Even though race has no biological basis, it is important and consequential. Societies use race to establish hierarchies of power and privilege. Consequently, race and ethnicity are significant social characteristics; it is of utmost importance for students at Loyola University Chicago to have the opportunity to study race and ethnicity in a detailed and systematic manner. This minor is of vital importance specifically here in the United States, a country's whose foundations are built upon racial inequalities that continue to persist. In the wake of the George Floyd murder and the subsequent protests during the summer of 2020, the study of race is even more important and will provide students with a well-rounded education. Further, the minor provides opportunities for students to develop nuanced understandings of race and ethnicity in cross-cultural and comparative perspectives.

The interdisciplinary minor in race and ethnicity has two major scholarly objectives. First, the minor will provide an interdisciplinary theoretical background on relevant ethnic and racial issues. Second, the minor will train students to develop analytic tools for studying ethnic and racial issues. The minor will accomplish these goals by focusing on issues including but not limited to:

1. The prevalence of ethnicity and race as socially significant characteristics; the development of ethno-racial ideologies and ethno-racial identities, and their significance in everyday life.
2. Racism, prejudice, and ethno-racial discrimination as longstanding social problems with structural, institutional, economic, political, environmental, health and other impacts in the U.S. and other countries, as well as the individual and communal resistances that have fought against these types of discrimination.
3. Systems of institutionalized inequality including white supremacy, colonialism, and capitalism, and their contributions to the development and maintenance of ethno-racial distinctions and the marginalization of ethno-racial populations in the U.S. and other countries.

 

Curriculum

Admission requirements: There are no specific admission requirements for the Interdisciplinary Race and Ethnicity minor.
Total credit hours: 18 credit hours
Expected time to degree: Students can conclude the minor in 4 semesters.
Program Learning Outcomes: At the conclusion of their studies, students minoring in Interdisciplinary Race and Ethnicity will be able to:

1. Understand theories of race and ethnicity,
2. Evaluate racial and ethnic inequality, and
3. Apply a race and ethnicity lens to the analysis of historical, cultural, and contemporary issues.

The curriculum includes 2 required courses (6 credit hours). One course is in category 1 and one course is in category 5 (please see below). Students are also required to complete 4 elective courses (12 credit hours). One course each from category 2, category 3, and category 4 must be completed. Students may choose a 4th elective from any of categories 2-4 to fulfill the final 3 credit hours. Because this is an interdisciplinary minor, students will be required to count no more than two of the six courses from the same major/discipline towards the minor, with the exception of the capstone class (currently SOCL 380).

Introduction to Race and Ethnicity (Category 1) - One required course

SOCL 122: Race and Ethnic Relations (Existing Course – Tier 2 Societal Knowledge)

This course examines the development of cultural, society, and self-understanding by exploring the social construction of race in the United States. The course explores how social constructions of race affect interpersonal relations, laws, policies, and practices in various racial and ethnic communities.

Theories of Race and Ethnicity (Category 2) - Choose at least one of the following

ANTH 105: Human Biocultural Diversity (Existing Course – Tier 2 Scientific Knowledge)

This course examines the history of the concept of the biological race, the emergence of scientific racism, and modern human interpopulational biological diversity from an evolutionary perspective.

CJC 372: Race, Ethnicity, and Criminal Justice (Existing Course – Tier 2 Societal Knowledge)

This course examines current research and theoretical perspectives related to race and ethnicity in crime and in criminal justice processing. It will cover such issues as racial profiling, the effects of drug laws on people of color, minority disenfranchisement from the criminal justice system, and crime and immigration.

HIST 374: Black Politics (Existing Course)

This course will present a general overview of black politics in America, including the major black political ideologies and their theoretical underpinnings and the role of race in urban politics in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

HIST 378: Latina/o History (Existing Course)

This course introduces the history of Latinos in the United States from the Spanish Colonial period to the present.

HIST 380: Introduction to African American History (Existing Course)

This course is a general survey of African American history from its African origins to the Present.

PHIL 389: Contemporary Issues: Critical Philosophy of Race (Existing Course)

In this course we will examine several contemporary arguments within the field of critical race theory. The two major questions that guide this field are: What is race? And What values do and/or should we assign to race in our society? The course will be divided into three parts: 1) the historical roots of contemporary arguments about race; 2) several contemporary arguments about race; 3) a few of the social/political implications about these arguments.

PLSC 218: African American Politics (Existing Course)

The political goals, behavior, voting patterns, group structures, values, and attitudes of various segments of the African American population, and how these affect the political system.

PLSC 300A: Contemporary Political Issues: Minority Politics (Existing Course)

An introduction to the politics of traditionally marginalized groups in the United States, with a focus on race, ethnicity, gender, immigration status, and sexuality.

SOCL 228: Sociology of the African American Experience (Existing Course)

A sociological inquiry into the historical and contemporary experience of African Americans. Social movements and social change, urban and institutional processes, social values and collective behavior, and African Americans and public policy are among the topics explored.

Racial and Ethnic Inequality and Racism (Category 3) – Choose at least one of the following

ANTH 203: Violence, Social Suffering, and Justice (Existing Course – Tier 2 Societal Knowledge)

This class investigates violence, suffering and justice through an ethnographic and cross-cultural perspective. It asks, how are overt forms of violence related to larger social structures which produce less visible forms of suffering? How are violence and suffering related to other socio-cultural phenomena such as race, gender, sexuality and identity?

