The University of California, Merced has announced that students will now be able to major in critical race and ethnic studies. The new major is housed in the Humanities and World Cultures Unit at the university. A significant portion of the faculty members are from the history, global arts studies, English, Spanish and sociology departments.
The major has four interdisciplinary core classes, including a capstone/senior thesis course, along with various electives. Faculty members from affiliated programs will offer a host of other courses that students can take to fulfill additional major and elective requirements.
The University of California, Merced is the newest campus of the University of California System. it enrolls nearly 7,000 undergraduate students and more than 500 graduate students. African Americans make up 5 percent of the undergraduate student body.
