Ethnic Studies Minor

Coordinators: (LEFT) Dr. Shirley A. Jackson (Sociology Dept.)
Phone: (203) 392-5676
Email: jacksons1@southernct.edu 

(RIGHT) Dr. Annette Madlock-Gatison (Communication Dept.)
Phone: (203) 392-5522
E-Mail: madlocka1@southernct.edu

Greetings! Thank you for your interest in the Ethnic Studies minor at Southern Connecticut State University. Founded by Dr. Jackson, the Ethnic Studies minor is the first of its kind within the Connecticut State University system. The Ethnic Studies minor went into effect August 25, 2003.

The minor was developed to educate students in an area that had only been addressed in the Department of Sociology via its Racial and Ethnic Relations specialization and the implementation of its new diversity requirement for majors. The Ethnic Studies minor is a multidisciplinary minor drawing from a variety of disciplines addressing ethnic diversity in the United States. The Ethnic Studies minor allows students the opportunity to study ethnic and racial groups without necessarily shifting or changing their degree programs.

The minor draws upon existing courses, bringing them together in a manner of interest to students from a broad range of majors.  Departments that offer courses in the proposed minor are: Sociology, Urban Studies, History, Political Science, Women's Studies, English, and Journalism.

While universities and colleges began embracing Ethnic Studies; Black Studies (Afro-American, African American, etc.); Chicano/Latino/a Studies; Asian and Asian American Studies; and Native American Studies programs in the 1960s, Southern Connecticut State University remained inattentive in developing departments or programs that address diversity in the United States.  The university's diverse population serves as an opportunity for students and the university community at large to acknowledge and learn about cultural diversity.  According to Luz del Alba Acevedo (2001), "The recognition, affirmation and validation of the cultural attributes that make us different from one another have become important elements in these projects of curriculum transformation" (p. 251).[1]  The Ethnic Studies minor proposes to do just this.

The program is coordinated by Dr. Shirley A. Jackson and Dr. Annette Madlock-Gatison. Thank you for considering this to be your minor or if you have already selected it as your minor, welcome!

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[1] Acevedo,  Luz del Alba.  2001.  "Speaking Among Friends: Whose Empowerment, Whose Resistance?"  In The Latina Feminist Group (Eds.) Telling to Live: Latina Feminist Testimonios.  Durham, NC: Duke University Press.