ETH56

Social Sciences

Area 3A - Arts, Area 6 - Ethnic Studies

CSU

Through an Ethnic Studies disciplinary framework, this course examines the intersections of ethnic culture, race, socio-economic class, gender, and sexuality in the United States through the medium of film. By examining films, documentaries, and analytical essays, students use critical reasoning skills to discover how the structures of race, class, gender, and similar constructs have shaped and formed society and culture in the United States. Representations of these groups in cinema have shaped long standing stereotypes, biases, as well as the everyday experience for African American, Native American, Asian American, and Chicanx/Latinx people in the United States. Centering on the voices and experiences of people of color, this course highlights the ways these groups have resisted hegemonic representations by crafting, developing, and reclaiming their own stories. This course also provides an opportunity for project based learning for anti-racism outreach.