Our Major
Chicana and Chicano studies majors will acquire the knowledge and skills to exercise responsible leadership, effectively engage diverse communities, and advocate for social justice and equality.
To complete the major, students must fulfill the degree requirements for the major described in the catalog in effect at the time they are accepted into the premajor at SDSU (assuming continuous enrollment). A minor is not required with this major.
Visit our courses page for further details.
The major consists of a minimum of 33 upper division units, consisting of four sections. One Foundation course (3 units), Major Exploration Electives (15 units), Focal Area concentration (12 units), and One Capstone (3 units).
NEW: Students have the ability to pursue one of five Focal Area concentrations listed below.
Borders and Culture
A focus on borders and culture in Chicana and Chicano Studies allows students to explore the dynamic world and culture created by the politics and flows of people, knowledge, and ideas across the US-Mexico border, as well as the way that borders generally have shaped Chicana/o/x/Latinx culture, experiences, and lifestyles in the present and across history.
Expressive Arts
A focus on expressive arts in Chicana and Chicano Studies allows students to explore the vibrant unique ways that Chicana/o/x/Latinx peoples engage in creative expression on the stage, page, canvas, and walls, including opportunities to deeply study borderlands linguistic and musical expressions, the unique artistic context of San Diego's own Chicano Park, as well as how the future of Chicana/o/x/Latinx arts looks like.
History and Politics
A focus on history and politics in Chicana and Chicano Studies allows students to explore complicated historical and contemporary landscape of Chicana/o/x/Latinx political, economic, and social life, the ways that Chicana/o/x/Latinx peoples have been important historical actors, shaping critical movements, decisions, laws, and policies in U.S. and world history and politics; as well as the ways that Chicana/o/x/Latinx peoples are positioning themselves - and being positioned - in the 21st century political landscape.
Gender and Sexuality
A focus on gender and sexuality in Chicana and Chicano Studies allows students to explore a multiplicity of experiences and understandings of gender and sexuality over time and place. Moreover, students learn how those experiences and understandings have been challenged and reinterpreted through feminist theory and literary and cultural criticism. Students will think of gender, gender identity, sexuality, and their performativity and representation in the context of class, culture, race, ability, and building community among Chicana/o/x/Latinx peoples in the 21st century.
Community and Social Change
A focus on community and social change in Chicana and Chicano Studies allows students to explore the dynamic, contested, and complicated ways that Chicana/o/x/Latinx peoples have created community(ies), as well as the ways that individuals and groups have organized, planned, mobilized, educated, and inspired each other to enact and sustain social change in the present and across history.
Please review CCS major checklist for approved courses in each major section.
Please see the CCS major checklist, which notes the following three areas and courses:
Area A: Preparation
Two courses or 6 units are required from the following:
- CCS 110
- CCS 150
Area B: Core Courses
Nine courses or 27 units are required. Students may choose from any of the below:
- CCS 301: Political Economy of the Chicano People
- CCS 303: Chicana and Chicano Community Studies
- CCS 306: Mexican Immigration
- CCS 310: Mexican and Chicano Music
- CCS 320: Chicana and Chicano Lifestyles
- CCS 335: Chicana and Chicano Literature
- CCS 340A: Gender, Sex, and Politics in Colonial Mexico
- CCS 340B: Chicana Women’s History: 1848-Present
- CCS 350A: Chicana and Chicano History
- CCS 350B: Chicana and Chicano History
- CCS 355: The United States-Mexico International Border
- CCS 375: US/Mexico Border History
- CCS 376: Chicana and Chicano Culture and Thought
- CCS 380: US/Mexico Borderlands Folklore
- CCS 396W: Chicana and Chicano Prose
- CCS 400: Mexican Images in Film
- CCS 405: Performing Transnational Citizenship
- CCS 450: Chicano and Latino Theatre
- CCS 496: Selected Topics in Chicana and Chicano Studies
- CCS 497: Senior Thesis; with instructor consent
- CCS 498: Internship in US-Mexico Border; with instructor consent
- CCS 499: Special Study; with instructor consent
- CCS 548: Race and Ethnicity in United States History
- CCS 554: United States-Mexico Transborder Populations and Globalization
- CCS 580: Chicanas and Chicanos and the Schools
- CCS 585: Methods in Ethnic Studies Teaching: Decolonial Pedagogies in K-12 Schools
- CCS 596: Topics in Chicana and Chicano Studies; with instructor consent
Area C: Capstone Courses
Two courses or 6 units are required. Students may choose from any of the below:
- CCS 303
- CCS 340A/B
- CCS 376
- CCS 402
Department Learning Outcomes (DLOs) for B.A. in Chicana/o Studies
- Outcome 1: Students will have general knowledge about the history, cultures, and social life of Chicana/o/x communities, especially in our transborder context.
- Outcome 2: Students will be able to define foundational concepts in the field and employ theories of race, ethnicity, class, gender/sexuality, and immigration.
- Outcome 3: Students will be able to explain Chicana/o/x social justice efforts, especially regionally.
- Outcome 4: Students will be able to demonstrate analytical skills to conduct basic research, using Chicana/o Studies research methods and ethics.
- Outcome 5: Students will engage in community-based learning and service.
- Outcome 6: Students will be able to further any existing Spanish academic language skills and their engagement with multilingual code-switching contexts.