Introduction

Please click here to see Ethnic Studies department information

Ethnic Studies is the interdisciplinary study of race and ethnicity in local, national, and global contexts. Recent events have shown a spotlight on systemic racial and ethnic inequities in the United States. As a result, businesses are adopting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, environmental researchers are examining how climate change disproportionately impacts Black, Indigenous, and people of color, educators are concerned with how to address racial inequities in schools, doctors and other health care workers wonder how to best reach and treat BIPOC communities, and so on. An interdisciplinary graduate certificate in Ethnic Studies trains both academic researchers and professionals who can apply Ethnic Studies concepts in their fields is invaluable to any number of students who want to apply a racial and social justice lens to their intended future profession. The Ethnic Studies graduate certificate offers two paths for students: an academic path and an applied path. The academic track prepares students to pursue a PhD in Ethnic Studies or to apply an ethnic studies analysis in a traditional academic discipline. This track is for students interested in a career in the academy. The applied track prepares students to identify and address racial and ethnic inequities in their chosen professional field and is designed for students interested in a wide variety of careers, including primary and secondary education teaching, higher education administration, community organizing, community and government service, journalism and the media, environmental science, global economics, health care, legal services, library science, music, and publishing.

 Upon earning the certificate, students will be able to:

• Understand how Ethnic Studies historically challenged traditional disciplinary knowledge production.
• Identify and analyze racial and ethnic inequities in popular culture, society, communities, and organizations.
• Integrate diverse methodologies to design interdisciplinary research projects focusing on race and ethnicity.
• Develop resources for building/strengthening healthy, multiracial institutions and communities.

These program requirements are subject to periodic revision by the academic department, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences reserves the right to make exceptions and substitutions as judged necessary in individual cases. Therefore, the College strongly urges students to consult regularly with their Ethnic Studies advisor to confirm the best plans of study before finalizing them.

Program Delivery

• This is an on campus program with some courses available online.

Graduate Education Policies and Procedures apply to this program.

Program Requirements

1. Students must complete a minimum of 12 credit hours.
2. Students must complete all courses at the graduate level (5000 or above) to fulfill the requirements of the certificate.
3. Students must earn a minimum grade of B (3.0) in all certificate courses completed at CU Denver and must achieve a minimum cumulative certificate GPA of 3.0.  All graded attempts in required and elective courses are calculated in the certificate GPA. Students cannot complete certificate or ancillary course requirements as P+/P/F or S/U.
4. All credit hours for the certificate must be earned at the University of Colorado Denver.

Program Restrictions, Allowances and Recommendations

1. No course may be taken more than twice.
2. Courses cannot double count for the MH/MSS track in Ethnic Studies and the Ethnic Studies graduate certificate.
3. Students may be enrolled as a CU Denver graduate student in any discipline, or as a CU Denver non-degree seeking graduate student with a bachelor’s degree.
4. International students must submit TOEFL scores or otherwise satisfy the University’s English Language Proficiency requirement.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Complete the following required courses:		6
ETST 5000	Research Methods in Ethnic Studies
or ETST 5165	Cultural Diversity Awareness in the Workplace
ETST 5960	Capstone in Ethnic Studies
Complete two of the following elective courses:		6
Any 5000 or 6000 level ETST course
ANTH 5230	Fieldwork Methods
ANTH 5350	Anthropology of Globalization
COMM 5270/INTB 6270	Intercultural Communication
COMM 5282	Environmental Communication
ENGL 5460	Contemporary World Literature
ETST/SOCY 5020	Race, Culture and Immigration
ETST 5021/HDFR 5020	Black and Latino Children in Families and Schools
ETST/RLST 5030/HIST 5029	Race, Religion and Belonging in the United States
ETST 5165	Cultural Diversity Awareness in the Workplace 1
or ETST 5000	Research Methods in Ethnic Studies
ETST/ENGL 5220	African-American Literature
ETST/WGST 5305	Women of Color Feminisms
ETST/PSCI 5457	American Political Thought
HIST/WGST 5225	Urban America
HIST 5308	Crime, Policing, and Justice in American History
HIST/WGST 5343	Women & Gender in US History
HIST 5412	Mexico and the United States: People and Politics on the Border
HIST 5494	Red and Blue America: U.S. History, 1973-Present
HIST 5621	Explorers and Exploration
HIST 5622	Oceans In History
PHIL/ENGL/WGST 5308	Contemporary Feminist Thought
PHIL 5450	Punishment and Social Justice
PHIL/WGST 5500	Feminist Philosophy
SOCY 5050	Health Disparities
SOCY 5220	Population Change and Analysis
Total Hours		12

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Students may complete ETST 5000 Research Methods in Ethnic Studies and ETST 5165 Cultural Diversity Awareness in the Workplace for this certificate. One will apply as a required course and the other will apply as an elective.

To learn more about the Student Learning Outcomes for this program, please visit our Ethnic Studies Learning Outcomes page.