This course is an introduction to Ethnic Studies that will survey selected historical moments in order to explore the complexities of life in the United States. Analyzing the entangled histories of colonialism, slavery, imperialism, racism, disenfranchisement, and labor, we will examine how different peoples become "American." We will focus on the racialization of American Indians, African Americans, Chicanos and Latinos, and Asian Americans with regard to conceptions of identity and citizenship across multiple categories of difference including gender, class, ethnicity, and sexuality. We will delve specifically into the histories of Oakland's communities of color, and study their stories of resistance, struggle, and triumph. This class is a cross-listed upper-division seminar and will require a significant time commitment on your part to complete the required readings and writing assignments, as well as to prepare critical, informed contributions to each class’s discussion. We will engage in intensive academic work around issues of race, ethnicity, power and white privilege.

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