The Mission of the Mexican American Studies Department is to serve SJSU students and diverse communities through an interdisciplinary Chicana/o Studies Program that is based on principles of Social Justice. The program prepares students to critically examine and address intellectual traditions and contemporary issues resulting from race, ethnicity, class, and gender intersections in Chicana/o-Latina/o and other communities. The overall goal of the MAS Department is to prepare students to critically assess the conceptualization of race and ethnicity, as it relates to and is challenged by Chicana/o communities. Students develop critical thinking skills and a comparative analysis between Chicana/o and other communities. In the end, students integrate major issues and theories from MAS courses and apply them to current problems as they plan for post-graduate work. This goal is accomplished by means of: 1.) an academic minor for undergraduate students from all academic majors; 2.) a graduate program with emphases in Policy Studies, K-20 Education, and Comparative Ethnic Studies; and 3.) serving as an academic resource for Chicana/o-Latina/o communities.
The minor in Mexican American studies is a unique interdisciplinary program of study that supplements any undergraduate major by providing a well-rounded introduction to the Chicana/o-Latina/o community, including its history, culture and social, political and economic context. The coursework supports major programs in economics, business, politics, culture, education, personnel management, marketing, psychology/counseling, community development, public administration and fine arts.
The Master's program offers an interdisciplinary course of study intended to provide students with a strong intellectual analysis of diverse Chicana/o and Latina/o experiences along with skills to address real-world issues in Chicana/o, Latina/o and other communities. The curriculum is grounded in the interdisciplinary Chicana/o Studies tradition of pursuing carefully developed, culturally grounded solutions to community needs. The individual courses and programs are intended to bridge the worlds of theory, cultural analysis, and practice. Students build on a solid foundation of historical and cultural analyses and attempt to develop new approaches to long-standing social, economic, educational, political, and intellectual problems that face Chicana/o, Latina/o and other communities. The program trains students to become leaders in a number of professional fields, including: teaching, social services, health care, and community service. We also prepare students for doctoral study in Chicana/o Studies, Ethnic Studies and other academic fields.
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