The ethnic and gender studies program addresses problems and issues that are as old as human culture. This multidisciplinary minor explores how societies throughout history have thought about and reacted to differences in race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality. These courses attend to the roles and experiences of women and minorities in American culture and abroad. More fundamentally, though, they ask us to reflect upon and rethink our own current understanding of these powerful and political categories.

Overall, the ethnic and gender studies minor aims at developing sensitivity to differences among people, while maintaining common values and acknowledging the need to work collectively. The perspectives encouraged by this program, along with the analytical skills it develops, help to prepare students for post-graduate study in law, the social sciences, and literature, as well as careers in business and education.

Students who have successfully completed a minor in Ethnic and Gender Studies from Lakeland University should be able to:

• Identify and define basic concepts related to race, ethnicity, and gender.
• Explain how concepts of ethnicity and gender have shaped and may shape social interactions, both generally and in specific examples.
• Explain institutionalized discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, and gender structures opportunities, both historically and currently.
• Explain specific approaches to promoting greater racial, ethnic, and gender equality and justice.
• Communicate with others in ways that are clear, respectful, and evidence-driven.

Professors: Meg Albrinck, Alan Mock, Peter Sattler, and Elizabeth Stroot
Associate Professors: Lucretia Crawford, and Rick Dodgson
 

Programs

• Ethnic and Gender Studies Minor

Courses

• EGS 150 - Understanding Issues of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender
• EGS 470 - Senior Project in Ethnic and Gender Studies
• EGS 480 - Special Topics in Ethnic and Gender Studies
• EGS 490 - Independent Study in Ethnic and Gender Studies