Ethnic Studies (ETHN)

Mission

Students and faculty in the Ethnic Studies program at State University of New York at Fredonia investigate the human experience through a variety of disciplinary approaches.  We seek to provide an intellectual environment that encourages students to explore the history, culture, and life experiences of racially-marginalized groups in the United States while challenging them with critical questions about American society.  Our courses investigate questions central to American identity, but seek the answers to those questions specifically from the perspective of people of color.  Our goal is to provide a safe and comfortable space for the scholarly investigation of the cultural and intellectual traditions of those groups whose contributions to society were too often overlooked.  While most courses focus on one ethno-racial group, some explore race and ethnicity from a theoretical perspective, providing comparative analyses of different groups’ experiences.  Studying these topics from an interdisciplinary perspective allows us to expand the questions we ask and emphasizes that the construction of knowledge is not the pursuit of any one group. 

Degrees

Currently State University of New York at Fredonia offers a minor in African American Studies, American Indian Studies, Latino Studies, and Multiethnic Studies.  Each of these minors requires the completion of 21 units of coursework.  Please click on the appropriate link on the left to learn more about each minor and its requirements.