American & Ethnic Studies

BACHELOR OF ARTS

On this page: Major description | Requirements | Learning objectives | Faculty & staff | Courses

Follow your passion for helping people, serving the community, and improving the lives of those in need!

The American & Ethnic Studies major at the University of Washington Bothell offers students the opportunity to study the relationships in American history and between minority and majority groups. Academic and other learning experiences enhance students’ ability for future work in human services, work in politics or community organizing for underrepresented populations, using critical thinking and decision making skills learned through the student of the American culture and beyond. Students will explore values, ideas, belief systems, and expression and will examine the relationship between everyday life, power structures, and cultural forms.

Do you want to explore a career in Diversity & Inclusion, Community Organizing or Education?
Do courses like Diversity, Leadership and Engagement and Human Rights in America sound exciting to you?

PASSION

Students in the American & Ethnic Studies major are passionate about understanding how humans interact with each other. Students who are curious about the diverse and intersecting categories of race, place, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, nationality, and ability thrive in the American & Ethnic Studies major.

PRACTICE

Courses in the American & Ethnic Studies major focus on the relationships between power, inequality, resistance, social and environmental justice within the United States and beyond. Using various scholarly methods, students make connections between the past and present, utilizing different forms of theory, practice, and interpretation.

PROFESSION

Using their background in American & Ethnic Studies, students position themselves for success by bringing a global perspective to their career choice. Students develop flexible critical thinking, writing and speaking skills which prepares them for careers in government, non-profits, or with social justice organizations. Alumni also pursue graduate study in legal, cultural, and historical fields.

Learning objectives

The American & Ethnic Studies Curriculum advances the five core IAS learning objectives. Students taking courses and/or majoring in American & Ethnic Studies:

  1. Think critically about the relationship between power, inequality, resistance, difference, and social and environmental justice in the United States and in relation to the larger world.
  2. Explore how structures of power in the Americas have constituted and been constituted by diverse and intersecting categories such as race, place, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, nationality, and ability.
  3. Research American cultures in both the past and the present using a variety of sources, including literary texts, historical archives, film, photographs, comics, newspapers, oral histories, sound recordings, and government documents.
  4. Develop creative, collaborative, and intersectional approaches for the study of the Americas.
  5. Apply critical and interdisciplinary knowledge within a range of academic, professional, and community-based settings.

Major Requirements

Recommended Preparation

Interested in exploring this major but not ready to commit? Consider taking one of the below courses! Any of these selections will help familiarize you with the academic program and prepare you for advanced coursework in the major.

  • BIS 165 Introduction to Ethnic Studies
  • BIS 167 People’s History of the US
  • BIS 216 Introduction to Cultural Studies
  • BIS 255 Critical Diversity Studies
  • BIS 256 Introduction to African American Studies
  • BIS 257 Introduction to Asian American Studies
  • BIS 258 Introduction to United States Latina/Latino Studies

AES Major Declaration

While there are no official prerequisites for this major in the School of IAS. UW Bothell students in good standing can declare a major in American & Ethnic Studies at any time. Once ready to submit a declaration form follow this link to the IAS Major Declaration Form

Degree Requirements

  • BIS 300 Interdisciplinary Inquiry* min. 2.0 grade (5 credits)
  • BISAES 305 Power, Dissent, and American Culture (5 credits)
  • BIS 312 Approaches to Social Research – min. 2.0 grade OR BIS 340 Approaches to Cultural Research – min. 2.0 grade (5 credits)
  • AES Courses (30 credits) to include a minimum of 5 credits from each of the following areas:
    • Historical and Social Inquiry
    • Textual Analysis and Interpretation
    • Critical Theory and Practice
  • BIS 499 Portfolio Capstone – min. 2.5 grade (5 credits)
  • Additional IAS Coursework (20 credits)

TOTAL = 70 Credits
*Should be taken in the first quarter of IAS enrollment.
Note: Classes in this major are offered primarily during day-time hours.

