Ethnic Studies
Faculty of the Committee on Ethnic Studies
Werner Sollors, Henry B. and Anne M. Cabot Professor of English Literature and Professor of African and African American Studies (Chair)
Prudence L. Carter, Assistant Professor of Sociology
Eileen Cheng-yin Chow, Assistant Professor of Chinese Literary and Cultural Studies
Kimberly McClain DaCosta, Assistant Professor of African and African American Studies and of Social Studies
Drew Gilpin Faust, Lincoln Professor of History and Dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
Deborah D. Foster, Senior Lecturer on Folklore and Mythology
William E. Granara, Professor of the Practice of Arabic on the Gordon Gray Endowment (on leave spring term)
Jennifer L. Hochschild, Henry LaBarre Jayne Professor of Government (on leave 2003-04)
Michèle Lamont, Professor of Sociology (on leave spring term)
Susan W. Lewis, Director of the Core Program
J. Lorand Matory, Professor of Anthropology and of African and African American Studies
Kay Kaufman Shelemay, G. Gordon Watts Professor of Music and Professor of African and African American Studies (on leave 2003-04)
The Committee on Ethnic Studies is an Interdisciplinary Coordinating Committee constituted of faculty members from across the disciplines appointed to encourage and promote course offerings on ethnicity in the United States. Ethnic studies might briefly be described as the study of aspects of collective identity shaped by factors ranging from descent to affinity. The field has emerged from and continues to flourish within individual departments as well as across disciplinary boundaries. Methodologies for the study of ethnicity vary, as does subject matter, which ranges from expressive culture to social organization, but scholars in ethnic studies share the challenge of studying intensely heterogeneous populations and materials. American ethnic communities have provided an important focus as well as particularly rich units of study for scholars of ethnicity, giving rise to many of the foundational works in the field. At the same time, both research and pedagogy in ethnic studies is often international and comparative in its purview due to the interaction between and among communities within individual locales as well as the global flow of people in diaspora. Ethnic studies have further given rise to a lively and growing body of theoretical work, sparked in part by the necessity to document and interpret the redefinition of identity through on-going processes shaped both by descent and consent.
The Committee on Ethnic Studies oversees the disposition of two FTE’s annually to bring to campus visitors who offer courses in Native American, US Latino, and Asian American Studies. Past course offerings have spanned such topics as Native American Art and Architecture, Asian American Literature, Spanish Caribbean Music, Comparative Urban Latino Politics, and the relationship among Native Americans, Hispanos, and Anglos in the American Southwest.
To see additional committee activities, please see the website.
The Committee does not offer an undergraduate concentration or an advanced degree. However, concentrations focusing on topics relating to ethnic studies can be undertaken through many departments, as well as within programs such as Social Studies, History and Literature, Folklore and Mythology, and Special Concentrations.
The Committee on Ethnic Studies is housed in the Office of the Dean of Harvard College.
Core Courses in Ethnic Studies
Foreign Cultures 46. Caribbean Societies: Socioeconomic Change and Cultural Adaptations
[Foreign Cultures 48. The Cultural Revolution]
Foreign Cultures 60. Individual, Community, and Nation in Vietnam
Foreign Cultures 70. Understanding Islam and Contemporary Muslim Societies
Foreign Cultures 74. Cultures of Southern Europe
Foreign Cultures 80. Korean Cultural Identities
[Foreign Cultures 82. Modern Arabic Narratives: Self, Society, and Culture]
Historical Study A-12. International Conflict and Cooperation in the Modern World
Historical Study A-14. Japan: Tradition and Transformation
Historical Study A-16. The Making of Modern South Asia
Historical Study A-40. The Middle East and Europe since the Crusades: Relations and Perceptions
[Historical Study A-53. The Chinese Revolutionary Tradition]
Historical Study A-67. Gendered Communities: Women, Islam, and Nationalism in the Middle East and North Africa
[Historical Study A-74. Contemporary China: The People’s Republic and Taiwan in the Modern World]
[Historical Study B-52. Slavery and Slave Trade in Africa and the Americas]
[Historical Study B-61. The Warren Court and the Pursuit of Justice, 1953–1969]
Historical Study B-64. The Cuban Revolution, 1956-1971: A Self-Debate
Historical Study B-67. Japan’s Modern Revolution
Literature and Arts A-48. Modern Jewish Literature
Literature and Arts A-58. Ethnicity, Modernity, and Modernism in 20th-Century Literature, Art, and Culture
[Literature and Arts B-78. Soundscapes: Exploring Music in a Changing World]
Literature and Arts B-82. Sayin’ Something: Jazz as Sound, Sensibility, and Social Dialogue
Social Analysis 54. American Society and Public Policy
[Social Analysis 66. Race, Ethnicity, and Politics in the United States]
