Academic Catalogs

ETHS G120: Critical Geographies of Race/Ethnicity in the United States

Course Outline of Record
Item Value
Curriculum Committee Approval Date 05/04/2021
Top Code 220300 - Ethnic Studies
Units 3 Total Units 
Hours 54 Total Hours (Lecture Hours 54)
Total Outside of Class Hours 0
Course Credit Status Credit: Degree Applicable (D)
Material Fee No
Basic Skills Not Basic Skills (N)
Repeatable No
Grading Policy Standard Letter (S), 
  • Pass/No Pass (B)
Local General Education (GE)
  • GWC Soc, Pol, Econ (GD)
  • GWC Lifelong Understanding (GE)
California General Education Transfer Curriculum (Cal-GETC)
  • Cal-GETC 4 Social & Behavioral Sciences (4)
Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC)
  • IGETC 4 Social&Behavioral Sci (4)
  • IGETC 7 Ethnic Studies (7)
California State University General Education Breadth (CSU GE-Breadth)
  • CSU D Soc Politic Econ Inst (D)
  • CSU F Ethnic Studies (F)

Course Description

This course is identical to GEOG G120. This course offers a critical analysis of how the social and spatial construction of racial/ethnic categories, specifically Black, Asian, Latinx, and Native American, shape places, societies, and everyday lived-experiences in the United States. This course will apply interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives and key geographic concepts to analyze how these processes are produced through historic and contemporary geographies of power, privilege, and oppression; agency, liberation, resistance, and justice; and exclusion, containment, access, and mobility. This course will provide students with the lifelong knowledge and skills to navigate social, psychological, physiological, and spatial relations of racial/ethnic inequality and justice. Enrollment Limitation: GOEG G120; students who complete ETHS G120 may not enroll in or receive credit for GEOG G120. ADVISORY: ENGL C1000 or ENGL C1000E. Transfer Credit: CSU; UC.

Course Level Student Learning Outcome(s)

  1. Course Outcomes
  2. Examine the spatial processes of race and ethnicity as they relate to Black, Asian, Latinx, and Native American communities.
  3. Analyze racialization and racial/ethnic social relations in the United States through the application of geographic and interdisciplinary theory.
  4. Assess maps, tables, charts, graphs, and/or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to determine the spatial patterns of race and ethnicity in the United States.

Course Objectives

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 4. Interpret maps, tables, graphs and/or Geographic Information Systems that convey spatial data to examine racial/ethnic relations in the United States.
  • 5. Compare spatial processes of racialization to ones own social, psychological, and physiological lived-experience.

Lecture Content

Theoretical Perspectives Critical Race Critical Cultural Geography Intersectionality Constructing racial/ethnic categories in the United States including Black/African American, Latino and Latina, Asian, Native/Indigenous American, and White State and legal constructions of race/ethnicity Ethnocentrism and Eurocentrism White supremacy Identity formation and agency Race/ethnicity, wealth, and gender Racial structure Racial hierarchy Racism, discrimination, and prejudice Power and privilege The carceral state Racial/ethnic social interactions Settler colonialism Assimilation Multi-culturalism Cross-racial/ethnic interactions Settlement patterns Geographic distribution of race/ethnicity Rural, urban, and suburban landscapes Residential segregation Gentrification Dispossession and land rights Access Education Healthcare Labor Housing and property Political representation Mobility, borders, and containment Policing Prisons Immigration Detention centers Resistance, liberation, and community Social Movements Nationalism Sovereignty Solidarity Anti-racism and anti-colonialism Self-reflection

Method(s) of Instruction

  • Lecture (02)
  • DE Live Online Lecture (02S)
  • DE Online Lecture (02X)

Instructional Techniques

Lecture Use of audio and visual media Use of charts, maps, models, graphs, diagrams, and illustrations Group discussions and activities Handouts, worksheets, or exercises Instructor feedback on projects and assignments

Reading Assignments

Textbook chapter reading Handouts and other supplemental reading related to the course

Writing Assignments

Essays or research projects Journals In-class writing assignments

Out-of-class Assignments

Research projects related to course content Observational or self-reflection activities Location and mapping activities

Demonstration of Critical Thinking

Comparing and contrasting geographic processes of race/ethnicity. Evaluation of key theoretical perspectives related to course content. Analysis of geographic data related to race/ethnicity.

Required Writing, Problem Solving, Skills Demonstration

In-class writing assignments related to course content. Interpretation of observations, maps, charts, graphs, tables, diagrams, and illustrations of data related to course content. Peer-to-peer discussions of issues and strategies related to course content. Essays or research papers on issues, events, or processes related to course content.

Eligible Disciplines

Geography: Masters degree in geography OR bachelors degree in geography AND masters degree in geology, history, meteorology, or oceanography OR the equivalent OR see interdisciplinary studies. Masters degree required.

Textbooks Resources

1. Required Frazier, J.W., Tetty-Fio, E.L., Henry, N.F.. Race, Ethnicity, and Place in a Changing America, 3rd ed. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. Latest, 2016 Rationale: Latest 2. Required Omi, M; Winant, H.. Racial Formation in the United States, 3rd ed. New York: Routledge (Classic), 2014 Rationale: - 3. Required Bonilla-Silva, E.. Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America, 6th ed. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield, 2021 4. Required Kendi, I.X.. How to Be an Antiracist, ed. New York: Random House, 2019 5. Required Golash-Boza, T. M. Race and racisms: A critical approach , 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021

Other Resources

1. Ethnic Studies Journals 2. Social and Cultural Geography Journals