We, the California State University Council on Ethnic Studies, approve all of the following as our core competencies. These competencies include a minimum number of criteria and a minimum number of learning objectives to be used by campus-specific Ethnic Studies experts and each campus’s academic senate curricular bodies to determine if a lower-division or upper division course meets the Ethnic Studies Graduation Requirement for the California State University in compliance with Assembly Bill 1460 and California Education Code 89032c.
Furthermore, the Council on Ethnic Studies intends to establish a common understanding of the implementation process for the CSU Ethnic Studies requirement as required by California Education Code 89032 section c:
(c) The California State University shall collaborate with the California State University Council on Ethnic Studies and the Academic Senate of the California State University to develop core competencies to be achieved by students who complete an ethnic studies course pursuant to implementation of this section. The council and the academic senate shall approve the core competencies before commencement of the 2021–22 academic year.
In particular, the Council on Ethnic Studies would like to emphasize the responsibility for collaboration “pursuant to implementation of this section” described in California Education Code 89032 section c. The Council on Ethnic Studies sees this “implementation” requirement as an ongoing process that includes establishing core competencies, ongoing curricular review of courses, and establishing the parameters for meeting this university-level requirement.
In considering implementation of this CSU Ethnic Studies requirement, we have determined that this requirement cannot be fulfilled through a single CSU General Education area because: 1) Ethnic Studies is an interdisciplinary field and, as a result, Ethnic Studies courses cover multiple GE areas; 2) limiting the requirement to a single GE area would create problems with implementation and time to degree; 3) housing the Ethnic Studies requirement in a single GE area undermines the collaboration and implementation requirements of California Education Code 89032 section (c) because each campus’ General Education Governance Board would have the sole responsibility for implementation of this requirement and not campus-specific Ethnic Studies experts.
Furthermore, AB1460/ California Education Code 89032 SECTION 2 SUBSECTION (d) states: “Commencing with students graduating in the 2024–25 academic year, the California State University shall require, as an undergraduate graduation requirement [emphasis added], the completion of, at minimum, one three-unit course in ethnic studies. The university shall not increase the number of units required to graduate from the university with a baccalaureate degree by the enforcement of this requirement. This graduation requirement shall not apply to a postbaccalaureate student who is enrolled in a baccalaureate degree program at the university if
the student has satisfied either of the following….” This “broader [graduation] requirement” is clearly in line with the distinction made by the Chancellor’s office in its FAQ from September 29, 2020 on its announcement of the Ethnic Studies requirement
(https://www2.calstate.edu/impact-of-the-csu/diversity/advancement-of-ethnic-studies).
CES Core Competencies (Criteria & Learning Objectives)
Criteria
CSU Ethnic Studies Graduation Requirement courses must meet all of the following criteria. Each course must:
CR1: be an existing ethnic studies course or part of a traditional ethnic studies department, unit, or program (e.g. Native American Studies, Latina/o Studies, African American Studies, Asian American Studies); or be proposed, designed and implemented by faculty with expertise in Ethnic Studies (and related disciplines) and be an Ethnic Studies department/unit approved cross listed course.
Notes:
1. The review, modifications, adaptions, or additions to these criteria are subject to the expert peer evaluation of Ethnic Studies faculty and faculty in traditional Ethnic Studies departments or units (e.g. Native American Studies, African American Studies, Asian American Studies, and Latina/o Studies) in collaboration with the academic senate on each campus. Such committees must be led/chaired by Ethnic Studies faculty and must be made up of a majority faculty from Ethnic Studies departments/units/programs like Native American Studies, African American Studies, Asian American Studies, and Latina/o Studies faculty.
2. Ethnic Studies faculty (as described above) will collaborate to develop any additional course criteria with their campus in addition to the minimum criteria above Such committees must be led/chaired by Ethnic Studies faculty and must be made up of a majority faculty from Ethnic Studies departments/units/programs like Native American Studies, African American Studies, Asian American Studies, and Latina/o Studies faculty.
3. For CSU campuses that have Ethnic Studies, Native American Studies, African American Studies, Asian American Studies and Latina/o Studies departments/programs/units courses that meet the Ethnic Studies requirement should be housed and offered within those departments/units/programs.
Course Learning Objectives
Each course meeting the Ethnic Studies requirement must fulfill a minimum of three out of the following five learning objectives as appropriate to their lower- or upper-division status.
These learning objectives must be used in addition to any learning objectives and criteria established and required by each campus’ Ethnic Studies department/unit/program (as traditionally defined) faculty for all courses meeting the CSU Ethnic Studies graduation requirement:
SLO 1: 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.
SLO 2: 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.
SLO 3: 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.
SLO 4: Explain and assess 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, language policies.
SLO 5: 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.
Notes:
1. Modifications or adaptations to these learning objectives are subject to the expert peer evaluation of Ethnic Studies faculty in Ethnic Studies departments, units, or programs (e.g. Native American Studies, African American Studies, Asian American Studies, and Latina/o Studies) on each campus.
In addition, Ethnic Studies faculty in Ethnic Studies departments, units, or programs (e.g. Native American Studies, African American Studies, Asian American Studies, and Latina/o Studies) shall review, modify, and approve courses attempting to meet these learning objectives on each campus.
Furthermore, any committee reviewing courses for the CSU Ethnic Studies Graduation Requirement must be chaired by Ethnic Studies faculty; and, such committees must have a majority representation from faculty in the following departments/units/programs:
Native American Studies, African American Studies, Asian American Studies, and Latina/o Studies faculty.
2. Finally, any modifications or adaptations must be guided by the fundamental principles that undergird the definition of Ethnic Studies, as birthed from the named core four disciplinary areas (Native American Studies, African American Studies, Asian American Studies, and Latina/o Studies).
Approved by Unanimous Consent on
October 2, 2020