Area F Guidelines (GE 2020)
In the sections that follow, you will see the specific learning goals for each area. Together, we refer to these requirements as "Guidelines."
- Generally speaking, "Educational Objectives" refer to what students will learn by completing that sub area while "Criteria" refer to how the course is designed to support that learning.
General Education Subject Area Guidelines
The General Education (GE) program is compliant with CSU requirements and is uniquely tailored to our comprehensive polytechnic education. At Cal Poly all curriculum, including General Education curriculum, is designed and taught by faculty with appropriate training and disciplinary expertise. Educational objectives are expectations for student learning, achievement of which can be periodically assessed. Course are expectations for course design that will be used in the consideration of the course proposal, course modifications, and course renewal. Educational objectives and course criteria for General Education subject areas are included below. General Education class instruction includes the opportunity for skill acquisition, development, evaluation, and self-reflection.
Area F: Ethnic Studies
Area F applies to students on the AY 2021-2022 and subsequent catalogs.
Lower-Division Educational Objectives
Upper-Division Educational Objectives
To see the unit requirements for Area F, click here to view the GE template.
Click here to see a list of currently approved courses for Area F.
Source: AS-914-21 "Resolution on Subject Area Guidelines for General Education Area F: Ethnic Studies" (pdf).
Introduction
Ethnic Studies in the United States is defined as an interdisciplinary and comparative study of race and ethnicity with a focus on four racial/ethnic groups of people: Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latina and Latino Americans. Thus, students acquire the knowledge that helps them comprehend the histories of settler colonialism, racism, white supremacy, and ethnocentrism in the United States and its development. They will learn to distinguish between structural and individual forms of racism. They will analyze the ways in which settler colonialism and racism intersect and interlock with other forms of oppression with regard to Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latina and Latino Americans. Students will learn about the intellectual and cultural contributions made by Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latina and Latino Americans. This knowledge will prepare and enable students to contribute to society as responsible and constructive community members who work to make the promise of equality in America a reality.
Area F courses shall not be waived or substituted. Area F courses shall have an Ethnic Studies prefix. Courses without an Ethnic Studies prefix may meet this requirement if cross-listed with a course with an Ethnic Studies prefix. Courses that are approved to meet this requirement shall meet at least three of the five Council on Ethnic Studies (CES) and California State University Academic Senate (ASCSU) approved core competencies. Campuses may add additional competencies to these core competencies but must meet the minimum standard of 3 of 5 core competencies for approval. Finally, Ethnic Studies courses required in majors, minors, or that satisfy campus-wide requirements and are approved for Area F shall “double count.”
Lower-Division Educational Objectives
- EO 1: Distinguish between individual and structural forms of racism, exclusion, and other forms of inequality as they have been historically applied to Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans and/or Latina and Latino Americans.
- EO 2: Describe the most significant artistic, intellectual, cultural, and/or linguistic contributions made by Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans and/or Latina and Latino Americans in the United States.
- EO 3: Explain and critically review how struggle, resistance, racial and social justice, solidarity, and liberation, as experienced, enacted, and studied by Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans and/or Latina and Latino Americans are relevant to current and structural issues such as communal, national, international, and transnational politics as, for example, in immigration, reparations, settler-colonialism, multiculturalism, and language policies (CSU Council on Ethnic Studies Core Competency).
- EO 4: Describe and actively engage with anti-racist and anti-colonial issues and the practices and movements in Native American, African American, Asian American and/or Latina and Latino communities to build a just and equitable society (CSU Council on Ethnic Studies Core Competency).
- EO 5: Critically analyze the intersection of race and racism as they relate to class, gender, sexuality, religion, spirituality, national origin, immigration status, ability, tribal citizenship, sovereignty, language, and/or age in Native American, African American, Asian American, and/or Latina and Latino American communities (CSU Council on Ethnic Studies Core Competency).
Upper-Division Educational Objectives
- EO 1: Articulate and explain the most significant artistic, intellectual, cultural, and/or linguistic contributions made by Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans and/or Latina and Latino Americans in the United States.
- EO 2: Synthesize the historical narratives and/or intellectual traditions of Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans and/or Latina and Latino Americans in the United States.
- EO 3: Apply theory and knowledge produced by Native American, African American, Asian American, and/or Latina and Latino American communities to describe the critical events, histories, cultures, intellectual traditions, contributions, lived-experiences, and social struggles of those groups with a particular emphasis on agency and group-affirmation (CSU CES Core Competency).
- EO 4: Analyze and articulate concepts such as race and racism, racialization, ethnicity, equity, ethno-centrism, eurocentrism, white supremacy, self- determination, liberation, decolonization, sovereignty, imperialism, settler colonialism, and anti-racism as analyzed in any one or more of the following: Native American Studies, African American Studies, Asian American Studies, and Latina and Latino American Studies (CSU CES Core Competency).
- EO 5: Critically analyze the intersection of race and racism as they relate to class, gender, sexuality, religion, spirituality, national origin, immigration status, ability, tribal citizenship, sovereignty, language, and/or age in Native American, African American, Asian American, and/or Latina and Latino American communities (CSU CES Core Competency).
Criteria
GE Area F courses must fulfill all of the following criteria. The course must:
- CR 1: Have an Ethnic Studies prefix.
- CR 2: Meet three out of five Council on Ethnic Studies approved core competencies (educational objectives).
- CR 3: Focus on one or more of the following racial/ethnic groups: Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latina and Latino Americans in the United States.
- CR 4: Emphasize the voices and contributions of Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latina and Latino Americans such that the course must prominently include sources written and/or produced by them.