Ethnic Studies (BS) International Community and Human Services

Summary

International Community and Human Services prepare students for human services in any International Community. Students are equips with diversity and inclusion skills, and expertise in international community human services, required to serve clients in a variety of public outreach organizations in the international sector: for example, United Nation's refugee camps, civic groups, etc. Graduates are prepared to work alongside social workers, doctors, and other specialists who help individuals tackle major challenges in their lives, including substance abuse, victims of crime or violence, domestic abuse, unemployment, seeking and obtaining education.
Catalog Year

2024-2025

Degree

Bachelor of Science

Major Credits

54

Total Credits

120

Locations

Mankato

Career Cluster

People and Cultures

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Program Requirements

Required General Education

Choose 3 Credit(s).

A study of American racial/ethnic minorities, especially the histories of Native Americans, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans. Their roles and contributions to American society will be emphasized.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Purple

This course introduces students to multicultural and ethnic knowledge and values in and outside the United States. Students are exposed to such issues as race, culture, ethnicity, dominance, immigration, stereotypes, discrimination, and intergroup relations through interdisciplinary approaches-anthropological, economic, historical, political, psychological and/or sociological.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Major Common Core

Research Methods/Skills - Choose 3 Credit(s).

This course introduces concepts and methods of applying socio-cultural understanding to contemporary problems to bring about the empowerment of affected people. Case/field studies and other research methods in social sciences will be used to illustrate the impact and problems of cultural change with special attention to its affect on disadvantaged groups of people. Students will also design their own applied projects.

Prerequisites: ANTH 101, ANTH 230 or consent; ETHN 100, ETHN 101 or ETHN 150 or consent

Diverse Cultures: Gold

This is a comprehensive course, which introduces students to qualitative, quantitative and evaluation social research methods. It provides students with hands-on experience of collecting and analyzing data, from any given diverse ethnic community through participant observation and needs assessment.

Prerequisites: ETHN 100 or ETHN 101 or ETHN 150, or Consent

Diverse Cultures: Gold

Critical Thinking /Theoretical - Choose 3 Credit(s).

This course will examine issues confronted in a multicultural society. It will study ethnic/minority groups not usually included in mainstream society, including their uniqueness and harmonious coexistence with other ethnic groups.

Prerequisites: none

Students will examine the forces which create and maintain prejudice, discrimination and racism within global perspectives. Special attention will be given to the work of Paulo Freire.

Prerequisites: ETHN 100 or ATHN 400

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Major Restricted Electives

Choose 15 Credit(s). Two courses must be writing intensive "W' and two courses be at 400 level.

Students will participate in field trips, activities, and guest discussions that will enable them to interact with people ethnically (race, religion, lifestyle, etc.) different from the students, to understand their perspectives and to appreciate their unique experiences and/or contributions to the U.S. pluralistic society. Students are expected to learn actively in and outside the classroom by experiencing events or people from diverse cultural groups.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Gold

This course deals with the history of interracial/interethnic and intergroup (sex, age, religion, etc.) dating and marriage in the U.S. It will explore dating patterns, mate selection theories and impacts on multi-racial children in the area of identity and adjustment.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-07

This course will explore the historical, social, political, and cultural experience of African Americans. It will also examine the contributions of African Americans to the growth and development of the United States.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Introduction to the history and cultures of the major Asian American ethnic groups with a comparative approach to their similarities and differences.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Purple

A survey of the history and present status of Hispanics/Latinos in the United States from 1848. Emphasis will be on culture, history, and socio-political patterns.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Purple

This course will focus on the struggle for civil rights by diverse groups in the United States. Emphasis will be on how these struggles have impacted their communities and cultural pluralism in the U.S.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05

Diverse Cultures: Purple

The course is offered according to student demand and instructor availability/expertise. A variety of topics related to ethnic and cultural areas will provide curriculum enrichment on an ongoing, but irregular basis.

Prerequisites: none

Courses will employ changing topics from year to year and will deal with cogent issues of current interest to ethnic and minority communities.

Prerequisites: none

Exploratory independent study and research. Areas of interest not addressed in regular courses are given priority. Maximum three credits toward the major; one credit toward the minor. Prereq: Two other ETHN courses

Prerequisites: Two other ETHN courses.

The course introduces students to the historical and theoretical foundations of environmental racism and inequality. Therefore, students will explore the social, industrial, and government forces that create inequitable burdens of environmental pollution across communities as well as social movements to reduce such burdens. While a majority of the course focuses on the United States, readings include case studies from around the world.