ANTH 332: Language, Race, and Inequality (Existing Course)

This course addresses how and why languages and speakers are associated with racialized stereotypes, and how linguistic discrimination operates in U.S. culture today. In-depth case studies examine language and race in education, mass media, material culture, and everyday interaction. Critical perspectives on sociolinguistic norms and relationships between language, Whiteness, and power are also included.

CJC 345: Social Justice and Crime (Existing Course – Tier 2 Societal Knowledge)

This course examines the social injustices in the criminal justice system's naming and sanctioning of harmful behaviors as crimes. Discussions will unpack the values, ethics, and ideologies underlying the current retributive system of sanctioning compared to social justice responses to crime.

HIST 359F: Genocides in the Modern World (Existing Course)

This class evaluates the motives and circumstances of global genocides and uncovers the experiences of those targeted by genocidal violence. The course will range widely from settler colonial violence in the Americas to the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust, the Khmer Rouge, Rwanda, ISIL, and beyond.

HIST 360A: Slavery and Abolition, Then and Now (Existing Course)

This course will first examine the history of slavery in the ancient and medieval eras, but is devoted mainly to the rise and maturation of slavery and slave trading in the Atlantic world (ca. 1500-1865). The last third of the class charts the resurgence of post-abolition slavery.

PLSC 316: Politics of Genocide (Existing Course)

This course analyzes the politics surrounding genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in contemporary times. The primary focus is on occurrences since the end of the Cold War, including the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

PLSC 390: Urban Politics (Existing Course)

Political processes in cities and other local governments, Examination of mayors, city councils, bureaucrats, and their interaction with local citizens and interest groups.

PSYC 239: Understanding Bias and Inclusivity (Existing Course)

Using an intersectional lens, students learn about how privilege, power, and oppression shape ourselves, perceptions of others, and our social world. They consider how ourselves and others are shaped by and operate within the larger social system. Students explore their identities, values, and biases. Students engage in self-reflection to increase self-awareness.

PSYC 360: Understanding Prejudice (Existing Course)

Prejudice from a psychological perspective. Applying psychological concepts, research, and theory to understand the origins and consequences of prejudice as well as potential remedies.

SOCL 250: Inequality and Society (Existing Course)

This course examines the manner in which contemporary society is divided by race, ethnicity, class, sexuality and gender, and the impact of social institutions on these divisions. An emphasis will be placed on income/wealth differences, status differences, class conflict and social conflict over time.

SOCL 252: Global Inequalities (Existing Course)

This course examines inequality on a global scale, focusing on the impact of globalization processes on race, class, and gender inequalities here and abroad.

Historical, Cultural, and Contemporary Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Issues (Category 4) – Choose at least one of the following

ANTH 208: Language and Identity (Existing Course – Tier 2 Societal Knowledge)

This course will examine how language both reflects and helps constitute identity in social and linguistic interaction. Presenting a broad introduction, this course will address complex and often intersecting relationships between language and gender, race, class, place, age, and social practice, using case studies from around the world.

ANTH 211: People of Latin America (Existing Course)

This course offers an anthropological overview of the major cultures and cultural regions of contemporary Latin America.

ANTH 213: Culture in Africa (Existing Course)

This course investigates popular culture, traditional African philosophy, and political economy in the postmodern era. Engaging an interdisciplinary approach, the course includes an overview of pre-colonial Africa (primarily West Africa), African intellectual contributions to the West, and the reverse.

ANTH 216: Cultures of Migration (Existing Course)

Using theoretical, ethnographic, and autobiographical literature from different world regions, we will explore three central questions: 1) How do people make the decision to move? 2) How do political policies structure the life chances of im/migrants in the "global north"? 3) How do im/migrants transform their own life situations and communities?

ANTH 217: Mexican Culture and Heritage (Existing Course)

This course charts the development of Mexican culture (indigenous and peninsular) from prehistoric times through the colonial era to the present day.

CJC 375: Punishment in Society (Existing Course)

This course explores the dominant sociological approaches to understanding punishment in modern society. The course also focuses on punishment as practiced in the United States in light of these theoretical approaches, examining the collateral consequences of punishment and the importance of racial, gender, and sexual identities in relation to punishment.

HIST 389B: Gender, Race, and Class in US History (Existing Course)

This course examines the historical interplay of gender, race, and class in the lives of African American and white women in the United States.

PLSC 334: Urban Policy and Problems (Existing Course)

An analysis of selected problems confronting governments in urban America as well as the range of public policies that address urban problems. (May be repeated with different issues.)

SOCL 234: City, Suburbs, and Beyond (Existing Course)

Study of the historical emergence of cities, focusing on the ecological, demographic, and organizational processes involved in the continuing growth and change of metropolitan areas and in the relationship of a metropolitan area to the surrounding region.

SOCL 245: Sociology of Education (Existing Course)

This course is a rigorous introduction into the scholarly traditions and contemporary research developments in the sociology of education. Topics include: educational stratification and inequality, how educational institutions function and with what policy implications, and social psychology/human development.

SOCL 280: Topics in Contemporary Sociology: U.S. Immigration (Existing Course)

This course is designed to provide a sociological understanding concerning various impacts of immigration in the United States. We will examine fundamental concepts for studying migration, and theories that explain international migration. We will also discuss how immigrants have redefined –and will keep redefining– local and foreign demographic dynamics in receiving and sending societies, transnational networks, and a more complex ethno-racial diversity with meaningful international roots.

Race and Ethnicity Capstone (Category 5) – One required course

SOCL 380: Internship (Existing Course – Engaged Learning)

Supervised field experience for students working in a selected community organization, government agency, social agency, or business.