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People

Faculty

Academic Advisors

Research Librarian

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Courses

A. Introduction to American & Ethnic Studies (AES:CORE)

  • BISAES 305 Power, Dissent, and American Culture

B. Skills & Methods (AES:METHODS)

  • BIS 312 Approaches to Social Research (min grade of 2.0)
  • BIS 340 Approaches to Cultural Research (min grade of 2.0)

C. Critical Theory and Practice (AES:CTP)

  • BIS 204 Introduction to Journalism
  • BIS 216 Introduction to Cultural Studies
  • BIS 219 The Politics of Sex Education
  • BIS 221 Gender and Sexuality
  • BIS 224 Introduction to Feminist Studies
  • BIS 227 Rad Women in the Global South
  • BIS 242 Environmental Geography
  • BIS 255 Critical Diversity Studies
  • BIS 275 Social Problems
  • BIS 279 Introduction to Law and Society
  • BIS 310 Women, Culture, and Development
  • BIS 328 Diversity, Leadership and Engagement
  • BIS 338 Political Institutions and Processes
  • BIS 352 Mapping Communities
  • BIS 353 Human Rights in Theory and Practice
  • BIS 369 Indigenous Psychology and Health
  • BIS 372 Representation, Colonialism, and the Tropical World
  • BIS 403 Washington D.C. Seminar on Human Rights
  • BIS 410 Topics in Qualitative Inquiry
  • BIS 414 Topics in Human Rights
  • BIS 415 Public Policy and Law
  • BIS 443 Educational Policy and the American Economy
  • BIS 448 Social Policy
  • BIS 455 Literature and Sexuality
  • BIS 483 Community Organizing
  • BISAES 364 Public Memory and Dissent in American Culture
  • BISAES 367 Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration
  • BISGWS 303 Approaches to Feminist Inquiry
  • BISSTA 304 Institutions and Social Change
  • BISSTA 331 The Family in U.S. Society
  • BISSTA 333 The Individual and Society
  • BISSTS 307 Science, Technology, and Society

D. Historical and Social Inquiry (AES:HSI)

  • BIS 224 Introduction to Feminist Studies
  • BIS 256 Introduction to African American Studies
  • BIS 257 Introduction to Asian American Studies
  • BIS 258 Introduction to Latino/Latina Studies
  • BIS 266 United States History to 1865
  • BIS 267 United States History from 1865
  • BIS 280 U.S. Political Processes
  • BIS 323 History of Photography
  • BIS 335 Human Rights in America
  • BIS 347 History of American Documentary Films
  • BIS 357 Native American Religious and Philosophical Thought
  • BIS 370 Nineteenth-Century American Literature
  • BIS 371 Twentieth-Century American Literature
  • BIS 372 Representation, Colonialism, and the Tropical World
  • BIS 379 American Ethnic Literature
  • BIS 406 Urban Planning & Geography
  • BIS 443 Educational Policy and the American Economy
  • BIS 466 Human Rights and Resistance
  • BIS 483 Community Organizing
  • BISAES 364 Public Memory and Dissent in American Culture
  • BISAES 367 Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration
  • BISGWS 302 Histories and Movements of Gender and Sexuality
  • BISPSY 350 Intergroup Relations

E. Textual Analysis and Interpretation (AES:TAI)

  • BIS 216 Introduction to Cultural Studies
  • BIS 233 Participatory Media Culture
  • BIS 235 Critical Media Literacy
  • BIS 238 Language, Identity, Culture and Power
  • BIS 256 Introduction to African American Studies
  • BIS 257 Introduction to Asian American Studies
  • BIS 258 Introduction to Latino/Latina Studies
  • BIS 335 Human Rights in America
  • BIS 347 History of American Documentary Films
  • BIS 361 Studies in American Literature
  • BIS 370 Nineteenth-Century American Literature
  • BIS 371 Twentieth-Century American Literature
  • BIS 379 American Ethnic Literatures
  • BIS 387 Women and American Literature
  • BIS 407 Children’s Literature and Reader Response Criticism
  • BIS 416 U.S. Constitutional Law
  • BIS 466 Human Rights and Resistance
  • BIS 470 Art, Politics, and Social Change
  • BISAES 364 Public Memory and Dissent in American Culture
  • BISAES 369 American Culture and Mass Media
  • BISMCS 333 Media and Communication Studies

F. Topics Courses

Topics courses under the below course numbers may apply to the AES major depending on the subject and title. Please see the Time Schedule notes to determine how they count toward the major.

  • BIS 293 Special Topics
  • BIS 393 Special Topics
  • BIS 490 Advanced Seminar
  • BIS 493 Special Topics

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Petitions

IAS students may submit an online Major Petition form to request that alternate coursework satisfy a School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences (IAS) major requirement. Students must be admitted or declared in an IAS major in order for the online petition to be reviewed.

Submit an IAS Major Petition form