Social Analysis 68. Race, Class, and Poverty in Urban America
Courses with a Primary Focus on Ethnicity in the United States
[Afro-American Studies 143. African-Americans and a New Racial Divide]
Afro-American Studies 191. The Civil Rights Movement: Seminar
[Afro-American Studies 196z. Race, Segregation, and Inequality]
General Education 175. Native Americans in the 21st Century: Nation-Building I
[*Government 2140. Identity in History and Politics]
History 1612. African Diaspora in the Americas
History 1621. Racial Politics in American Nations: Conference Course
*History 1635. Race and Race Relations Since Plessy: Conference Course
History 1642b. Gender, Sexuality, and Women in the 20th-Century US: Conference Course
*History 1645. History of American Immigration: Conference Course
History 2664. Race and African-American Intellectual History: Seminar
*Psychology 1570. The Nature of Prejudice
[Sociology 60. Race and Ethnic Relations]
*Sociology 96. Individual Community Research Internship
[Sociology 166. Poverty, Public Policy, and Controversy]
Sociology 177. American Indians in Comparative/Historical Perspective
Sociology 178. American Indians in Contemporary Society
[*Sociology 221. Immigration, Identity and Assimilation: Seminar]
Sociology 248. Race, Politics, and Social Inequality: Seminar
[*Sociology 249. “Race,” Culture and Social Structure: Seminar]
[*Sociology 300. Workshop on Race/Ethnicity, Culture and Social Structure]
Spanish 268. A Rhetoric of Particularism
Courses Related to Ethnicity and the United States
*Afro-American Studies 97b. Topics in Afro-American History and Society
Afro-American Studies 118. African-American History from the Slave Trade to 1900
Afro-American Studies 126. Philosophical Perspectives on Race and Racism
[Afro-American Studies 127. Marxist Theories of Racism]
Afro-American Studies 131. African-American Literature to the 1920s
Afro-American Studies 138z. Interracial Literature
[Afro-American Studies 141. Afro-Atlantic Religions]
[Anthropology 153. Nationalism and Bureaucracy ]
Anthropology 157. Muslims in Multicultural America
Anthropology 184. Ethnicity in the Americas: The Indian Question
Anthropology 210. Anthropology of Events
Anthropology 289. Ethnographics of Violence
Chinese Literature 132. Chinatowns
[Comparative Literature 166. The Comic Tradition in Jewish Culture]
*Economics 1357. Historical Perspectives on American Economic Ascendancy
Economics 1815. Social Problems of the American Economy
English 17. American Literature to 1915
[Government 90q. US-Latin American Relations]
*Government 1582. Who Are We? Issues of American National Identity
[*Government 2140. Identity in History and Politics]
[Government 2900. US-Latin American Relations]
[History 1610. Confronting Objects/Interpreting Culture: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on North America: Conference Course]
History 1613. Readings in North American Borderlands: Conference Course
History 1690 (formerly History 1958). The US and Imperialism: Conference Course
History of Art and Architecture 19x. Introduction to African American Art History
History of Art and Architecture 172w. American Art and Modernity, 1865-1965
Music 208r. Ethnomusicology: Seminar
Religion 1530r. Religious Values and Cultural Conflict
Religion 1726. Buddhism in America: Seminar
[Religion 2040. Religion and Human Rights]
Religion 2042. Religion, Nationalism, and Peace
Religion 2501. The Religious History of American Women: Seminar
Sociology 149. Ethnicity: Comparative and Historical Perspectives: Conference Course
Visual and Environmental Studies 186x. Asian-American Cinema: Configurations of Culture and Identity
Visual and Environmental Studies 189r. (Trans)Cultural Cinema: Aesthetics, Ideology, and Cultural Difference in Nonfiction Filmmaking
Women’s Studies 1001 (formerly Women’s Studies 110b). Current Problems in Feminist Theory
Women’s Studies 1101 (formerly Women’s Studies 110c). Borders and Betrayals: Engendering Cultural Identities
[Women’s Studies 1102 (formerly Women’s Studies 101r). Money Changes Everything: Gender and Globalization]
[Women’s Studies 1201 (formerly Women’s Studies 110a). Bodies and Boundaries: Conference Course]
Courses Related to Ethnicity outside the United States
*Afro-American Studies 97b. Topics in Afro-American History and Society
[Afro-American Studies 141. Afro-Atlantic Religions]
[Anthropology 153. Nationalism and Bureaucracy ]
Anthropology 155. Anthropology of Islam in Comparative Perspective
Anthropology 184. Ethnicity in the Americas: The Indian Question
Anthropology 210. Anthropology of Events
[Anthropology 263. Globalization and Culture]
[Anthropology 277. Development Dilemmas]
Anthropology 289. Ethnographics of Violence
Catalan Ba (formerly Catalan Aa). Introduction to Catalan
*Catalan 91r. Supervised Reading and Research
Chinese Literature 132. Chinatowns
[Comparative Literature 112. Religion and Literature in the Middle Ages]
[Comparative Literature 166. The Comic Tradition in Jewish Culture]
[*Comparative Literature 210. Comparative Themes in the Literatures of Medieval Spain: Seminar]
[*English 276x (formerly *English 90vl). African-American Literary Tradition: Graduate Seminar]
