Ethnic Studies
Director: Reiko Hillyer
Administrative Coordinator: Lisa Wilson
Ethnic identity is integral to the formation of group consciousness, as it produces common meaning through shared language, religious traditions, and family history. At the same time, colonialism, slavery, and genocide have been intertwined with the construction of racial and ethnic categories. To recognize both the positive and negative aspects of ethnic identity, as well as to heed the significance of transnational migrations in the creation of diasporic identities, the ethnic studies minor focuses on five themes: diaspora, colonialism, slavery, genocide, and community formation. Fostering an interdisciplinary approach that pulls together a variety of historical, social, and cultural perspectives, the curriculum explores the five themes and related topics as they intersect with gender, sexuality, class, and nation.
Minor Requirements
A minimum of 24 semester credits distributed as follows:
- ETHS 200 Introduction to Ethnic Studies
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20 elective semester credits from the departmental listings below. No more than three courses can be applied to the minor from any one department. At least two of the elective courses must be at the 300 or 400 level.
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One of the following capstone projects. Note that junior or senior standing is required, and a capstone project must be preapproved by the ethnic studies director.
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An ethnic studies-focused thesis and/or honors project, or a major research-based assignment in a 300-/400-level course in any department or program.
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ETHS 345 Ray Warren Symposium on Race and Ethnic Studies Chair
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A student-designed capstone project using the methods of ethnic studies, preapproved by the ethnic studies director, and supervised as an independent study (ETHS 499) or internship/practicum (ETHS 244) by ethnic studies faculty. This should only be pursued if none of the previously listed options are available.
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12 semester credits must be exclusive to the minor.
Departmental Listings
Art
ART 207 | Pre-Columbian Art | |
ART 451 | Theory in Practice (only when the topic is relevant) |
English
ENG 319 | Postcolonial Literature: Anglophone Africa, India, Caribbean | |
ENG 326 | African American Literature |
Ethnic Studies
ETHS 220 | Education and Social Inequality in Urban America | |
ETHS 320 | Critical Hip-Hop Studies | |
ETHS 345 | Ray Warren Symposium on Race and Ethnic Studies Chair |
French Studies
FREN 330 | Francophone Literature | |
FREN 450 | Special Topics (only when the topic is relevant) |
Hispanic Studies
SPAN 230 | Hispanic Literature in Translation (only when the topic is relevant) | |
SPAN 260 | Cultural Production of the Spanish-Speaking World | |
SPAN 360 | Latin America and Spain: Pre-Columbian to Baroque | |
SPAN 370 | Latin America and Spain: Enlightenment to the Present | |
SPAN 440 | Topics in Hispanic Literatures (only when the topic is relevant) | |
SPAN 446 | Special Topics in Hispanic Literatures and Cultures (only when the topic is relevant) |
History
HIST 134 | United States: Revolution to Empire | |
HIST 135 | United States: Empire to Superpower | |
HIST 141 | Colonial Latin American History | |
HIST 142 | Modern Latin American History | |
HIST 208 | Asian American History in the U.S. | |
HIST 209 | Japan at War | |
HIST 217 | The Emergence of Modern South Asia | |
HIST 222 | Britain in the Age of Revolution, 1688 to 1815 | |
HIST 226 | 20th-Century Germany | |
HIST 229 | The Holocaust in Comparative Perspective | |
HIST 231A | U.S. Women's History, 1600 to 1980 | |
HIST 232 | Histories of Indigenous Peoples of North America (Turtle Island) | |
HIST 239 | Constructing the American Landscape | |
HIST 240 | Race and Ethnicity in the United States | |
HIST 242 | Borderlands: U.S.-Mexico Border, 16th Century to Present | |
HIST 243 | African American History Since 1863 | |
HIST 264 | From Stumptown to Portlandia: The History of Portland | |
HIST 328 | The British Empire | |
HIST 338 | Crime and Punishment in the United States | |
HIST 345 | Race and Nation in Latin America | |
