Civic Engagement
Students interested in learning about race and racism in a community setting may select from among nine Academic Civic Engagement courses that also count for Race and Ethnic Studies credit. Please consult ACE’s annual list of offerings to check the availability of:
- Asian Studies 123: Asia in America
- Education 170: Urban Schools and Communities
- Education 246: English Language Learners
- Political Science 244: Immigration and Citizenship
- Political Science 350: Race and Politics
- Social Work 373: Just Practice
- SOAN 266: Crime and Inequality
- Spanish 273: Cultural Heritage of the Hispanic U.S.
- Spanish 311: Language in Society
Off-Campus Study
Race and Ethnic Studies encourages students to pursue off-campus study opportunities through permanently approved offerings located in Chicago, Ghana, South Africa, and the southern United States.
In recent years, RACE majors or concentrators have participated in:
- Chicago Semester: Student Teaching and Seminar
- Development in Southern Africa, Botswana
- Nation Building, Globalization, and Decolonizing the Mind (Windhoek, Namibia)
- New Norway: Globalization, National Identity, and the Politics of Belonging (Oslo, Norway)
- O’Keefe’s Art and New Mexico
- Slavery in West Africa
- Social Change in Central America, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica
- Social Work in a Latin American Context
- Urban Schools and Communities
Several recent additions to off-campus study opportunities at St. Olaf might be of particular interest to students in RACE:
RACE 220: Korean Arts and Critical Indigenous Studies (last offered Jan. 2024)
Alert to the legacies of Japanese colonization and Korean War paused by armistice, the Republic of Korea began in 1962 to identify treasures, monuments, and locations as “intangible cultural heritage” to revive and sustain Korea’s indigenous artistic practices. At the same time, the government pursued a program of rapid industrialization, urban development, and globalization. This course analyzes the production of this indigeneity in critical contexts to ponder its postcolonial, ethno-nationalist meanings. What narratives are created by a state-authored indigeneity? Which narratives are set aside? What tensions arise? Through immersive, multifaceted engagement with Korea including but not limited to the performing arts, conversations with guest artists and scholars, and visits to significant historical and cultural sites, students consider how national identities are constructed and represented and how creative traditions are deployed to reimagine and write Korean selves.
CET Colombia: Race, Identity and Ethnicity through an Afro-Colombian Lens
This program centers Afro-Colombian voices through its academics, instructors and experiential programming. The intentionality of its programming is evident throughout the programming, including instructors, academic partnerships, community relationships, excursions and critical reflection.
SIT Mexico: Migration, Borders, and Transnational Communities:
Study the current realities and human impacts of undocumented migration, border enforcement, and the related international political and social tensions. in the context of Mexico, Central America, and the United States.
Please contact the program director to discuss whether your proposed plan to study off-campus may count as elective credit for your RACE major or concentration.