Raza Studies

College of Ethnic Studies
Dean: Kenneth Monteiro

Department of Latina/Latino Studies
EP 103
415-338-6160
Chair: Teresa Carrillo

Faculty
Professors—Almaguer, Cordova, Cuellar, Murguia, Rivera
Associate Professors—Carrillo, Duncan-Andrade, Garcia, Mirabal
Assistant Professors—Martinez, Reyes
Lecturers—Calloway, Dávila, Kury, Quiñonez

Programs
B.A. in Raza Studies
Minor in Raza Studies


Program Scope
Raza Studies is a unique liberal arts B.A. degree program with an emphasis on equity, social justice, and community empowerment. Our programs offer an opportunity to study within a multidisciplinary framework of knowledge  to develop critical thinking skills, analytical and writing skills, and an area of expertise centered on Latinos in California and the United States.  Our program is designed to develop knowledge, skills, and consciousness that empower students to function as effective leaders in an increasingly complex, diverse, and global society. The major prepares students for graduate and professional schools for a wide range of public and private sector employment, and for a lifetime of community commitment and involvement.

The Raza Studies curriculum is critical, analytical, holistic, and cutting-edge. Students choose an integrated series of Major or Minor required and elective courses, as well as General Education classes focused on Latinos in the United States. Theoretical frameworks address race, class, sexuality, and gender inequities historically and in the present time in an analysis of multiple marginalities, community resistance, and empowerment.

Raza Studies curriculum favors a pan-Latino and comparative approach grounded in the US but sometimes following a trajectory back to Latin American countries of origin and the indigenous cultures and histories connected to Latino diasporic communities. The institutional experiences, social and national identities, cultural expressions and resistance movements of Chicano/a, Mexican, Central and South American, and Caribbean-American communities in the U.S. are centrally addressed. We emphasize gender, transnational identities, global economies, social movements, and literatures of resistance across the curriculum.

The Raza Studies curriculum is grounded in our local communities. Our programs stress commitment to community service, to civic engagement, social justice, and equity. We stress the importance of critical, socially responsible scholarship and link our classrooms to local communities and their empowerment through our own Community Service Learning Program. We also have short-term international study tours to Mexico and Cuba (Cuba travel suspended until the Cuba travel ban is lifted).

Community Service Learning Internships and International Study Tour
Supervised local community service learning internships and international study tours offer unique learning opportunities for students that enrich and expand their academic experience. Students may earn up to six units in each of these programs toward the Raza Studies Major or Minor. Students participate in organized group fund raising activities to support their travel. Permission of the supervising faculty is required to travel. Students report back to the campus community the results of the study tours.

The department requires that students complete at least one 3 unit, thirty five hour local community service learning internship for the Raza studies Major and the Minor. Internships are available every semester. Students choose internships from a wide variety of community-based organizations and government agencies, research and policy organizations, and schools. Students must concurrently enroll in a 3 unit online reflection component, RAZA 694 “Community Service Learning”. The community service learning internships are designed to enrich the academic experience and to prepare students for future careers as well as to establish empowering mutually beneficial contacts within the Latino communities of the greater Bay Area. It is a goal of the CSL Program to instill in our students a life-long commitment to community service and civic engagement.

Students interested in joining the International Study Tour to Cuba must first successfully complete RAZA 692 “Cuba: Health, Education and Culture”. The Cuba study tour is designed to provide students with opportunities to interact with local people and public officials and to learn about culture, social institutions and community organizations in Cuba.

The Mexico Study-Tour travels in late May and early June, leaving the Monday following graduation. The intensive twelve-day trip to Mexico DF and Morelos is faculty supervised. Students meet with activists from community-based organizations and schools to learn about grass-roots political and social change. Students planning to travel to Mexico must first successfully complete RAZA 670, “The U.S Mexico Connection”, covering Mexican history and politics and Mexico’s unique relationship to the United States. This course is offered every spring semester.

Clínica Martín Baró. Clínica Martín Baró is a community clinic providing health and medical services in San Francisco’s Mission District. The Clínica was established by faculty, students and licensed medical personnel from Raza Studies at San Francisco State University and from the Medical School at the University of California, San Francisco. Clínica Martín Baró offers service learning internships to students considering careers in the health and medical fields. Students must first successfully complete or concurrently enroll in RAZA 210 “Latino Health Care Perspectives.”

Extra Curricular Activities: Raza Studies fosters mentoring relationships with students. A range of support services is offered, including educational planning, advising, academic skills development, professional and graduate school and scholarship application assistance and career development. Cipactli, a journal of creative works by students is published annually. Students are encouraged to become members of the academic Association of Raza Studies Major and Minor Students, (ARMMS).

Statuary Requirements for U.S. History and Government
Students may elect to complete Statutory Requirements for graduation with the following courses offered by the department:
RAZA 276 U.S. Constitution and Government Ideals
RAZA 376 History of Raza in the United States

BACHELOR OF ARTS IN RAZA STUDIES

The Raza Studies major provides students with a solid grounding in the theoretical approaches and methodologies that define the field. The degree program prepares students to pursue graduate and professional studies or alternatively to begin careers in the public or private sectors. The 39 unit B.A. in Raza Studies consists of 12 units of core courses, 12 units of courses chosen from three focus areas, and 15 units of electives chosen on advisement from the list of courses that are offered by the department. Students must complete at least one 3-unit Community Service Learning internship and online reflection component for the Major.

