This class examines the complexities of ethnic and racial diversity in the United States, exploring the historical aand cultural aspects of how ethnic minority groups have been affected by social inequality in America. The course provides an overview of concepts and terms essential to studies and discussions within the discipline of ethnic studies. Covered terms include: race, racism, racialization and racialism, ethnicity and ethnic identity, ethnonationalism or ethnic nationalism, panethnicity, ethnocentrism, prejudice, discrimination, segregation, marginalization, diversity, pluralism, multiculturalism, affirmative action, enculturation, acculturation, assimilation, and self-determination. This survey course provides an overview of the discipline of ethnic studies as a whole. Topics of study include: the social construction of race and ethnicity, notions of identity and citizenship, and analysis of African Americans, Asian Americans, Chicanos and Latinos, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders. The effect of culture on spiritual experience and identity are also examined.