Prerequisites: none

Examines the history, identity, conflict and ethnic relations related to immigration as explored from an Ethnic Studies perspective as well as from American and global perspectives.

Prerequisites: none

This course examines the economic, social and political factors that affect the identities, rights and social perceptions of multiracial individuals. The social changes resulting from the 1960s Civil Rights Movement played an important role in reducing the social distance between people of different racial/ethnic backgrounds. As a result, contributing to the rising multiracial population. According to the U.S. Census conducted in 2010, over nine million individuals reported belonging to two or more races.

Prerequisites: none

The purpose of this course is to examine the challenges and opportunities of the new immigrants,refugees,families,and specifically their children,in the United States.

Prerequisites: none

This course will provide students with an in-depth examination of the issues affecting present-day Africans, and those of the Black Diaspora. Possible topics are fair representation in the media, education, cross-cultural interactions, economics, politics/law, and racial identity.

Prerequisites: ETHN 110 or ETHN 400 or consent

Examination of current issues affecting the status of Asian Americans. The focus of this course will vary to reflect students' interests in the area of politics, education, economics, social and/or cultural dealing with Asian Americans.

Prerequisites: ETHN 400, or consent

Goal Areas: GE-05

Thematic examination of major issues surrounding Latino/Hispanic communities in the United States. Emphasis will be on education, labor, politics, social welfare and migration.

Prerequisites: ETHN 400, or consent

This course is concerned with racial/ethnic minorities who live in large urban (inner city) areas. It is especially concerned with the roles that culture and discrimination play in the shaping of America's ghettos, barrios, reservations, and Chinatowns.

Prerequisites: none

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Examines the effects of sexism and racism on women of color and provides an understanding of the significant contributions they have made in their struggle against oppression.

Prerequisites: ETHN 400, or consent

Diverse Cultures: Purple

This course will take an interdisciplinary ethnic studies approach to examine the past, present and future implications of the African American civil rights movement on race relations in the United States.

Prerequisites: none

The course examines racial and ethnic minorities, and the mutual influences between these groups and the structures, procedures and issues of US politics. Major topics include: opinion on racial issues, the representation of minorities in elective and appointive offices, and the nature of value conflicts underlying contemporary racial issues, including affirmative action, immigration, welfare, language policies and Native American tribal issues.

Prerequisites: none

Diverse Cultures: Purple

This course will examine the different definitions of family through time in the United States. It will focus on changes in the African, Native, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian-American families. It will compare and contrast differences and similarities among ethnic minority families as well as between them and white ethnic families.

Prerequisites: ETHN 400, or consent

Multiple perspectives on the selected topic(s) will be addressed. Student scholars may contribute to the selection and/or refinement of the topic(s). Highly motivated seniors will join with graduate students in a graduate-type seminar. Prereq: ETHN major

Prerequisites: ETHN major

Courses will employ changing topics from year to year and deal with cogent issues of current interest to one or more minority communities.

Prerequisites: none

Supervised, scholarly experience to which the theories and methodologies of ethnic studies can be applied. Opportunitiesmay be on-campus and/or off-campus, including work in other countries. Prereq: ETHN major or minor

Prerequisites: ETHN major or minor

Advanced independent study and research. Maximum of three credits toward the major; one credit toward the minor. Prereq: 2 ETHN courses at 300/400 level

Prerequisites: 2 ETHN courses at 300/400 level

This introductory course examines key concepts and issues in contemporary world politics. It is a survey course covering topics including political culture, the political impact of economic globalization, the changing role of the state, nationality and ethnic identity, and issues of oppression and empowerment.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-08

An advanced theoretical survey of the dynamics of politics and political change at the global level.

Prerequisites: POL 231

Major Unrestricted Electives

Choose 15credit (s). Multicultural Courses

Language provides not only communication but identification of oneself and one's group. Humans are extremely sensitive to language, dialect, jargon, and slang. An understanding of language and its relationship to culture is basic to any understanding of human beings.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-08

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Students in this course approach writing as a subject of study by investigating how writing works across a variety of contexts.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-1A

Cultural aspects of interactions between people and their environment focusing on spatial patterns of population, agriculture, politics, language, religion, industrialization, and urbanization. Emphasis is placed on the processes that create the cultural landscape and on management of land and natural resources.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-08

Diverse Cultures: Purple

A comparative history of the Chinese and Japanese nations from the 19th century to 1945.

