U.S. Minority Studies

This course is an introduction to using the sociological perspective as a method of social inquiry. Students explore such basic concepts as culture, socialization, social structure, social interaction, and social change. They study and apply the theories and research methodologies used to investigate human social interaction. These concepts are applied to social topics such as race, class, gender, family, crime, population, environment, and others.
(Normally offered each semester.)

See SOC 2330 Race Relations and Minority Groups.

This course focuses on social privilege and its impact on the meaning and significance of race and ethnicity. It features strong student involvement focused on emerging community issues. Responsibility for classroom activity will be shared by students and instructor. Potential topics covered include such things as minority group-specific studies, white privilege, racism, and intersectional analysis of social identities. This course also serves as a capstone for the American Minority Studies minor.

Prerequisite(s): SOC 1110 Introduction to Sociology

This course examines a wide range of Native American cultures. It includes an exploration of cultures before contact by European populations and contemporary issues facing both reservation and urban Native American populations.
(Normally offered each spring semester.)

A broad survey of the major themes and issues in African American history from the early slave trade through emancipation to the present. Major topics include the creation of a diverse African American culture, resistance to the dehumanization of slavery, Civil War and Reconstruction, the Great Migration, the movement from Civil Rights to Black Power and contemporary issues such as reparations for slavery. This course includes a service learning component. No P/F.
(Normally offered each fall semester)

An overview of American Indian history from precontact to the present. It will explore numerous themes including cultural diversity, initial contact with Europeans, the different styles of interactions (Spanish/English/French), accommodation and dispossession, the U.S. treaty process, concentration, wardship, education, land allotment, termination and relocation, and modern American Indian issues. Utilizing assigned readings, discussion, and some short films, this class will eradicate misconceptions about American Indians and therefore help to eliminate the roots of discrimination and prejudice against the original Americans. No P/F.
(Normally offered each spring semester.)

This course explores the history and contemporary issues of Latinos in U.S. society. It covers the contributions and experiences of the diverse racial/ethnic/cultural groups from Central and South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean who have become part of the society both as immigrants and as conquered peoples. Topics related to Latino experiences in the U.S. include: identity, language, immigration, population growth, political involvement, education, health, integration, and economics.
(Normally offered each fall semester.)

This course provides an opportunity for students to learn from direct experience and personal interaction guided by lectures in the field and selected readings. Students will be guided to formulate and carry out specific research and/or establish constructive relationships with the subjects.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of the instructor.
Cross-listed with SOCWK 3930 Field Studies: Native American Life

An opportunity for students to learn from direct experience and personal interaction guided by lectures in the field and selected readings. Students will be guided to formulate and carry out specific research and/or establish constructive relationships with the subjects.
Prerequisite(s): SOC 1110 Introduction to Sociology and ANTHR 1150 Cultural Anthropology or approval of the instructor.
Cross-listed with ANTHR 3930 Field Studies: Native American Life

An introduction to the contemporary Chicano novel, generally including (but not limited to) the work of Sandra Cisneros, Rudolfo Anaya, Helena Maria Viramontes, Ana Castillo, and Dagoberto Gib.
Prerequisite(s): First Year Writing and junior standing or permission of the instructor.
(Normally offered alternate spring semesters.)

This course supplements the basic American survey course. Its aim is to acquaint students with representative autobiography, fiction, drama, poetry, literary criticism, and essays by African-American writers from Frederick Douglass to Toni Morrison.
Prerequisite(s): First Year Writing and Sophomore standing.
(Normally offered alternate spring semesters.)

See MSPAN 4460 U.S. Hispanic Literature and Society.

U.S. Hispanic Literature and Society will give students an introduction to the wide variety of literature written in Spanish in the United States within its greater cultural and historical context. Students will enhance their reading skills, vocabulary and background knowledge in order to comprehend, summarize, discuss and analyze these literary works in Spanish. Relevant historical and cultural readings are also included to aid students in their comprehension of the distinct perspectives (native, exile, immigrant) from which these works were written and that relationship within the greater context of U.S. society. Primary emphasis will be on the short story, but students will also be exposed to poetry and excerpts from other genres. Students at the 4460 level are also required to read a novel or play and do a related reflective paper and presentation.  MSPAN 4460 meets with MSPAN 3460, with differentiated assignment lengths and expectations by level.
Prerequisite(s): MSPAN 3100 Spanish Composition or permission of the department chair.

