Department of Ethnic Studies

Ethnic Studies is a vibrant, interdisciplinary program that offers a major and minor so that students can study the historical, cultural and social dynamics of race and ethnicity in the United States.

The Department of Ethnic Studies is committed to engaging decolonizing methodologies and acknowledges that USD is built on Kumeyaay Indigenous homeland.

The Department of Ethnic Studies addresses our shared national legacy of conquest, contact and resistance through comparative and ethnic specific lenses.

Our core courses thoroughly ground students in theoretical perspectives related to the three themes of History and Identity, Creativity and Spirituality, and Institutions and Activism. Within these broad categories, students are encouraged to develop their own areas of expertise, as they explore local and national communities of color.

Through community service learning and internships, students are challenged to engage with issues of privilege, difference, inequality, social justice and empowerment in an applied manner.

Ethnic Studies is uniquely situated to provide students with cross-cultural competence, with a historical grounding in domestic social justice issues, and with conflict resolution skills - all essential to civic life in an increasingly diverse nation and world. Our majors are well prepared for careers in law, education, business, social work, counseling, public health, politics and graduate study in Ethnic Studies.

Ethnic Studies is a vibrant, interdisciplinary program that allows students to critically study the historical, cultural, and social dynamics of race and ethnicity in the United States and transnationally. The major addresses our shared national legacy of contact, conquest, and resistance through comparative and ethnic specific lenses.