HIST 347 | Modern Mexico: Culture, Politics, and Economic Crisis | |
HIST 348 | Modern Cuba | |
HIST 390 | Immigration and Asylum Law | |
HIST 400 | Reading Colloquium (only when topic is relevant) | |
HIST 450 | History Seminar (only when topic is relevant) |
International Affairs
IA 230 | African Politics | |
IA 231 | Latin American Politics | |
IA 232 | Southeast Asian Politics | |
IA 296 | Human Rights in International Relations | |
IA 342 | Perception and International Relations |
Music
MUS 142 | Music and Social Justice |
Overseas Programs
IS 216 | Moroccan Modernity |
Political Science
POLS 313 | Global Justice |
Psychology
PSY 390 | Cross-Cultural Psychology |
Rhetoric and Media Studies
RHMS 313 | Politics of Public Memory | |
RHMS 315 | Comparative Rhetoric | |
RHMS 321 | Argument and Social Justice | |
RHMS 340 | Media Across Cultures | |
RHMS 406 | Race, Rhetoric, and Resistance |
Sociology/Anthropology
SOAN 225 | Race and Ethnicity in Global Perspective | |
SOAN 251 | Myth, Ritual, and Symbol | |
SOAN 261 | Gender and Sexuality in Latin America | |
SOAN 266 | Social Change in Latin America | |
SOAN 281 | South Asian Cultures | |
SOAN 285 | Culture and Power in the Middle East | |
SOAN 310 | Religion, Society, and Modernity | |
SOAN 324 | Anthropology of Violence | |
SOAN 347 | Borderlands: Tibet and the Himalaya | |
SOAN 349 | Indigenous Peoples: Identities and Politics | |
SOAN 350 | Global Inequality | |
SOAN 360 | Decolonizing Anthropology | |
SOAN 373 | Political Economy of Black Labor |
Theatre
TH 382 | American Drama: Minoritarian Perspectives |
Faculty
Sepideh Azarshahri Bajracharya. Assistant professor with term of anthropology. Political culture of violence, communal politics, memory, narrative, urban ethnography, anthropology of space, South Asia. PhD 2008 Harvard University. BA 1999 Wesleyan University.
Andrew Bernstein. Associate professor of history. Japanese history. PhD 1999, MPhil 1996, MA 1994 Columbia University. BA 1990 Amherst College.
Kimberly Brodkin. Associate professor with term of gender studies and ethnic studies. Gender and politics in the U.S. PhD 2001 Rutgers University. BA 1992 University of Pennsylvania.
Maryann Bylander. Associate professor of sociology. Development and globalization, migration, rural livelihoods, microfinance/credit, environment, gender, qualitative and quantitative research methods. PhD 2012, MA 2006 University of Texas at Austin. BA 2003 Rice University.
Kim Cameron-Dominguez. Assistant professor of anthropology. Race/ethnicity, gender, affect theory, work and mobilities, urban/place-centered ethnography, discourse theory, U.S. and Latin America, Black diasporic populations. PhD 2018, MA 2006 University of California at Santa Cruz. BA 2004 Mount Holyoke College.
David A. Campion. Dr. Robert B. Pamplin Jr. Associate Professor of History, director of Academic Awards and Fellowships. British and South Asian history. PhD 2002, MA 1997 University of Virginia. BA 1991 Georgetown University.
Kundai V. Chirindo. Associate professor of rhetoric and media studies, chair of the Department of Rhetoric and Media Studies, director of general education. Rhetoric, culture, and hermeneutics; Africa in the public imaginary; rhetoric and postcolonial theory. PhD 2012 University of Kansas. MA 2008, BA 2004 Bethel University.
Rachel Cole. Associate professor of English. 19th-century American literature. PhD 2005, MA 2000 Johns Hopkins University. BA 1994 Williams College.
Kristin Fujie. Associate professor of English, chair of the department of English. 19th- and 20th-century American literature, modernism. PhD 2010, BA 1997 University of California at Berkeley.
Nancy O. Gallman. Assistant professor of history, pre-law advisor. Spanish borderlands, legal pluralism, early Native history and African American history, comparative history of empire. PhD 2017, MA 2012 University of California at Davis. JD 1994 New York University School of Law. BA 1989 Yale College.
Maureen Healy. Associate professor of history. European history, women's and gender history, war and genocide. PhD 2000, MA 1994 University of Chicago. BA 1990 Tufts University.
Reiko Hillyer. Associate professor of history, chair of the department of history, director of the Ethnic Studies program. U.S. South, African American history, history of the built. PhD 2006, MPhil 2001, MA 1999 Columbia University. BA 1991 Yale University.
