Starting this semester, students in the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts (SSHA) will have a new major option: Critical Race and Ethnic Studies (CRES).
Led by professors Ma Vang and Kit Myers, the new major dovetails with UC Merced’s emphasis on inequality, power and social justice. The major is housed in the Humanities and World Cultures Unit, and Vang said that’s emblematic of how interdisciplinary the topic is.
“A significant portion of our faculty members are from the History, Global Arts Studies, English, Spanish and Sociology programs,” Myers said. “Faculty from lots of other majors have offered their classes toward the major, too.”
UC Merced’s Sociology group already has a focus on inequality and justice, so the two can work together, Vang said.
The two professors have been working with a group of faculty members from across SSHA to develop curriculum and guide the major through the rigorous approval process for three years. The major has four interdisciplinary core classes, including a capstone/senior thesis course, along with various electives. Faculty members from affiliated programs will offer a host of other courses that students can take to fulfill additional major and elective requirements.
“We wanted draw on the existing disciplines to offer a breadth and depth of knowledge,” Vang said. “Our goal is for students to learn to think more deeply and be able to apply what they learn.”
Ethnic studies blossomed out of the Civil Rights Era, sparking social movements on campuses around the country. It’s the study of difference — mainly in race, ethnicity and nationality, but also gender, class and other areas — and power as expressed by the state, society and individuals. It was originally conceived to reframe what many people considered a Eurocentric approach to the stories, histories, struggles and triumphs of people of color, to hear their stories on their own terms. More recently, ethnic studies has expanded to include questions of representation, racialization, indigeneity, sexuality and other topics.
