Minor in Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Studies

Ethnic Studies and Psychology Building, Room 425
Phone: (415) 405-2668
Director: Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi

Program Scope

The Minor in Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Studies (AMED) is a multidisciplinary program that provides undergraduate students with a justice-centered analysis in which gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, citizenship, age, ability, and other structural inequalities are integral to the study of Arab and Muslim communities, and addresses the context in which these groups have existed and continue to develop in the current socio-political climate. The program is designed to bring together a wide range of areas, including Arab, Middle East, and Global Studies, race and ethnic studies, and critical cultural studies. Curricular focus areas include history, identity, politics, pop culture, literature, art, creativity, activism, gender, sexuality, race, immigration and citizenship, and comparative studies with other communities. AMED provides students with a non-traditional perspective on national and transnational positioning and resistances of Arab and Muslim communities.

Program Learning Outcomes

  1. Learn how to apply a justice-centered analysis to the experiences of Arab and Muslim communities.
  2. Identify the socio-political contexts that Arab and Muslim communities have faced.
  3. Identify how structural inequalities, such as those of gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, citizenship, age, and ability, impact Arab and Muslim communities.

Minor in Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Studies - 15 units

  • Only one-third of the units, or no more than two courses, can be taken on the basis of credit/no credit.
  • A minimum of 6 upper-division units are required to complete the minor.
  • All coursework used to satisfy the requirements of the minor must be completed with a minimum grade point average of 2.0.
  • Written declaration of the pursuit of the minor is not necessary prior to enrollment in any of its required or elective courses.

Required Core Courses (6 units)

RRS 101Introduction to Arab and Muslim Communities3
RRS 255Voices in Exile: Arab and Muslim American and Civil Liberties post-9/11/20013

Electives (9 units)

Must select one course (3 units) from each section; two courses (6 units) must be upper-division of 300 or above. Up to 3 units of electives can be selected from another department upon advisement and approval of the program chair.

Section I: Arab and Muslim Histories, Identities, and Cultures (Humanities track)
RRS 201SFSU's Palestinian Cultural Mural and the Art of Resistance3
RRS 240All Power to the People: Comparative Freedom Movements of the "Sixties"3
RRS 420Arab American Identity: Memory and Resistance3
RRS 430Arab Media Images in America: Impact on Arab Americans3
RRS/ARAB 450Contemporary Arabic and Arab American Literature3
Section II: Mapping Arab and Muslim Communities: Comparative Ethnicities and Diasporas (Critical Race Track)
RRS/ETHS 110Critical Thinking and the Ethnic Studies Experience3
RRS 310Arab Revolutions and Social Movements3
RRS 370Islamophobia: Roots, Development, and Contestation of Hatred3
RRS 435National Security and the Racialization of Arabs and Muslims in North America3
RRS 620Colonialism, Imperialism, and Resistance3
RRS 630Palestine: Ethnic Studies Perspective3
RRS 655Comparative Border Studies: Palestine and Mexico3
Section III: Gender and Sexuality Studies in Global South: Arab and Muslim Communities
RRS 260Introduction to Arab and Arab American Feminisms3
RRS/WGS 566Gender and Modernity in the Muslim and Arab Worlds3
WGS 565Muslim Feminisms3