Race & Ethnic Studies

Race & Ethnic Studies Minor Overview

This academic minor focuses on the comparative study of race and ethnicity both in the United States and worldwide. While a wide range of social and ethnic groups may be considered, emphasis is given to those groups that have historically borne the brunt of discrimination, enslavement, and even extermination in the process of Euro-American global expansion. The program’s comparative focus assumes that there are general processes that underlie the formation of ethnic identity and “race” relations in a wide range of social and national contexts.

To this end, the minor provides access to a range of analytical tools with which to examine the histories, experiences and cultures of diverse racial and ethnic groups and their relationships to each other and to their dominant cultures.

Please note: Hartwick College focuses on offering fall, January, and spring term undergraduate courses in person, however circumstances may require us to offer a small number of courses in this department through distance education. In times of emergency, following regulatory guidelines, all classes may temporarily need to be delivered through distance education, including online. We also offer a slate of courses online in the summer to help our students make progress towards their degrees. With support from an academic advisor, students needing particular courses may have other online options as well. If you have questions about the way courses are delivered in your program, please contact your Department or Program Chair.

Race & Ethnic Studies Minor Objectives:

to provide students with an understanding of the socially constructed “nature” of race and ethnicity;
to help students understand the debates about the biological basis of human diversity;
to teach the histories, cultures and contributions of various racial and ethnic groups in ways that highlight the differences and similarities of ethnic experience and expression as well as the responses to racial/ethnic discrimination and its relationship to other historical inequalities such as class and gender;
to help prepare students to participate in an increasingly diverse world and promote a more just society;
to provide opportunities for students to experience racial and ethnic contexts that take them beyond their own cultural backgrounds.

In keeping with Hartwick’s Liberal Arts in Practice, the goal of this program is to prepare students for the shifting arrangements of life and work in this century. Course work in the minor also introduces students to the history of the conceptual debates about race and ethnicity, as well as to the range of analytical approaches currently influential within interdisciplinary scholarship on ethnicity and race relations.

Race & Ethnic Studies Requirements

Considering a minor in Race & Ethnic Studies? Here’s what it takes.

Race & Ethnic Studies Minor

Race & Ethnic Studies

Race & Ethnic Studies Minor Overview

Race & Ethnic Studies Minor Objectives:

Race & Ethnic Studies Requirements

Race & Ethnic Studies Courses

Race & Ethnic Studies Faculty

Still have questions?