The UALR Department of History will soon offer a new minor in Race and Ethnicity. Faculty are invited to submit courses they would like added to the minor’s list of elective classes.

The UALR History Department is working in conjunction with the UALR Institute on Race and Ethnicity to offer the minor beginning in the fall.

“We are seeking courses that focus on matters of race and ethnicity and that address the influence, impact, and engagement of those issues in the United States,” said Dr. John Kirk, chair of the Department of History, Donaghey Professor in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and academic adviser for the Race and Ethnicity minor.

The minor includes six hours of required coursework – “Introduction to Race and Ethnicity” (RACE 2301), taught in the fall semester, and “History of Race and Ethnicity in the United States” (RACE/HIST 4356/5356), taught each spring semester. In addition to the required courses, students pursuing the minor will take 12 hours of elective classes.

Examples of courses that have already been added as elective options include “Race, Ethnicity, and Crime,” a criminal justice course (CRJU 3310), “The Indian in American History” (HIST 3380), and “Race and Human Variation,” an anthropology course (ANTH 4398).

“The minor in race and ethnicity coincides with the creation of the Institute on Race and Ethnicity,” said Adjoa Aiyetoro, director of the institute. “Educating the community on issues of racial and ethnic justice in Arkansas must include offering students interested in this topic an academic course of study.”

UALR established the institute last year to seek reconciliation and racial and ethnic justice in Arkansas.

To submit a course for consideration, faculty should send an email to Adjoa Aiyetoro or Dr. John Kirk.