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Chicano/a Studies

The Minor in Chicano/a Studies is an interdisciplinary program that introduces students to the complex experiences, history, cultural practices, and social interactions of one of the largest ethnic groups in the United States. The program has been designed around conceptual and theoretical units that are central to Chicano/a Studies as a field. In the upper division courses, students, in final papers/projects, will be able to critically examine the concepts below as they tie in to each particular. UC Merced’s Minor in Chicano/a Studies is organized around the following central questions that the program will explore, and students will address, from multiple disciplinary perspectives:

  • The role that race and ethnicity play and have played in shaping the experiences of different ethnic groups in the United States, with an emphasis on Chicanos/as;
  • The dynamics of migration and immigration, and the ensuing changes in identity, language, social and cultural practices, and national (or transnational) allegiances; particular attention will be paid to the borderlands and its role in defining a Chicano/a identity over the years;
  • Cultural contact and conflict in a historical context, including an in depth examination of activism and its role in raising consciousness, political mobilization (both contentious and non-contentious behavior), building a sense of community, and advancing Chicano/a civil and human rights;
  • literature and the ways in which it reflects and advances social changes, produces artistic renditions of Chicano/a and non-Chicano/a life, facilitates a sense of community, and interacts with readers from different cultural backgrounds;
  • Language, with special attention to bilingualism, the social and the artistic uses of mixing languages, as well as the tension between spoken and written versions of those languages;
  • The indigenous component of the Chicano/a identity; Chicanos/as are the descendants of multiple indigenous groups from present-day Mexico and the United States, and exploring that descent is central to Chicano/a studies.

For additional information on the Chicano/a Studies minor at UC Merced, please visit the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts main website.

For Chicano/a Studies minor requirements, please consult your catalog. 

Chicano/a Studies Minor Elective Courses

The following courses meet the breadth requirements for the Chicano/a Studies minor at UC Merced.

  • ANTH 110: Migration, Diaspora and Transnational Belonging
  • ANTH 116: Indigenous Activism in the Americas
  • CCST 113: Latino and Immigrant Health
  • ENG 113: US Latino Literature
  • ENG 114: Latino/as in Children’s Literature and Film
  • ENG 115: Chicano Literature
  • ENG 185: Reading from the Margin
  • HIST 119: Topics in the History of Migration and Immigration
  • HIST 123: Comparative Race and Ethnicity in the United States
  • HIST 129: Chicano History
  • HIST 139: Labor in 20th Century America (Spring 2014 only)
  • HIST 142: Topics in Latin American History (when the topic is History of Mexico only)
  • LIT 150: La Revolucion Mexicana (Fall 2010 only)
  • PH 113: Latino and Immigrant Health
  • SOC 110: Social Movements, Protest and Collective Action
  • SOC 131: Urban Inequality
  • SOC 180: Advanced Issues in Race and Ethnicity
  • SOC 181: Chicanos in US Society
  • SOC 182: Topics in Immigration (Spring 2014 only)
  • SPAN 111: Empire, the Postcolonial and Representation: Reading East and West
  • SPAN 112: Chicano/a Literature Written in Spanish
  • SPAN 113: US Latino Literature
  • SPAN 114: Latino/as in Children’s Literature and Film
  • SPAN 115: Chicano Literature
  • SPAN 153: Bilingualism and Borders in Hispanic Literatures
  • SPAN 175: Spanish in the US
  • SPAN 177: Sociolinguistics and Latino Health
  • SPAN 180 Topics on Spanish Language and Culture (if course is focused on Chicano/a topics)
  • WRI 140: Ethnic Writing: Chicano/a Rhetoric and Writing