About AMCS

The American Multicultural Studies Department takes an interdisciplinary and comparative approach to teaching students about the importance of race and ethnicity to people living in the United States. The AMCS Department provides students with the theoretical foundation to understand the complexity of these issues while training them to develop cultural competence, critical thinking, and leadership skills that will empower students to navigate the fast-changing multicultural and multiracial American landscape.

Classes focus on the histories and cultures of African Americans, Chicanos and Latinos, Asian Americans, Multiracial Americans, and Native American Indians so that students may understand more deeply America’s multicultural heritage and future. Correspondingly, the teaching and research interests of the faculty explore how race and ethnicity intersect with power and inequality. Some of these areas of expertise are: race and representation; race and equality in education; race and popular culture; race and ethnicity in the arts, literature and media; race and globalization; multiracial experience; civil rights movement; social policy; decolonization and indigenization.

AMCS is committed to graduating students who have the knowledge and skills to live and work productively and competently in an increasingly diverse world. The faculty is committed to shaping students into culturally informed citizens who can make positive impacts on their communities. Students who complete the major or minor program will have the tools to adapt to a rapidly changing multicultural environment. At the core of our mission is the hope that our work will lead to a better world.

Through the various "AMCS Pathways" and the “Concentration in Africana Studies,” students who major in AMCS can choose to focus on an area of interest and have a wide range of courses to choose from across selected departments in the university. This approach to learning will enhance students' multicultural awareness and competence, and serves as a vibrant and imperative aspect of our contemporary society.