The study of cultural differences that influence the exchange of meaning between individuals and groups of different cultural and/or racial backgrounds. The course is designed to provide students with an understanding of the uniqueness of cultures and the resulting variations in communication styles and preferences, and to provide strategies and skills for successfully communicating across cultural barriers. Students will spend at least 20 hours during the semester working with community agencies serving clients from different cultures. (Normally offered each semester.)

This course helps future teachers and coaches recognize and understand biases experienced by groups and individuals due to race, ethnicity, gender, social class, religion, exceptionality, sexual orientation, and language background to help them work effectively with a diverse student or student-athlete population. This course meets the Nebraska Human Relations Training requirement for teacher certification and for the NSAA coaching certification
Pre or Corequisite(s): EDUC 1010 Introduction to Education in the United States or declared Coaching minor, or permission of instructor.
(Normally offered each semester.)

A study of movements for racial justice in the United States since 1900, this course focuses on the ideas, strategies, tactics and participants in movements which sought to counter racial discrimination, violence and oppression directed at African Americans, Latino/a Americans, American Indian nations, Asian Americans and various immigrant populations sometimes defined as "racial" groups. Attention also will be given to the interaction of the movements with other movements,such as LGBTQ+ or Feminist movements. No P/F.

4 hours - fall or spring semester
3 hours - summer or winter term
This course introduces students to the major institutions, ethnic communities, and systems of Chicago. Students interact with community organizers, performers, political leaders, and business owners. Students visit neighborhoods, encounter the vast diversity of the city, and experience the connection between world events and urban living.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of Chicago Center for Urban Life and Culture Faculty Liaison.

Most Americans have some understanding of how the categories of race and gender influence our personal and social identities. Yet many Americans also assume that race and gender are "natural," i.e., that we are born into a certain race and naturally embody a certain sex. In this course, we will examine these assumptions by reading, discussing, and critically assessing the arguments for and against the "naturalness" of race and gender. We will consider how categories of race and gender position us, historically and philosophically, as a person of a certain "type" from whom certain behaviors are expected. We will look at socio-economic conditions and philosophic positions that support or challenge racism, sexism, classism, segregation, and violence.
Cross listed with GEND 2300P.
(Normally offered alternate years.)

Racial politics is one of the most important, contested, and complicated issues in American society today. This course provides an introduction to the topic of minority politics. We will study the way that Black and Latino/a writers and thinkers understand the intersection of race and politics. We will explore the way that race is socially constructed, interrogate concepts of ideology, identity, and intersectionality, and examine the relationship between institutions and racism. At the end of the class, I hope you will have an appreciation for the complexity of racial politics in America. 

This class explores the questions that arise when people cross borders, structured by conversations of citizenship. Who is considered to be a member of a particular country? Under what circumstances should we prohibit people from crossing a border? Should certain groups of people be afforded different types of rights? How should a country incorporate or assimilate immigrants into the nation? To explore these questions, this class examines how the United States has responded to these ethical, political, economic and social debates over citizenship. Specifically, we will study historical and contemporary motivations driving skilled, undocumented, asylum, refugee, and guest work immigration; if and how the US has regulated and enforced borders; the historical and normative evolution of patterns of assimilation, integration, and exclusion; regulation over pathways to citizenship; current political debates about immigration and how immigration matters in our local communities.

U.S. Theatre and Cultural Pluralism is a Discourse-Instructive and Diversity-U.S.-Instructive course that considers drama and theatre by ethnic and racial minority writers, gender and sexual minority writers, and writers with disabilities, within the context of historical and contemporary cultural circumstances including economic class. The primary focus of this class is the examination of cultural pluralism as one of the ideals/principles of a democracy as embodied in dramatic works and theatre production practices. It seeks to investigate how theatre in the U.S. has served as a venue for voices that have been historically silenced and/or marginalized, while acknowledging that theatre has sometimes been used as an instrument of oppression. The dramatic works read will allow discussion of topics including: features of a democracy, structures of power, principles of cultural pluralism, what it means to be a citizen in a democracy, and obstacles to full participation in a democracy.
Prerequisite(s): POLSC 1010 Intro U.S.Govt/Politics: Civic Engagemt/POLSC 1010FYW Intro To U.S. Govt/Politics or HIST 1020 United States Society and Culture Since 1877 or  PHIL 2400 Social-Political Philosophy or THTRE 1020FYW Script Analysis or THTRE 1030 Script Analysis or instructor permission.