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 degree 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 major advisor and CLAS advisor to confirm the best plans of study before finalizing them.

Program Delivery

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

General Requirements

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Certificate 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 taken 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 pass/fail.
4. All credit hours for the certificate must be earned at the University of Colorado Denver.

Certificate 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.

Required Courses

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Take all of the following courses:		6
ETST 5000	Research Methods in Ethnic Studies	3
or ETST 5165	Cultural Diversity Awareness in the Workplace
ETST 5960	Capstone in Ethnic Studies	3

Electives

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Take two of the following		6
Any 5000 or 6000 level ETST course		3
ANTH 5230	Anthropology and Community Based Participatory Research	3
ANTH 5350	Anthropology of Globalization	3
COMM 5270	Intercultural Communication	3
COMM 5282	Environmental Communication	3
ENGL 5460	Contemporary World Literature	3
ETST 5000	Research Methods in Ethnic Studies	3
ETST/SOCY 5020	Race, Culture and Immigration	3
ETST 5021	Black and Latino Children in Families and Schools	3
ETST/RLST 5030	Race, Religion and Belonging in the United States	3
ETST 5165	Cultural Diversity Awareness in the Workplace	3
ETST/ENGL 5220	African-American Literature	3
ETST/WGST 5305	Women of Color Feminisms	3
HIST 5308	Crime, Policing, and Justice in American History	3
HIST 5343	Women & Gender in US History	3
or WGST 5343	Women & Gender in US History
HIST 5412	Mexico and the United States: People and Politics on the Border	3
HIST 5494	Red and Blue America: U.S. History, 1973-Present	3
HIST 5622	Oceans In History	3
PHIL 5308	Contemporary Feminist Thought	3
or ENGL 5308	Contemporary Feminist Thought
or WGST 5308	Contemporary Feminist Thought
PHIL 5500	Feminist Philosophy	3
or WGST 5500	Feminist Philosophy
PSCI 5457	American Political Thought 1	3
SOCY 5050	Health Disparities	3
SOCY 5220	Population Change and Analysis	3

1	The faculty are currently developing a cross-list between PSCI 5457 and ETST 5457, American Political Thought, and intend to offer it starting Fall 2021.  ETST 5457 will count as an elective course for the Ethnic Studies Graduate Certificate.

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