School of Cultural and Critical Studies

College of Arts and Sciences

228 Shatzel Hall, 419-372-2796

The School of Cultural and Critical Studies includes four interdisciplinary units with distinct but complementary missions:

American Culture Studies Program
101 East Hall, 419-372-8886

Department of Ethnic Studies
228 Shatzel Hall, 419-372-2796

Department of Popular Culture
228 Shatzel Hall, 419-372-2796

Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program
228 Shatzel Hall, 419-372-2796

These units share a multidisciplinary approach, eclectic methodologies, a commitment to critical thinking and engagement, and an emphasis on how differences - such as cultural, national, economic, racial, and sexual differences - are constructed and expressed.

The American Cultural Studies Program is an interdisciplinary program dedicated to the holistic study of American culture, society and institutions. Courses help students to develop the skills appropriate for the study and appreciation of American culture in all its diversity. The program enables students to integrate the substance of other disciplines into coherent patterns reflecting the complexity of American life and out national heritage. The goal of BGSU's American Culture Studies program is to help students understand and appreciate the interrelationship of all aspects of American culture.

The Department of Ethnic Studies fosters an understanding of the significance of race and the experiences of people of color in the United States. Students explore the ways in which racial and ethnic identities, social relations, and our contemporary realities have been shaped over time. Drawing on the scholarship and methods of several disciplines in the social sciences and humanities. Ethnic Studies offers an interdisciplinary approach to understanding issues concerning globalization, immigration, public policy, media representations, and racial and ethnic conflict. The major emphasizes a socially responsible scholarship that will enable students to think about and engage critically the world they live in and their place in it.

The Department of Popular Culture studies the forms of creative expression we use in everyday life. Courses focus on the impact various aspects of popular culture (such as television, movies, rock music, popular books and magazines, sports, holidays, festivals, and folklore) have on our culture and how they reflect the values of our society. While studies of contemporary culture are an important part of the program, historical material is emphasizes as well. We regularly offer undergraduate courses in popular music, television, film and folklore, as well as courses that focus on how to research and analyze popular culture and its impact on society.

The Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies Program examines women's lives locally and globally, focusing on how gender interests with other forms of difference, including race, disability, ethnicity, class, age, and sexual orientation. Students gain valuable knowledge about difference and diversity, as well as develop critical thinking, presentation and writing skills. Readings and classroom discussions introduce students to the new scholarship, which reveals the ways in which women's lives have been frequently erased from traditional scholarship. Faculty encourage critical analyses of women in society, culture, and history; they promote active learning and social responsibility.

Innovative Core Curriculum:
All majors within the School of Critical and Cultural Studies engage in a dynamic core curriculum that includes service-learning, training in qualitative research, and a senior capstone project. In the service learning course (CCS 3710), students work with local organizations and organize an event for and with those organizations. Majors also learn how to do qualitative research and get hands-on experience designing research projects, conducting interviews and doing fieldwork in CCS 4850. This senior capstone experience culminates in CCS 4860 where students complete a research project that they designed and conducted.

Engage Scholarship and Internships:
Many courses in the School feature partnerships with community organizations, engaged scholarship, and service learning.

Students in the School are also encouraged to participate in internships for course credit. In recent years, CCS undergraduates have completed internships at:

• Equality Ohio
• Wood County Historical Society
• Jerome Library's Popular Culture Library and Sound Recording Archives
• Bowling Green's Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team
• Toledo Fair Housing Center
• SAAFE Center
  

Degrees Offered
Bachelor of Arts - American Culture Studies; Ethnic Studies; Popular Culture; Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies

Minors - American Culture Studies, Ethnic Studies, Folklore, Latino/a Studies, Popular Culture, Women's Studies and Sexuality Studies