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University Library DePaul Library

Critical Ethnic Studies Research Guide: Introduction and Key Resources

Introduction to Critical Ethnic Studies Research Guide

About Ethnic Studies:

"Ethnic studies is an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary field that critically interrogates questions of power and race/ethnicity, historically and presently. It centers generative questions about the changing meaning of race/ethnicity across space and time. Ethnic studies, furthermore, examines how dominant, interlocking structures of domination—white supremacy, capitalism, (hetero)patriarchy, and other systems—inform the everyday experiences of aggrieved communities. Beyond simply contributing to new academic literature on underrepresented histories and experiences, the field of ethnic studies aims to produce transformative academic knowledge by demonstrating the way power operates, problematizing dominant discourses, and providing alternative understandings of social phenomena. Challenging notions of “objectivity” and “universality” in the social sciences, ethnic studies produces academic knowledge from multiple vantage points (Fong, 2008)."

García, Myrna. "Ethnic Studies." Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice, edited by Sherwood Thompson, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1st edition, 2014. Credo Reference

Jacob Lawrence The migration gained in momentum 1940-41

Jacob Lawrence The migration gained in momentum 1940-41

Terminology: Critical Ethnic Studies vs Ethnic Studies

Critical Ethnic Studies is a combination of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies "that challenges US hegemony in traditional Ethnic Studies, acknowledges other genealogies of antiracist and decolonial thinking and struggle, and moves towards thinking and acting in ways that are transnational and at the service of multiple local struggles". -- (Taken from the CESA Mission)

Critical Ethnic Studies focuses of systemic racism and systems of oppression and the movements in dismantling these systems with the goal of expanding the field of Ethnic Studies.

Key Resources