# Ethnic Studies

**Source**: https://histlit.fas.harvard.edu/ethnic-studies
**Parent**: https://histlit.fas.harvard.edu/hl90s

The Ethnic Studies field in History & Literature emphasizes histories of racial formations within and beyond the United States. The field encourages students to take a wide range of courses on race and ethnicity, while naming a topic of study to provide individualized focus. Considering the roles of diaspora, migration, and colonialism in shaping cultural and social movements, the Ethnic Studies field foregrounds links between topics such as Asian American Studies, Latinx Studies, Indigenous Studies, and Muslim American Studies.

In addition to the requirements for all concentrators (5 tutorials and 1 course that satisfies the language requirement), students in the Ethnic Studies field complete the following requirements:

- 1 introductory course or HL90 seminar on an ethnic studies topic;
- 2 courses on ethnic studies, focused on a period before 1900;
- 1 course on race or ethnicity in a transnational or global context;
- 4 elective courses in the Ethnic Studies field, balanced between history and literature

Of these 8 courses, 4 should focus on the student’s designated topic of study.

Browse our list of [Courses That Count for Ethnic Studies](/CTC-ethnic-studies), and use the [Ethnic Studies Field Worksheet](/file_url/754) to plot your course of study.

The following sample field worksheets illustrate how students in the field of American Studies have used the distribution requirements to create individualized plans of study on topics such as:

- [Asian American Studies](/file_url/729)
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Questions about the Ethnic Studies field should be directed to Assistant Director of Studies, .

## Sally Chen '19

**Field Worksheet:** [Ethnic Studies: Asian American Studies](/file_url/1044)\
**Sophomore Essay Topic:** The Politics of Race and Gender in California Women's Suffrage\
**Junior Essay Topic:** The Boston Chinatown Public Libtary\
**Senior Thesis Title:** "Take Root": Community Formation at the San Francisco Chinatown Branch Public Library

## Ruben Reyes '19

**Field Worksheet:** [Ethnic Studies: Race and Cultural Citizenship in the United States](/file_url/978)\
**Sophomore Essay Topic:** The 1932 La Matanza Massacre and Salvadoran Indigeneity\
**Junior Essay Topic:** Constructing Salvadoran-Americanness in Javier Zamora's *Unaccompanied*\
**Senior Thesis Title:** "Please / No American Mierdas": Shattering Silences, Salvadoran (In)Visibilities, and Imagined Nation in Javier Zamora’s *Unaccompanied*