1. Race & Ethnic Studies:
Subject Area Intro
Melissa Cardenas-Dow
LIS523LE – UIUC GSLIS
October 21, 2011

2. Definition & History
 Definition: the interdisciplinary study of people through the
lens of race and ethnicity – 2 volatile components of identity
 History: rooted in the American civil rights movement, 1960s
 San Francisco State College (now University), 1968 – first
higher ed institution to have a School of Ethnic Studies (now
College)
 Mission: transformative, corrective, redemptive, generative
(Scott, 2008, p. 19)

3. Focus & Scope
 Focus: histories, experiences, struggles, practices and
cultural products of peoples of color from their own
perspective(s); challenge to ethnocentric angle of traditional
social science disciplines
 Scope:
 see above
 taps into questions asked by other disciplines: sociology,
anthropology, psychology, education, political science, literature,
film, philosophy, history, religious studies, art, economics,
epidemiology

4. History, in depth
 1960s-1970s: Focus was on transformation of
postsecondary intellectual and physical space
 subject focus on American racial/ethnic relations, corrective
emphasis
 1980s-1990s: One focus: interrogation of white privilege –
whiteness studies; movement towards comparative ethnic
studies, racial/ethnic relations in different nations,
transnational studies, postcolonial/post-structuralism
 2000s-2010s: continue international, comparative ethnic
studies, transnational/diasporic studies

5. Subfields & Related Discipline
 Subfields:
 Black/African American Studies
 Asian/Asian-Pacific American Studies
 Latino/a and Chicano/a Studies
 Native American Studies
 Related disciplines:
 Women’s and Gender Studies
 Peace and Justice Studies
 Cultural Studies

6. Approaches/Methodologies
 Approach depends on object of study, research question
 Literature – literary analysis
 History – historiography
 Sociology – quantitative, qualitative approaches

7. Key Professional Organizations
 National Association for Ethnic Studies (NAES)
 Founded in 1972
 Affiliated with American Historical Association (AHA)
 Mission: interdisciplinary forum for scholars and activists interested in
ethnicity
 American Studies Association: Committee on Ethnic
Studies
 Keeps ASA appraised of scholarship in ethnic studies
 MELUS: The Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic
Literature of the United States
 Mission: develop the definition of American literature to include
Native American, African American, Asian and Pacific American and
ethnically specified European-American literary works, authors and
contexts

8. Resources
 Encyclopedia of Racism in the United States
 Encyclopedia of Race and Ethnic Studies
 Ethnic Newswatch
 Bibliography of Native North Americans
 America: History & Life
 JSTOR
 ICPSR
 Sociological Abstracts

9. Works Cited
Butler, J. E. (2008). Ethnic studies and interdisciplinarity. In T. P. Fong
(Ed.), Ethnic studies research: Approaches and perspectives
(243-256). Lanham, MD: Altamira Press.
Forbes, J. D. (2008). Ethnic or world studies: A historian’s path of
discovery. In T. P. Fong (Ed.), Ethnic studies research:
Approaches and perspectives (59-91). Lanham, MD: Altamira
Press.
Okihiro, G. Y. (2008). Crafting ethnic studies. In T. P. Fong (Ed.),
Ethnic studies research: Approaches and perspectives (33-57).
Lanham, MD: Altamira Press.
Scott, O. L. (2008). Ethnic studies: Preparing for the future. In T. P.
Fong (Ed.), Ethnic studies research: Approaches and
perspectives (17-32). Lanham, MD: Altamira Press.