Folklore and Mythology 90b (formerly Folklore and Mythology 115). The African Oral Narrative Tradition: Seminar
French 42 (formerly French 38b). Introduction à la littérature francophone
French 70c. Introduction to French Literature III: The Francophone World
[French 188. Women Francophone Writers]
French 194. Francophone Film and Literature
German 195. Multicultural Germany: Negotiating the Turkish-German Minority
Government 90gs. Civil Society in Asia
Government 90hh. International Migration and the Political Economy of Development
Government 1295. Comparative Politics in Latin America
[Government 1760. International Relations of East Asia]
[Government 2148. Civil Society, West and East]
[Government 2900. US-Latin American Relations]
Hebrew 150a. Introduction to Rabbinic Literature
Hebrew 150b. Introduction to Rabbinic Literature
Hebrew 174. Political Thought: Late Antiquity through the Middle Ages
History 1439. India and the British Empire in the 18th Century: Conference Course
History 1483. French Colonial Encounters: 1870’s to Present: Conference Course
[History 1610. Confronting Objects/Interpreting Culture: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on North America: Conference Course]
[History 1741. Gender and History in Latin America ]
History 1759. The History of Latin America, 1914-2004
History 1844. Governing Indigenous Australians
History 1845. Australian Indigenous Autobiography: Conference Course
History 1854. Gender and Japanese History: Conference Course
History 1897. Nation, Reason and Religion in South Asia
History 1907. West Africa from 1800 to the Present
History 1908. Rethinking Gender in African History: Conference Course
[History 1955. Comparative Labor History: Conference Course]
*History 2781. Modern Mexican History: Seminar
History of Art and Architecture 19y (formerly History of Art and Architecture 19). Introduction to the Art of Africa
History of Art and Architecture 191x. Manuscripts in Colonial Peru and Mexico
History of Art and Architecture 193. Painting Traditions in Africa
History of Art and Architecture 294. Cuzco, 1650-1700
[Indian Studies 117 (formerly *Indian Studies 216). Early History of South Asia]
[Indian Studies 205a. South Asia as Understood Through Its Regions I: Seminar]
[Indian Studies 205b. South Asia as Understood Through Its Regions II: Seminar]
[Islamic Civilizations 124. Central Asian Culture and Society]
Islamic Civilizations 125. History and Culture of Islamic Peoples of the Former Soviet Union
Islamic Civilizations 160. The Meanings of Islam in Central Asia
[*Music 178r. Performing Music]
*Music 190r (formerly *Music 190r). Topics in World Music: Proseminar
Music 193r. Topics in Music from 1800 to the Present: Proseminar
Music 194r. Special Topics: Proseminar
[Music 206r. Research Methods in Ethnomusicology: Musical Ethnography]
Music 207r. Ethnomusicology: Seminar
Music 208r. Ethnomusicology: Seminar
[Music 209r. Ethnomusicology: Seminar]
Music 270r. Special Topics
Portuguese 37. Brasil hoje: Contemporary Brazilian Culture through Media
Portuguese 38. Images of Brazil: Contemporary Brazilian Cinema
Portuguese 121a. Introduction to the Literature of Brazil I
Portuguese 121b. Introduction to the Literature of Brazil II
[Portuguese 122b. Introduction to the Literature of Portugal II]
[Religion 11. World Religions: Diversity and Dialogue]
Religion 1001. Ethnographic Imaginations
[Religion 1017. New Religious Movements and Society: Conference Course]
[Religion 1075. Jerusalem: An Interdisciplinary Inquiry]
[Religion 1420. History of Ancient Christianity from the Beginnings to the 4th Century]
[Religion 1650. Modern Hindu Movements: Seminar]
Religion 1700. Introduction to Buddhism, in Theory and Practice
[Religion 2040. Religion and Human Rights]
Religion 2042. Religion, Nationalism, and Peace
Sociology 149. Ethnicity: Comparative and Historical Perspectives: Conference Course
Sociology 182. Race & Ethnic Relations: Conference Course
Spanish 35. Upper-Level Spanish I: Cuatro países latinoamericanos
Spanish 48. Perspectives on Mexico
Spanish 71a. Demons, Pirates, and Saints: Survey on Colonial Spanish American Literature
Spanish 71b. From Modernism On: Survey of Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Latin American Literature
Spanish 186. Tobacco and Sugar
[Spanish 201. The History of the Spanish Language]
[Spanish 287r. Spanish Literature: Seminar]
Spanish 295r. The Life and Works of El Inca Garcilaso de la Vega: Seminar
Women’s Studies 1001 (formerly Women’s Studies 110b). Current Problems in Feminist Theory
Women’s Studies 1101 (formerly Women’s Studies 110c). Borders and Betrayals: Engendering Cultural Identities
[Women’s Studies 1102 (formerly Women’s Studies 101r). Money Changes Everything: Gender and Globalization]
[Women’s Studies 1201 (formerly Women’s Studies 110a). Bodies and Boundaries: Conference Course]
Women’s Studies 1202 (formerly Women’s Studies 134). Women’s Writing and Film in Latin America and the Caribbean
[Yiddish 102r. Modern Yiddish Literature I]
Yiddish 103r. Modern Yiddish Literature II
[Yiddish 105. Yiddish Language and Linguistic Theory]
[Yiddish 108. American Jewish Literature: At the Center or the Margins?]