The Marquette University RACE, ETHNIC, AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES PROGRAM is an interdisciplinary endeavor that promotes critical academic scholarship on the workings of racial/ethnic identity, the persistence of racism (and other forms of social oppression), and the enduring struggle of Native American communities in light of centuries of domination and exclusion. Modeled after post-civil rights conceptualizations of Ethnic Studies, REIS is an umbrella program that serves as the home to several majors/minors within the Klinger College of Arts and Sciences. Through these majors, this program offers students the academic space to explore the structural, political, and institutional power dynamics that give racial, ethnic, and indigenous identities their shape and meaning. Fueled by recent cluster-hiring and bringing together individuals from numerous departments and colleges, REIS provides various forms of support (mentorship, a sense of community, and leadership opportunities) alongside opportunities for faculty to obtain feedback on research projects falling within its purview. As such, this program promotes ethical, embodied-scholarship that allows Marquette University to realize what faith, excellence, service, and leadership mean when these ideals courageously transcend internal and external borders here on campus or in Milwaukee, the Midwest, and beyond.
The Klingler College of Arts and Sciences offers interdisciplinary majors and minors in a number of fields including:
Africana Studies (major and minor)
Program Director: Dr. Chima J. Korieh, P.h.D.
Africana Studies is an interdisciplinary major and minor that examines the experiences and contributions of people of African descent in the modern world. Our courses range in geographic focus from the United States to Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and in disciplinary approach from the humanities and social sciences to business and communication. All these courses interrogate the role that race plays in social, cultural, economic and political institutions, systems and structures. Our goal is to provide students with the knowledge necessary to be agents of change in an evolving world.
This major and minor provides students with analytical abilities grounded in traditional disciplines as well as increasingly important skills in interdisciplinary investigation, research, criticism and writing.
Africana Studies can be taken either as a primary major or as a complement to other majors. Students pair Africana Studies with majors in English, History, Communications, International Affairs, Psychology, Political Science, Sociology or Education, for examples, because of the excellent preparation the combinations provide for graduate or professional school and for careers in journalism, business, government, health care, urban affairs, public policy, politics, social work or education.
The major consists of 30 credits hours: five core courses from offerings in the departments of English, History, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology and Theology, and five electives selected from across the University. The minor consists of 18 credit hours: three core courses and three elective courses.
Students are encouraged to develop concentrations in areas of particular interest. Possibilities include a disciplinary focus such as literature or sociology or an area focus such as race, culture and health; race and gender; or intercultural communication. Concentrations are designed with a major adviser and require approval by the director of the program.
Recent courses offered include:
To learn more about a major or minor in Africana Studies or to see the course listings, please visit the Africana Studies undergraduate bulletin page.
Arab and Muslim American Studies (minor)
Culture, Health and Illness (minor)
The Culture, Health and Illness minor is designed to provide students the opportunity to examine health and illness from an integrated, social science perspective. Students pursuing this minor learn to identify and analyze the social and cultural factors that influence how people from diverse backgrounds perceive and experience health and illness.
A minor in Culture, Health and Illness provides students an appreciation for the social determinants of health. This prepares them not only for advanced degrees in medical and nursing professions, but also for future careers and degrees in public health, health advocacy, health policy, health ethics, health care administration and gerontology.
A minor consists of 18 credits: 2 required classes (ANTH 1001, 1201, or SOCI 1001; and SOCI 3500 or 3550) and 4 elective courses from offerings in Political Science, Biomedical Sciences, Anthropology, Psychology, Sociology, Criminology and Law Studies, and Social Welfare and Justice.
To learn more minor in Culture, Health and Illness or to see the course listings, please visit the Culture, Health and Illness undergraduate bulletin page.
Latinx Studies (minor)
Literature of Diverse Cultures (minor)
The literature of diverse cultures minor explores storytelling, creativity, literature, writing, linguistics, and cultural studies across a wide range of contexts, places, and eras. Students complete coursework in comparative race and ethnic studies, indigenous literatures, African-American literatures, post-colonial studies, and global literatures, among many possible areas of study. This minor is an ideal choice for students with many interests and a desire to gain broadly applicable, widely transferable skills in writing, textual analysis, and critical thinking while cultivating a deeper understanding of the ways that texts and language work.
Credit hours required: 18
Required courses:
Elective courses
Choose 4 upper-division literature or language electives from among the following:
When course content is appropriate, these courses may also be chosen:
Also, one, and only one, of the above 4 electives may be fulfilled by any of the English department’s upper division courses in language or literary history: ENGL 41xx, 43xx, 44xx, 45xx, 4611, or 47xx.
For more information, contact Dr. Steve Hartman-Keiser, Director of Undergraduate Studies, or access Marquette's Undergraduate Bulletin.
Spring 2020 REIS Courses
Additional courses offered that focus on REIS
ADVE 4200 Gender and Race in Advertising from the Inside Out
ANTH 3100 Urban Anthropology
ANTH 3930 Contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa
ARSC 4953 Seminar in Urban Social Issues
COMM 4500 Race and Gender Issues in Mass Media
EDUC 1220 Psychology of Human Development in Children and Adolescents in a Diverse Society
ENGL 2020 I Am We: Memoirs of the Civil Rights Movement
ENGL 4170 African American English: Language, Race and Power
ENGL 4830 Afro-Futurism: The Politics and Aesthetics of Black Utopias
HEAL 1025 Culture and Health
HEAL 1025 Culture and Health
HIST 4140 American Urban History
HIST 4931 Introduction to Latinx Studies
HIST 4953 Long Black Freedom Struggle
HIST 4955 History of Comparative Genocides
MANA 3035 Diversity in Organization
MUSI 2440 History of Jazz
POSC 4281 Urban Public Policy
PSYC 3210 The Psychology of Prejudice
SOCI 3250 Race and Ethnic Relations
SOCI 3550 Race, Gender and Medicine
SOCI 4250 African American Social Thought
SOCI 4270 Urban Sociology
SOCI 4400 Social Inequality
SOWJ 1001 Introduction to Social Welfare and Justice
SOWJ 3450 Arabs and Muslims in Global Diaspora
SPAN 4320 Latin American and Latinx Contemporary Issues
SPAN 4150 Spanish in the United States
Klingler College of Arts and Sciences
Sensenbrenner Hall
1103 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53233
(414) 288-7059
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