Ethnic Studies 176 approaches coursework from various critical/theoretical perspectives, often constructing them as we analyze, and through the lens of Ethnic Studies. It assumes that few, if any of you, are entering the course with an extensive background in the art and cultural production or the attendant scholarly criticism of American ethnic art. It does, however, assume the ability and willingness to read and analyze works closely. Over the course of the semester, the course has various Ethnic American artists from the Bay Area who will share and discuss...
This course provides a broad, interdisciplinary overview of the U.S. labor movement in the fight for social and economic justice. It will introduce students to critiques of racial capitalism and the power dynamics inherent in paid work while considering why and how workers form unions in response. One of the primary objectives of this course is to develop a theoretical and analytical understanding of contemporary workers’ experiences of work in the U.S. shaped by race, class, gender, sexuality, immigration status, language, religion, and other social constructs. There will be a special...
California is a broad, introductory course that explores the material places and social spaces that create both astonishing wealth and intractable inequality in California. Created by Dr. Seth Lunine and Chancellor’s Public Fellow Sophia Fenn, the American Cultures Engaged Scholarship (ACES) / Creative Discovery component of the course enabled the Fall Program for First Semester (FPF) students to extend and contextualize topics related to gentrification and the...
Since Spring 2019, Dr. Palau has taught and continues to teach Comparative Literature 60AC: “(Re)making American History,” a course that explores Post-Civil Rights (re)makings of American History by studying works by writers and artists who participate in the urgent project of producing alternative and corrective visions of the United States’ past. The creative project in this course asks students to experiment actively with (re)making history themselves by selecting a course material that would serve as a starting...
This course surveys contemporary issues affecting the Asian American community. Students of the course looked at the different theories that explain the current status of Asian Americans and the interrelationship between the Asian American community, nation, and world. The course focuses on the issue of race relations, and the commonalities and differences between Asian Americans and other race and ethnic groups.
This course considers America as contested territory, where multiple Americas are not just written but also performed. By studying performance we look at how different meanings of America have been constructed over time. This class especially focuses on race intersecting with class and gender in the United States towards stronger anti-racist and anti-imperialist collective strategies for artists, scholars, and other cultural producers. Course materials include plays, live performances, popular media, music,...
Over the course of the semester, students in History 131C, In the Shadow of War: A Social History of the U.S. Military, investigate together how the military shaped and was shaped by the experiences of African American, indigenous American, Mexican American, Asian American, and white American soldiers, officers, and their families. Alongside race, ethnicity, and national origin, the course considers how personnel policies and exigent circumstances of war rendered gender, sexuality, class, religion, and disability visible and invisible, acceptable and...
English 135AC: “Race, Class, & Disability: An American Foundling Museum” analyzed race, ethnicity, and disability in American cultures, focusing particularly on histories of family separation. A final project for the course asked students to curate an artifact for an “American Foundling Museum," with an opportunity to work in a variety of different mediums: conventional papers, podcasts, video, graphic art, and more. Across the semester, students applied writing and arts-based practices to generate a major...
ESPM 50AC: “Introduction to Culture and Natural Resource Management” explores how the health of the environments we depend on is connected to natural resource management, which in turn arises out of historically and culturally specific relationships between humans and nature. The creative project utilizes a form of media to present the student’s research on a topic addressing a course-related theme in the United States or in an area of U.S. imperial influence and how natural resources intersect with race,...
Chicano Studies 174AC: “Chicanos, the Law, and the Criminal Justice System” situates itself within an abolitionist paradigm to understand the connections between Chicano, Latino, and migrant urbanization, race, poverty, state violence, and the criminal justice system. The project for this course asked students, as groups, to select a topic or theme that they wanted to engage and to create a Spark presentation introducing the topic, as well as produce a podcast on the chosen topic or theme.
