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University of California, Berkeley - Ethnic Studies Department
Ethnic Studies is the interdisciplinary study of race, nationality, ethnicity and culture, and its intersections with sexuality, gender, citizenship status and identity. This field of study is often taught through the perspective of these identities integrated into civil society, government, and individual life. Ethnic Studies would be considered a study in the field of Humanities and Social Sciences. The discipline was founded at UC Berkeley during the Civil Rights Era in the 20th century after frustration among students were expressed regarding the Eurocentric perspective that the majority of cultural and social science courses were taught through. This uproar triggered the establishment of many Ethnic Studies Departments throughout universities in the United States, but UC Berkeley’s was one of the first.

History
After the establishment of the Ethnic Studies Department at UC Berkeley in 1969, the Department almost shut down in 1999 due to budget cuts. Students and faculty that were apart of the Third World Liberation Front carried out a hunger strike to protest the $300,000 budget cuts and the defunding of the Ethnic Studies Department.

The Third World Liberation Front, a coalition created through the University's Black Student Union, Latin American Student Organization, Filipino American Collegiate Endeavor, The Asian American Political Alliance, and the Mexican-American Student Organization, was established in the year 1969 at University of California, Berkeley after its establishment at San Francisco State University. Historically, The Third World Liberation Front has carried out some of the longest student strikes in the United States.

The University’s proposed budget cuts to the Ethnic Studies Department would have initially removed eight valued Ethnic Studies Courses and eliminated all but one of the Chicano studies professors at the time. Half  of the Native American Studies professors would also remain after the budget cuts.

After six days of the protest, the UC Police Department arrested 81 individuals participating in the protests due to the encampment of the faculty and student protestors outside of the Office of Chancellor's (Robert Berdahl was Chancellor during this time) residence. Many students and faculty refused to leave the encampment location which caused their forceful removal by the police department.

More history:
In 1989 UC Berkeley began requiring undergraduates to take an “American cultures” class. Although the class does not have to be taken through the department, it is meant to introduce students to Ethnic Studies.

Controversy
A student-taught course on the history of Palestine was offered through the ethnic studies department in 2016. The class was criticized by some for having an anti-Semitic curriculum, while others argued that it had a valid viewpoint. The class was suspended for further review.

Notable Emeritus Faculty
Well known faculty Norma Alarcon, Patricia Hilden, Elaine Kim, Beatriz Manz, David Montejano, Carlos Munoz Jr., Evelyn Nakano Glenn, Jose David, Saldivar, Alex Saragoza, Ling-Chi Wang, Sau-Ling Wong

Major Programs Within the Department
Comparative Ethnic Studies, Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies, Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies, Native American Studies

Notable Alumni

 * Josh Kun: music scholar, winner of  MacArthur Fellowship in 2016.
 * Jared Sexton: professor of African American studies, winner of Fulbright Distinguished Lecturing Chair, National Science Foundation fellow