About the Major

The Chicana/o Studies major looks at the historical and contemporary experience of persons of Mexican descent residing in the United States in comparative perspective, and their relationship to México and the United States. Chicanas/os are the majority of births in California and make up about two-thirds of all Latinos, the largest racial/ethnic group in the United States.

An Indio/Mestizo people with a rich, varied heritage, language, culture, and history, Chicanas/os have strong ties to México, the American Southwest, and the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

The Chicana/o Studies curriculum reflects a comprehensive examination of the Chicana/o experience from both historical and contemporary perspectives. Designed to foster a greater understanding and appreciation of the numerous contributions that Chicanas/os have made to contemporary society, the curriculum focuses on the history, culture, art, and music of Chicanos and puertoriqueños, dominicanos, centro americanos and other Latino communities, and compares these experiences with those of African Americans, Asian Americans, and American Indians.

Also examined are education, employment, housing, voting, law, and other areas, and contemporary issues affecting the Chicana/o community, including immigration, law, politics, voting, identity, The Border, bilingual/bicultural education, gender, the economy, the anti-immigrant backlash and the English-Only movement, family, and community empowerment/ development.

The major has a three-fold mission:

  1. To provide a rich, varied, comparative curriculum on Chicana/o culture, history, and experience for the college and campus
  2. To prepare majors with an informed critical perspective prepared to live and work in a rich multicultural environment, and for employment in culturally and linguistically diverse environments
  3. To prepare students for advanced study in a variety of related fields, including ethnic studies, law, education, urban studies and urban planning, sociology, government, social work, counseling and related help professions, unions, and community development and empowerment 

Faculty

Major Requirements

To earn a bachelor of arts in Chicano studies, you must take:

Core courses (required of all majors)

  1. Lower-division requirements (12 units)
    1. ETST 001
    2. ETST 002
    3. ETST 004/HIST 004
  2. Upper-division requirements (40 units)
    1. ETST 100A or ETST 101B
    2. ETST 100 or ETST 131
    3. ETST 191R
    4. Four courses selected from two of the following areas of emphasis (16 units):
      1. Law: ETST 145/SOC 145, ETST 126, ETST 128/SOC 128, ETST 185, ETST 108-I
      2. Politics: ETST 123, ETST 125, ETST 111, ETST 132, ETST 142, ETST 156
      3. History and Culture: ETST 155, ETST 108E, ETST 108F, ETST 108-I, ETST 108P, ETST 122, ETST 125, ETST 128/SOC 128, ETST 146/EDUC 146, ETST 153/ LNST 153, ETST 154, ETST 161, ETST 166
      4. Gender: ETST 124, ETST 114, ETST 127, ETST 175/GSST 175
    5. One Senior Research Seminar (4 units)
    6. One internship course (4 units)
    7. One additional elective upper-division course in ethnic studies

Note: no internship courses may be counted toward the upper-division electives in ethnic studies.

Minor Requirements

To minor in Chicano studies, you must take:

  1. Lower-division requirement (4 units): ETST 002 or ETST 004/HIST 004
  2. Upper-division requirements: 20 additional upper-division units in ethnic studies chosen from courses focusing on Chicanos
  3. Appropriate prerequisites as needed