Undergraduate Study

Coursework in our department enables students to rigorously and responsibly study race, diaspora and indigeneity – categories that reveal how the motive to differentiate humanity has fundamentally shaped the modern world. Those of you who choose to study and research in our department can expect to learn and apply these concepts, confidently and imaginatively, to a range of contemporary problems. You will develop general competencies in writing, argument, and inquiry as well as more nuanced abilities to seek and use knowledge equitably and empathically. These qualities will uniquely equip you to excel in multiple fields of work, including media, creative writing, investigative journalism, teaching and research at all levels, policy-making and foundations, private sector work focused on social responsibility, and activist organizing.

Ours is a broad curriculum generated within a thoroughly interdisciplinary department. Students work with acclaimed experts in literature, creative writing, anthropology, sociology, social work, linguistics, visual arts, history, urban studies, and cinema and media studies, among other fields. Students who take our classes or enroll in our major or minor encounter a range of analytics, orientations, and expressive idioms comparable to few other departments on this campus. Several core approaches tie together the range of interests across our community. These sustain rigorous inquiry while cautioning that we who seek to advance knowledge are responsible for recognizing the benefits and costs resulting from our ideas’ impact on the world. Among our core approaches are intersectionality and its recognition of both identities and power structures originating through complex co-creation, dedication to utilizing multiple methodologies within both the humanities and social sciences, and a willingness to test the relevance and value of ideas beyond the classroom and campus.

Our critical concepts courses are open to students of all majors and are a great place to start in the curriculum. RDIN 12300: Formations of Indigeneity is offered annually in the autumn, RDIN 12100 Racial Formations in the winter, and RDIN 12300 Diaspora(s) in the spring. These courses can be taken in any order. 

A full list of our program’s requirements is in the College Catalog.

Interested students are welcome to join our listserv to stay informed on courses, events, and opportunities in the department.