Matthew N. Johnston. Associate professor of art history, director of the Latin American and Latino Studies Program. Modern art history. PhD 2004, MA 1994 University of Chicago. BA 1992 Yale University.
Sidra Kamran. Assistant professor of sociology. Gender and Sexuality, Digital Culture, Social Inequality, Qualitative Methods, Sociology of Work, Global Social Theory. PhD 2022, MA 2015 The New School. BS 2011 University of Lahore.
Oren Kosansky. Associate professor of anthropology, director of the Middle East and North African Studies Program. Political economy of religious experience, postcolonial nationalism and diaspora, textual culture, Morocco. PhD 2003, MA 1994 University of Michigan. MAT 1990 Binghamton University. BA 1988 Brown University.
Diana J. Leonard. Associate professor of psychology, chair of the Department of Psychology. Identity, social judgments, and categorization. PhD 2012 University of California at Santa Barbara. BA 2004 Northwestern University.
Kabir Mansingh Heimsath. Assistant professor with term of anthropology. Visual anthropology, space/place theory, borderlands, tourism, cities and bodies. PhD 2011, MSc 2005 University of Oxford. MA 1996 University of Washington. BA 1992 University of California at Berkeley.
Kaley Mason. Associate professor of music. Music of South Asia, Francophone popular music, creative economies, social movements. PhD 2006 University of Alberta. BMus 1999 Queen's University at Kingston.
Aine Seitz McCarthy. Assistant professor of economics. Applied microeconomics, development economics, labor and demography, economics of education. PhD 2016 University of Minnesota. BA 2006 Colby College.
Suhaila Meera. Assistant professor of theatre. Global-majority theatre history and theory, dramaturgy, performance studies, critical refugee studies, childhood, affect, representation. 2023 Stanford University. 2013 BA Cornell University.
Dawn Odell. Associate professor of art history. Early modern East Asian and European art history. PhD 2003 University of Chicago. MA 1992 Harvard University. BA 1986 Carleton College.
Bruce M. Podobnik. Associate professor of sociology. Environmental sociology, social theory, mixed methods, the sociocultural dimensions of activism, the social roots of happiness. PhD 2000, MA 1994 Johns Hopkins University. BA 1991 University of California at Santa Cruz.
Magalí Rabasa. Associate professor of Hispanic studies. Latin American literature and culture, social movements and resistance. PhD 2014 University of California at Davis. BA 2004 University of Oregon.
G. Mitchell Reyes. Professor of rhetoric and media studies. Rhetoric, public memory, public discourse, rhetoric of science. PhD 2004, MA 2000 Pennsylvania State University. BS 1997 Willamette University.
Juan Carlos Toledano Redondo. Professor of Hispanic studies. Hispanic studies, 19th- and 20th-century Spanish American literature, Hispanic-Caribbean literature. PhD 2002 University of Miami. BA 1996 Universidad de Granada.
Pauls Toutonghi. Associate professor of English. Fiction, expository writing, creative writing. PhD 2006, MA 2002 Cornell University. BA 1999 Middlebury College.
Freddy O. Vilches. Associate professor of Hispanic studies. Hispanic studies, contemporary Spanish American literature, poetry and song, Latin American cultural studies. Charango, Venezuelan cuatro. PhD 2006, MA 1993, BA 1991 University of Oregon.
Laura Thaut Vinson. Associate professor of international affairs. African politics, ethnic/civil conflicts. PhD 2013, MA 2009 University of Minnesota. BA 2005 Whitworth University.
Sarah D. Warren. Associate professor of sociology, chair of the Department of Sociology/Anthropology. Race and ethnicity, social movements, nations and nationalism, gender, Latin America. PhD 2010 University of Wisconsin at Madison. MA 2004 University of Texas at Austin. BA 2001 University of Arizona.
Elliott Young. Professor of history, director of the Latin American and Latino Studies program (spring). Latin American and U.S.-Mexico Borderlands history. PhD 1997, MA 1993 University of Texas at Austin. BA 1989 Princeton University.
Yueping Zhang. Associate professor of psychology. Behavioral neuroscience, brain and behavior, drugs and behavior, cross-cultural psychology. PhD 1996, MA 1992 University of New Hampshire. MD 1985 Shandong Medical University.
Rishona Zimring. Professor of English. Modern British literature, postcolonial literature. PhD 1993, BA 1985 Yale University.
