Table of Contents - Hartwick College

U.S. Ethnic Studies Minor
This academic minor focuses on the comparative study of race and
ethnicity in the United States as it uniquely intersects with the
international context (with special emphasis on those groups that have
historically borne the brunt of discrimination, enslavement and even
extermination in the process of European expansion in the Americas).
The comparative focus assumes that there are general processes that
underlie the formation of ethnic identity and “race” relations in a wide
range of social contexts. The program aims to expose students to the
contributions of diverse groups of Americans to U.S. society and culture.
To that end, the minor provides access to a range of analytical tools with
which to examine the histories, experiences and cultures of America’s
racial and ethnic groups and their relationships to each other and to the
dominant culture. Interested students should contact Dr. Edythe Quinn.
Objectives of the U.S. Ethnic Studies Minor are:
1. To provide students with an understanding of the socially constructed
“nature” of race and ethnicity.
2. To help students understand the debates about the biological basis of
human diversity.
3. To teach the histories, cultures and contributions of U.S. racial and
ethnic groups in ways that highlight the differences and similarities of
ethnic experience and expression as well as the responses to racial/ethnic
discrimination and its relationship to other historical inequalities such as
class and gender.
4. To help prepare students to participate in an increasingly diverse world
and promote a more just society.
5. To introduce the disciplinary scholarship of ethnic studies.
6. To provide opportunities for students to experience racial and ethnic
contexts that take them beyond their own cultural backgrounds.
U.S. Ethnic Studies Minor
Requirements for the minor in U.S. Ethnic Studies: Six courses,
two of which are core to all students in the minor. No more than two
courses in the student’s major field may count toward the minor. The core
courses are the Introductory Course and the Capstone Seminar.
Introductory Course (Theory/History) All students, regardless of
concentration, are required to take an introductory course on ethnicity
which prepares them to look at the materials in their area of
concentration with reference to current theory in the study of ethnicity.
Students are encouraged to take this course as early as possible and
before completing the other requirements of the minor. Students may
select as their introductory course one of the following courses:
250 Hispanic and African-American Cultures (Anth)
279 American Ethnic History (Hist)
150 FYS: Politics of Race and Gender (Posc)
250 Race and Ethnicity (Soci)
250 Economics of Race and Gender (Econ)
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