Multi-Ethnic Studies Minor
Department of Interdisciplinary Studies
Office: 241 Fenton Hall
(716) 673-3861
Dr. Jeanette McVicker, Program Coordinator
Email: jeanette.mcvicker@fredonia.edu
Website: https://www.fredonia.edu/academics/colleges-schools/college-liberal-arts-sciences/program/ethnic-gender-studies
Multi-Ethnic Studies is an interdisciplinary program that encourages a broad, often comparative, study of race and ethnicity in the Americas and the larger world. As our society becomes increasingly diverse, a minor in Multi-Ethnic Studies helps students to understand the rich history of multiple groups in the United States while simultaneously preparing them to thrive in an increasingly diversified workplace and a globalized economy.
Students minoring in Multi-Ethnic Studies will engage in conversations about our similarities as human beings as well as the misunderstandings sometimes caused by our differences. The classroom will provide a safe space where the experiences and perspectives of the people we study as well as our own backgrounds and views can be explored and addressed intellectually and frankly.
Multi-Ethnic Studies is for everyone! No matter your major or your future plans, the program will provide intellectual skills and cultural knowledge that will benefit you. As the workplace and the world become more diversified, the ability to consider different perspectives and communicate across differences becomes increasingly valuable. Multi-Ethnic Studies coursework will challenge students to think critically and to write persuasively and thoughtfully, pushing them to seek innovative solutions to problems which they understand to be multifaceted. Students in the program will be well-prepared for careers in human services, museum curatorship, library science, teaching, journalism, scholarship, law, health, inter-ethnic relations, and many other fields.
Minor Requirements
Students declaring a Multi-ethnic Studies minor may use past courses retroactively with approval of the coordinator.
Some courses require prerequisites. Click on any hyperlinked course for additional information.
Core Courses:
| ETHN 202 | Foundations of Social Justice | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 3 |
Two courses selected from the following:
| ETHN 205 | Native American Studies | 3 |
| ETHN 206 | African American Studies | 3 |
| ETHN 225 | Introduction to Latinx History and Culture | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 6 |
Electives:
Three courses (nine credit hours) must be taken, one each from African American Studies, American Indian Studies, and Latino Studies. Students may substitute one Multi-Ethnic Studies course; however, it cannot be from the area that they omitted when selecting two courses from ETHN 205, ETHN 206, or ETHN 225. (In other words, if you do NOT take ETHN 205, Introduction to African American Studies, you MUST take an elective in the African American Studies area.) Courses should be selected from at least two different disciplines. Students may not double-count a course that has been used for core course credit, but students may take the third course from above (ETHN 205, ETHN 206, or ETHN 225) as an elective. Other courses not listed may be included with approval of the coordinator.
African American Studies:
| ENGL 340 | Black Women Writers | 3 |
| ENGL 341 | Harlem Renaissance | 3 |
| ENGL 342 | African American Autobiography | 3 |
| ETHN 240 | Introduction to African American Literature and Culture | 3 |
| ETHN 333 | African American History to 1877 | 3 |
| ETHN 334 | African American History since 1877 | 3 |
| HIST 336 | African American Black Women's History | 3 |
| HIST 343 | Civil Rights Movement | 3 |
| MUS 265 | History of Jazz | 3 |
| MUS 267 | African American Music | 3 |
| POLI 328 | African American Politics | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 3 |
Native American Studies:
| ETHN 242 | American Indian Literature | 3 |
| ETHN 282 | Pre-Columbian and Colonial Latin America | 3 |
| ETHN 356 | Native American History | 3 |
| ETHN 357 | Indians and Europeans in Early America | 3 |
| ETHN 358 | 20th Century Native American Issues | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 3 |
Latinx Studies:
| ETHN 241 | Introduction to Latino/a Literature | 3 |
| ENGL 304 | Latina Literature and Cultural Studies | 3 |
| ETHN 282 | Pre-Columbian and Colonial Latin America | 3 |
| ETHN 283 | Latin America: Revolution & Reform | 3 |
| LANG 327 | Magic Realism in Latin American Literature | 3 |
| MUS 334 | Music of Latin America | 3 |
| SPAN 215 | Intermediate Spanish I | 3 |
| SPAN 315 | Readings in Spanish | 3 |
| SPAN 313 | Spanish Conversation | 3 |
| SPAN 325 | Survey of Spanish-American Literature | 3 |
| SPAN 425 | Spanish-American Fiction | 3 |
| WGST 203 | Chicana Writers/Visual Artists | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 3 |
Multi-Ethnic Studies:
NOTE:
- New courses or special topics courses may be credited toward the minor with approval from the coordinator.
Capstone:
| ETHN 491 | Social Change Capstone | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 3 |
Total Credit Hours: 21
Students are encouraged to explore relevant Study Abroad courses to meet the elective requirements.
The Multi-Ethnic Studies minor falls under the umbrella of the Ethnic Studies program, which also offers minors in African American Studies, Native American Studies, and Latinx Studies.