Courses
ETHS 200 Introduction to Ethnic Studies
Content: Introduction to the academic field of ethnic studies. Students will grapple with classic and contemporary literature in the field to develop the tools for approaching race and ethnicity as categories of analysis. Exploration of the social production of conceptions of racial and ethnic difference rather than discussion of specific ethnic and racial groups. Examination of the origins, uses, and mutations of ideologies of race and ethnicity; analysis of how these ideologies intersect with empire and nationalism, sexuality and gender, capitalism and labor relations, and scientific knowledge. How methods from different disciplines contribute to an understanding of ethnic studies.
Prerequisites: None.
Usually offered: Annually.
Semester credits: 4.
ETHS 220 Education and Social Inequality in Urban America
Content: Examines the sociological relationship between education, the school system, and society, with a particular focus on how schooling can reproduce, reinforce, and perpetuate racial inequality, class hierarchies, and social stratification in urban America. By surveying and analyzing foundational theories that investigate and interrogate the social function of education, the social purpose of schools, and the vulnerable conditions of the ghetto, this course will provide theoretical understanding and empirical analysis of how education and the process of schooling can impact social life.
Prerequisites: None.
Restrictions: Sophomore standing required.
Usually offered: Annually, spring semester.
Semester credits: 4.
ETHS 244 Practicum
Content: Development of an extensive project relating to ethnic studies issues in an organizational setting. Placement in community-based social and educational agencies concerned with problems related to race and ethnicity, such as employment discrimination, immigration rights, civil and voting rights, equal access to education, housing, law, public policy, and political organization. May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisites: One ethnic studies course.
Restrictions: Declared ethnic studies minor. Sophomore standing and consent of program director and faculty sponsor required.
Usually offered: Annually, fall and spring semester.
Semester credits: 1-4.
ETHS 250 Education, Culture, and Citizenship
Content: Connecting education and cultural competence theory to the practice of civic leadership. Exploration of the intersection of these concepts through the creation of a community-based research project that meets the needs of a community or community organization in the Portland metro area. Includes readings and discussion. Credit/no credit.
Prerequisites: None.
Restrictions: Sophomore standing required.
Usually offered: Annually, fall and spring semester.
Semester credits: 2.
ETHS 320 Critical Hip-Hop Studies
Content: Using an interdisciplinary approach to explore the complexity of hip-hop culture and the lived experiences of people in inner-city urban America, this course will examine the historical factors and conditions that birthed hip-hop culture, early narratives and experiences that were being articulated through the music, the corporate commodification of the art form (i.e., rap music), the contemporary representation of African American culture in mainstream rap music, and the possibility of hip-hop culture as a form of resistance against structural marginalization.
Prerequisites: None.
Restrictions: Sophomore standing required.
Usually offered: Annually, fall semester.
Semester credits: 4.
ETHS 345 Ray Warren Symposium on Race and Ethnic Studies Chair
Content: Student chairs perform substantive analytic work related to this interdisciplinary field of study, conducting extensive research to explore speakers, develop panels, identify important issues, and develop the program of events. Working closely with each other, the planning committee, and the faculty director, chairs also develop leadership and professional responsibilities. Preference given to minors in ethnic studies, but students with relevant coursework or other experience will be considered.
Prerequisites: None.
Restrictions: Junior standing. Requires permission of instructor after completion of application and interview.
Usually offered: Annually, fall semester.
Semester credits: 4.
ETHS 400 Topics in Race and Ethnic Studies
Content: Reading and critical analysis of major interpretive works. Organized around themes or analytical problems; comparative study of works in ethnic studies exemplifying different points of view, methodologies, subject matter. Focus varies depending on instructor's teaching and research area.
Prerequisites: SOAN 225 or HIST 240 recommended.
Restrictions: Sophomore standing required.
Usually offered: Annually, fall semester.
Semester credits: 4.
ETHS 499 Independent Study
Content: Opportunities for well-prepared student to design and pursue a substantive course of independent learning on an advanced level. Details determined by the student and the supervising instructor. May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisites: SOAN 225 or HIST 240.
Restrictions: Declared ethnic studies minor. Sophomore standing and consent of program director and faculty sponsor required.
Usually offered: Annually, fall and spring semester.
Semester credits: 2-4.