sociological, political, economic, public policy, and philosophical perspectives on the experience of peoples of the African diaspora in the United States. The values, experience, and contributions of Black/African American individuals in the United States will be identified, examined, and authenticated.

ETHN 3  •  INTRODUCTION TO LATINX STUDIES

ETHN 3 Details
Units: 4
Hours: 4 lecture per week (48 total per quarter)
Advisory: Not open to students with credit in ETHN 53.
Degree and Credit Status: Degree-Applicable Credit Course
Foothill GE: Area VI: United States Cultures & Communities, Area I: Humanities
Transferable: CSU/UC
Grade Type: Letter Grade (Request for Pass/No Pass)
Repeatability: Not Repeatable
Formerly: ETHN 53

An exploration of the field of Latinx Studies: history, literature, arts, and culture, as well as sociological, political, economic, and philosophical perspectives on the experiences of Latinx people and the Latinx diaspora in the United States. An analysis of the relationships between distinct Latinx communities and identities, historical legacies, and contemporary issues and their impact, and socio-political and economic institutions and their effects on the Latinx individual. An examination of the values, leadership, activism, and contributions of Latinx peoples in the United States.

ETHN 4  •  INTRODUCTION TO NATIVE AMERICAN STUDIES

ETHN 4 Details
Units: 4
Hours: 4 lecture per week (48 total per quarter)
Degree and Credit Status: Degree-Applicable Credit Course
Foothill GE: Area I: Humanities, Area VI: United States Cultures & Communities
Transferable: CSU/UC
Grade Type: Letter Grade (Request for Pass/No Pass)
Repeatability: Not Repeatable

An introduction to interdisciplinary ethnic studies examining the history, culture, politics, issues, and contemporary experience of Native peoples. Specific attention to Native racialization, diverse ethnicities, and identities; and to decolonizing methodologies that have erased or misrepresented Native people in scholarship and cultural history. Emphasizes indigenous ways of knowing and being, including storytelling and traditional environmental knowledge, and explores applications to the sustainability of indigenous communities in the 21st century.

ETHN 5  •  INTRODUCTION TO ASIAN AMERICAN STUDIES

ETHN 5 Details
Units: 4
Hours: 4 lecture per week (48 total per quarter)
Advisory: Not open to students with credit in ETHN 55.
Degree and Credit Status: Degree-Applicable Credit Course
Foothill GE: Area VI: United States Cultures & Communities, Area I: Humanities
Transferable: CSU/UC
Grade Type: Letter Grade (Request for Pass/No Pass)
Repeatability: Not Repeatable
Formerly: ETHN 55

Introduction to Asian American Studies, focusing on Asian American experiences from the nineteenth century to the present. Includes issues of identity and positionality as they relate to race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, socioeconomic class and labor, national origin, mixed heritages, religion/spirituality, generation, and ability. Explores Asian American experiences via theoretical frameworks and historical, social, cultural, political, legal, and environmental contexts, including colonialism and decolonization, immigration, activism and resistance.

ETHN 7  •  INTRODUCTION TO PACIFIC ISLANDS & OCEANIA STUDIES

ETHN 7 Details
Units: 4
Hours: 4 lecture per week (48 total per quarter)
Degree and Credit Status: Degree-Applicable Credit Course
Foothill GE: Area I: Humanities, Area VI: United States Cultures & Communities
Transferable: CSU/UC
Grade Type: Letter Grade (Request for Pass/No Pass)
Repeatability: Not Repeatable

This introductory course examines the colonization, history, politics, identity, culture, indigeneity, diaspora, immigration, environment, contemporary social issues, and resistance to neo-colonialism experienced by peoples of Oceania. The focus areas of this course are the people of the Pacific Islands of Oceania regions, such as Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia. This course focuses on the experiences of Pacific Islanders from Hawai’i, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Guam, Palau, Marshall Islands, Tahiti, and New Zealand.

ETHN 8  •  INTRODUCTION TO LAND & LABOR

ETHN 8 Details
Units: 4
Hours: 4 lecture per week (48 total per quarter)
Degree and Credit Status: Degree-Applicable Credit Course
Foothill GE: Area VI: United States Cultures & Communities
Transferable: CSU/UC
Grade Type: Letter Grade (Request for Pass/No Pass)
Repeatability: Not Repeatable

This course examines key historical events and debates in the field of Ethnic Studies that center around land and labor. Some of the topics include disputes over territory, natural resources, chattel slavery and other forms of coerced labor, labor recruitment and migration, globalization, and U.S. transnational borders. This course also analyzes how race and ethnicity intersect with gender, sexuality, class, citizenship, and nationhood, in order to better understand how systems of power and inequality are constructed, reinforced, and challenged.