There are three broad areas of course offerings in Raza Studies: 1) Arts and Humanities - The Department offers courses in Art History, Aztec Philosophy, Literature, film, journalism and Comparative Music Folklore; 2) History - The Department offers, a comparative Latino history course that fulfills the statutory requirement for U.S. History as well as specialized history courses on the diverse Latino subgroups in the United States: Mexican American, Central, South and Caribbean Americans; 3) Behavioral and Social Science - The Department offers a range and variety of courses on public and social policy issues in health, education, family, immigration, community life, politics, economy, communications, juvenile and criminal justice as well as courses on race, gender, and social inequality.

Courses are 3 units unless otherwise indicated. On-line course descriptions are available.

Core Requirements Units
RAZA 215 Introduction to Raza Studies 3
RAZA 410 Raza Women 3
RAZA 435 Oral History and Traditions 3
RAZA 680 Raza Community Organizing 3
Arts and Humanities—Units selected on advisement from the following: 3
RAZA 101 Contemporary Spanish  
RAZA 225 Survey of Raza Visual Images
RAZA 230 Introduction to Contemporary Raza Literature
RAZA 270 Raza Experience
RAZA 305 Raza Creative Writing Workshop
RAZA 320 Art History of Raza (CSL)
RAZA 409 Latino/a Cinema
RAZA 425 Comparative Music Folklore (CSL)
RAZA 440 Caribbean Cultures and Spirituality
RAZA 455 Resistance Literature of the Americas
RAZA 475 Aztec Philosophy
RAZA 490 Raza Teatro Workshop
RAZA 520 North and South American Cultural Expression
RAZA 525 Policy Making and Latinos
RAZA 530 Raza and the Media
RAZA 536 Raza Journalism
RAZA 560 Contemporary Literature of Raza
RAZA 570 Raza World Views and Philosophy
RAZA 575 Raza Culture and Identity
RAZA 605 Raza Bilingual Advanced Writing Workshop (Fiction and Nonfiction)
RAZA 679 Genesis of the History of Central American Literature, Roots to the Present
History—Units selected on advisement from the following: 3
RAZA 265 Issues in Raza History  
RAZA 315 Raza in California (CSL)
RAZA 376 History of Raza in the U.S.
RAZA 435 Oral History and Traditions: Theory and Practice
RAZA 450 Indigenismo
RAZA 460 Central Americans of the U.S.: History and Heritage
RAZA 465 Mexican Americans: History and Heritage
RAZA 467 Caribbean Americans: History and Heritage
RAZA 501 Latin America: National Period
RAZA 533 Women in Latin America
Behavioral and Social Sciences—Units selected on advisement from the following: 6
RAZA 205 Cyber Raza: Culture and Community On-line (CSL)  
RAZA 210 Latino Health Care Perspectives (CSL)
RAZA 276 U.S. Government and Constitution (CSL)
RAZA 280 Acculturation Issues of Raza
RAZA 355 Black Indians in the Americas
RAZA 380 Afro/Latina/o Diasporas
RAZA 410 Raza Women (CSL)
RAZA 415 Political Economy and Raza (CSL)
RAZA 430 Race, Crime, and Justice (CSL)
RAZA 445 Gendered Borders: Latinas and Globalization
RAZA 470 Raza Immigration to the U.S. (CSL)
RAZA 485 Issues in the Criminalization of Latino Youth (CSL)
RAZA 500 Community Mental Health
RAZA 505 Latino Communities, Gender, and Sexuality
RAZA 510 Psychodynamics of the Raza Family
RAZA 515 Transnational Character of Human Rights in Central America
RAZA 525 Policy Making and Latinos
RAZA 580 Educational Equity (CSL)
RAZA 590 Environmental Justice
RAZA 640 Sociology of the Latino Experience
RAZA 660 Raza Politics (CSL)
RAZA 670 The U.S.-Mexico Connection: Politics and Cultures (CSL)
RAZA 680 Raza Community Organizing (CSL)
RAZA 685 Projects in the Teaching of Raza Studies
RAZA 690 Raza Community Field Work
RAZA 692 Cuba: Health, Education, and Culture
RAZA 693 Cuba: Community Service Learning (CSL)
RAZA 694 Community Service Learning (CSL)
RAZA 698 Senior Seminar in Raza Studies
RAZA 707 Seminar in Raza Studies
Total 12
Elective Units selected on advisement 15
Total for major 39

NOTE: Students must complete at least one community service learning module consisting of 3 units of RAZA 694 and 3 units selected from Raza Studies courses designated (CSL). The two courses must be taken concurrently. Courses marked (CSL) offer internship opportunities.

MINOR IN RAZA STUDIES

A minor is available to students who have selected a different major but also want to pursue a coherent course of study in the field of Raza Studies. The minor program enables students to supplement a major in a different field with course work in Raza Studies. The minor requires a set of core courses supplemented with a selection of electives chosen on advisement that complement the major they have chosen. The minor consists of 24 units of which 9 are required core units, 9 are distributed among three areas of emphasis, and 6 are elective units chosen on advisement.

Courses are 3 units unless otherwise indicated. On-line course descriptions are available.

Minor Program Requirements Units
RAZA 215 Introduction to Raza Studies 3
RAZA 680 Raza Community Organizing 3
Choose one of the following: 3
RAZA 410 Raza Women  
RAZA 435 Oral History and Traditions
Total for Required Courses 9
Arts and Humanities
Units selected on advisement (see list under B.A. in Raza Studies) 3
History
Units selected on advisement (see list under B.A. in Raza Studies) 3
Behavioral and Social Sciences
Units selected on advisement (see list under B.A. in Raza Studies) 3
Total for Required Units 18
Electives: Units selected on advisement (see list under B.A. in Raza Studies) 6
Total Units Required for the Minor 24

NOTE: Students must complete at least one community service learning module as part of the Raza Studies Minor. Courses marked (CSL) offer internship opportunities.