Skip to main content
    Admissions Overview
    Find all the information you need about applying to our undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Start your application to Willamette here.
Pre-College Programs
Admitted Students
Enrolling Students
New Student Orientation
    Academics Overview
    Learn more about our academic programs – from courses and faculty to unique opportunities you won’t find anywhere else.
All Programs and Degrees
Advising Resources
Library
    Life on Campus Overview
    Get a feel for life at Willamette. Learn more about Salem, our campus culture, and how we foster a sense of community.
Learning in the Pacific Northwest
Athletics
Diversity at Willamette
Health and Wellness
Housing and Dining
Arts
Campus Recreation
Events
Commencement
Safety
    Our Stories
    We’re proud of the difference our students and alumni are making. Dive into the stories of how they’re leading in their fields and transforming knowledge into meaningful action.
Athletics
Arts
Big Data
Climate Change
Democratic Institutions
Interdisciplinary Studies
Regional Impact
    Cost & Aid Overview
    Get the latest information about tuition costs and financial aid opportunities available to Willamette students.
Tuition & Fees
Request Info Visit Apply Give
About News Events Alumni Parents Athletics The Arts Academic Calendar
Pacific Northwest College of Art

Learning Outcomes

The American Ethnic Studies program is centered on developing students’ ability to critically analyze the role of race, ethnicity and power in the United States, and to effectively engage and communicate about difference. Our goal is that students completing the program understand and engage four key areas:

  • The historical construction of race and ethnicity in shaping the contemporary U.S. landscape
  • The political, economic and social dimensions of race and ethnicity, and the ways in which power gets embedded in these relationships
  • The role of symbolic and aesthetic expressions of traditionally underrepresented racial/ethnic communities in the U.S., particularly as they serve to maintain, resist, and/or transform privilege and oppression
  • The development of identity, resistance and protest movements in the context of racial and ethnic marginalization in the U.S.

Student Learning Outcomes for the American Ethnic Studies Minor

  1. History
    • Ability to articulate significant historical questions about changing constructions of race and ethnicity over time
    • Ability to articulate how historical forces shape constructions of race and ethnicity, and the impact of those constructions on particular groups at particular points in time
  2. Power
    • Ability to articulate significant questions and demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between political, economic, and social dimensions of race and ethnicity and their relationship to institutions and systems of power
  3. Culture
    • Ability to articulation of significant questions about the relationship between cultural expressions and efforts to maintain, resist and/or transform privilege and oppression
    • Demonstration of an understanding of the connections between cultural expression and power/privilege
  4. Resistance
    • Ability to articulate an understanding of the factors surrounding the emergence of identity, resistance and protest in contesting racial and ethnic marginalization
    • Ability to critically compare expressions of resistance among different groups or at different points in time and examine their impact

Willamette University

American Ethnic Studies