Ethnic Studies
5 courses · College of the Desert · 2026-2027 Catalog
Classes: Fall 2026
ETHN 001 Introduction to Ethnic Studies
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- Lecture Hours: 54
- Advisory
- ENGL C1000 or ENGL C1000E or college-level composition or equivalent.
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
This introductory course is a comparative and interdisciplinary examination of the experiences of Black, Native American, and People of Color in the United States from the colonial era to today. Students will analyze historical themes through an intersectional analysis that interrogates categories of identity and power including race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, religion, etc. The course explores theoretical concepts and social processes including colonization and migration; racialization and the development of race as a social category; the relationship between race and U.S. imperialism; the persistence of social inequalities; and the long historical struggle for racial justice.
ETHN 002 Introduction to Chicanx & Latinx Studies
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- Lecture Hours: 54
- Advisory
- ETHN 001 & ENGL C1000 or ENGL C1000E or college-level composition or equivalent.
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
The course is an introduction to the interdisciplinary and comparative field of Chicanx & Latinx Studies. Utilizing critical theoretical frameworks, it examines the Mesoamerican, African, and Spanish colonial roots of Chicanx and Latinx culture and communities in the United States, with particular attention to historic and contemporary inequalities and movements for equality and justice. This course provides the basis for a general understanding of the social, economic, cultural, and political conditions among Chicanx and Latinx populations and other racialized minority groups through historical consideration of the creation and development of Ethnic Studies programs and fields of study in the United States.
ETHN 003 Introduction to Black Studies
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- Lecture Hours: 54
- Advisory
- ETHN 001 & ENGL C1000 or ENGL C1000E or college-level composition or equivalent.
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
This survey course will introduce the methods, theories, conceptual frameworks, and key debates in black studies. The identity and meaning of Blackness in relation to class, gender, and sexuality and essential role of people of African descent in development of capitalism, liberalism, and democracy will be covered. Key thinkers and ideas from across political science, humanities and social sciences are highlighted.
ETHN 004 Introduction to Native American Studies
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- Lecture Hours: 54
- Advisory
- ETHN 001 & ENGL C1000 or ENGL C1000E or college-level composition or equivalent.
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
This course is an introduction to the interdisciplinary field of Native American Studies. It is designed to acquaint students with the most significant social, political, religious, and artistic aspects of various Native American peoples of North America within a transnational context, focusing on the twentieth century to the present. Students will critically analyze topics including Native philosophy and religious traditions, settler colonialism, urbanization, intertribal relations, identity, gender and sexuality, art, literature, cultural production, environmental justice, and the context in which Native American peoples have sought to maintain their sovereignty.
ETHN 005 Introduction to Asian American Studies
- Units
- 3
- Hours
- Lecture Hours: 54
- Advisory
- ETHN 001 & ENGL C1000 or ENGL C1000E or college-level composition or equivalent.
- Transfers to
- CSU, UC
This course is an interdisciplinary field of study that explores historical and contemporary Asian American political, social, economic issues, and cultural practices and experiences in the United States. This course examines the foundations of and contemporary approaches to Asian Americans, with emphasis placed on the processes of colonialism, migration and exclusion; issues of citizenship; racial and ethnic identity formation; practices of resistance; work and labor relations; acculturation, family and community formation; transnational networks; and, representations of Asian Americans. The represented groups and communities include Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Filipinos, South Asians, and Southeast Asians.