Prerequisites: none

This course traces the history of Latin America from the late colonial period through the present as the various countries in the region attempted to transcend their colonial past and confront the pressures of modernization and globalization.

Prerequisites: none

Diverse Cultures: Purple

This course surveys African American history from slavery to the twenty-first century. We will explore the history of enslavement, black resistance, African American culture, freedom, migration patterns, and black political thought and participation as well as how historians have interpreted and re-interpreted this history.

Prerequisites: none

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Popular music is a multi-billion dollar industry today. What is it, and where did it come from? Learn about the origins of jazz in the music of African-Americans, its growth from Dixieland through the Big Band era (with the contributions of performers like Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington) to its influences on musical styles in the present day.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-06, GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Rock music has fans in every country and in every culture. It really is a universal language, but it didn't start that way. It began as black Rhythm and Blues in the 40's, and through to the present, minority groups have had a major influence on the music.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-06, GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Purple

To what extent do the differences among races and between genders represent biological differences, and to what extent are they constructed by society? Is racism best conceptualized as an additional burden to sexism or as one different in kind?

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-06, GE-07

Discussion of the ways that a culture both creates human community and shapes self-identity. Exploration of similarities and differences between and interdependence among cultural traditions, and of vocabularies for assessing traditions.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-06, GE-08

A survey of literature, artists and performances with specific regard to the theatre of diversity including, but not restricted to: Feminist Theatre, Gay and Lesbian Theatre, African-American Theatre, Asian American Theatre, Hispanic Theatre, etc.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-06, GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Major Emphasis

Choose 15 credit(s).

The course explores communication with people from other cultures, why misunderstandings occur and how to build clearer and more productive cross-cultural relationships.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-07, GE-08

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Economic underdevelopment and the relationships between mature economies and developing nations.

Prerequisites: ECON 201 and ECON 202

Supervised, scholarly experience to which the theories and methodologies of ethnic studies can be applied. Opportunitiesmay be on-campus and/or off-campus, including work in other countries. Prereq: ETHN major or minor

Prerequisites: ETHN major or minor

This course will introduce students to the diverse physical, social, environmental, economic, political, and cultural aspects of the major regions and countries of the world. Students will gain knowledge of the similarities and differences in the cultural and natural environments in various regions. Other areas introduced in this course will be the significance of each major region at the global scale; relationships between regions and their population; and ways and means by which people live their lives in diverse societies.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-08

Diverse Cultures: Purple

The course will be an introduction to the analysis of spatial data using the concept of a geographic information system (GIS). Content of the course will be, to a great extent, based on the NCGIA core curriculum with assignments tailored to the data and software available within the department such as ArcGIS.

Prerequisites: none

This course will examine women's lives and activism, past and present, throughout the world. We will explore and evaluate individual and collective efforts to achieve social justice in the context of interlocking systems of oppression. Fall, Spring, Summer

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-08, GE-09

Diverse Cultures: Purple

A survey of American History from the end of Reconstruction to the present with a special emphasis on political and social developments.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Purple

International dimensions of business: global business environment (economic, cultural, legal, political) and international business functions (management, marketing, finance, exporting, importing).

Prerequisites: none

This course exposes students to some of the major realities of life among the poor and socially deprived in all parts of the world, primarily developing countries. Students will confront conditions that impede development and keep people locked into poverty and despair, and will discuss how a person who sees her/himself as a global citizen can act in tangible ways to make that citizenship more meaningful.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-08

Diverse Cultures: Purple

This course will identify and analyze global social, economic, political and environmental problems impacting community viability and explore the full range of solutions to these problems. The course will view communities as complex, sustainable organisms and bring together the works of the great minds working on sustainability.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-10

Minor

Minor is required. Students can choose any Minor, for example, International Relations or any foreign languages.

4-Year Plan

The 4-Year Plan is a model for completing your degree in a timely manner. Your individual 4-Year plan may change based on a number of variables including transfer courses and the semester/year you start your major. Carefully work with your academic advisors to devise your own unique plan.
* Please meet with your advisor on appropriate course selection to meet your educational and degree goals.

First Year

Fall - 16 Credits

Spring - 15 Credits

Second Year

Fall - 15 Credits

Spring - 15 Credits

Third Year

Fall - 15 Credits

Spring - 15 Credits

Fourth Year

Fall - 14 Credits

Spring - 15 Credits