The College of Ethnic Studies at Cal State LA is the first such college to be established at a university in the U.S. in 50 years.
Dean's Welcome
Interim Dean Lena Chao
Welcome to the College of Ethnic Studies. We are the newest college on campus, one of only two Colleges of Ethnic Studies in the state and, perhaps the nation. With three academic departments (Asian and Asian American Studies, Chicana(o)/Latina(o) Studies, and Pan-African Studies) in our College, we represent the future of engaged scholarship, filling the craters of knowledge left when only traditional thinking shapes the curriculum.
About the College
Our Mission
We will develop leaders who engage in rigorous, self-reflexive study that motivates critical engagement, self-determination and decolonial understandings of the world. The college provides an interdisciplinary intellectual space that centers the histories, traditions, cultures, experiences, struggles and accomplishments of diasporic communities of color, making connections between the local and transnational.
Departments
Asian and Asian American Studies is committed to the teaching and study of the languages, cultures, peoples and societies throughout the Pacific region. Explore Asian and Asian American Studies.
Chicana(o) and Latina(o) Studies offers undergraduate and graduate degrees grounded in interdisciplinary curricula and community engagement that focus on Chicanx/Latinx peoples locally and transnationally. Explore Chicana(o) and Latina(o) Studies.
Pan-African Studies is a transnational approach to the systematic investigation of the history, culture, social relationships, political economy, literature, arts and languages of African peoples and their contribution to world civilization. Explore Pan-African Studies.
Highlights
The Birth of Chicano Studies
Cal State LA alumni played key roles in creating the first Chicano Studies program in the U.S. in 1968, helping usher in a new era of ethnic studies.
Pan-African Studies at Cal State LA celebrates 50 years
The Department of Pan-African Studies at Cal State LA is the second-oldest Black Studies department in the nation.
Project collects history of local Chinese American community
The Chinese American Oral History Project collected and preserved life stories of Chinese Americans in Southern California.