Critical Interdisciplinary Studies

The Critical Interdisciplinary Studies Department (CRIS) is a collective of interdisciplinary programs that practice critical self-reflection, question the norms of academic knowledge production and pedagogy, and are committed to social justice and transformation.

Gender, Sexuality, and Race Studies

The Gender, Sexuality, and Race Studies (GSRS) program at PLU provides students with an innovative curriculum that examines how gender, sexuality, and race are embedded in complex dynamics of power and resistance, offers intersectional and interdisciplinary ways to understand identities and imagine new configurations of power, and provides students with opportunities to develop skills that will prepare them to pursue social justice and work in diverse communities. Accordingly, GSRS graduates will be able to solve problems in diverse environments, work effectively across difference, and lead from an equity mindset, some of the most important skills and abilities desired by employers.

The gender, sexuality, and race studies major is multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary. Conferral of a baccalaureate degree with a major in gender, sexuality, and race studies requires completion of a complementary major or minor from any department or program in the University.

Bachelor of Arts Degree

Major in Gender, Sexuality, and Race Studies
36 semester hours

GSRS Core 
16 semester hours

• GSRS 201: Introduction to Gender, Sexuality, and Race Studies (4)
  • Offered every semester
• GSRS 301: Theories of Gender, Sexuality, and Race (4)
  • Offered every Fall semester
• One course from the following:
  • HGST 200: Introduction to Holocaust and Genocide Studies (4)
  • NAIS 250: Introduction to Native American and Indigenous Studies (4)
  • LTST 241: Introduction to Latino Studies (4)
• GSRS 499: Senior Capstone (4)
  • Offered every Spring semester

Electives
20 additional semester hours

• must be selected from GSRS special topic courses or list of GSRS-approved elective courses (see list below);
• must include at least 8 hours in the Gender and Sexuality (GS) distribution
• must include at least 8 hours in the Critical Race Studies (CR) distribution
• must include at least 12 hours of upper-division (300- or 400-level) coursework
• must be selected from at least three departments or programs
• Courses that are not on the approved list, from any discipline, for which at least 60% of the assignments center on women, feminism, gender, race, and/or sexuality may also count for the GSRS major. This allows the integration of gender, sexuality, and race studies perspectives into courses that are not explicitly or entirely structured around those perspectives. Students should consult the GSRS program director about this option before the course begins (when possible) and provide syllabi and assignments to the GSRS Executive Committee for approval upon completion of the course.

Additional GSRS Major Requirement

• A complementary major or minor in another department or program.

GSRS Approved Elective Courses – Gender & Sexuality Distribution

• ARTD 490: Gender and Art
• BIOL 287/387/389 when taught as “Biological Effects of Sex & Gender”
• COMA 303: Gender and Communication
• ENGL 217 when taught as “Queer American Literature:
• ENGL 232: Women’s Literature
• ENGL 348 when taught as “19th Century American Women Writers”; “Anne Frank: Holocaust Icon”
• ENGL 395: Studies in Literature, Gender, and Sexuality
• ENGL 397: Sex, Gender, and the Holocaust
• FREN 306/406: French and Francophone Feminisms
• HISP 433 when taught as “Politics and Gender Identities in Contemporary Southern-Cone Narrative and Cinema”
• HIST 218: Women & Gender in World History
• KINS 315: Body Image
• RELI 330 when taught as “Sex and the Bible”
• RELI 366: Race, Gender, and Christianity
• RELI 368: Feminist, Womanist, Latinx, and Queer Theologies
• RELI 390 when taught as “Women in the Ancient World”
• PSYC 375: Psychology of Women
• SOCI 210: Gender and Society
• SOCI 494: Gender and Violence

GSRS Approved Elective Courses – Critical Race Studies Distribution

• COMA 304: Intercultural Communication
• ENGL 216 when taught as “Literature of the Raj”
• ENGL 217 when taught as “Asian-American Literature”; “Civil Disobedience: American Protest Literature of Race and Justice”
• ENGL 380 when taught as “Global Refugee Literature”
• HIST 305: Slavery in the Americas
• IHON 112: Liberty, Power, and Imagination
• NAIS 363: Race and Indigeneity
• POLS 265: Latino Politics
• POLS 288 when taught as “Latino Experience in America”
• POLS 365: Racial and Ethnic Politics
• POLS 370: Prisons & Prisoners
• PSYC 335: Cultural Psychology
• PSYC 339: Race, Anti-Racism, and Child Development
• RELI 236: Native American Religious Traditions
• RELI 240: African-American Religious Traditions
• RELI 241: Islam in The United States
• RELI 397: Indigenous Religions and Culture of the Pacific Northwest
• SOCI 332: Race and Racism
• SOCI 387 when taught as “Race, Class, Gender, and Crime”
• SOCI 410: Social Stratification

Holocaust & Genocide Studies

The Holocaust and Genocide Studies program is strongly grounded in PLU’s educational commitment to helping its students develop as global citizens, future leaders, and whole, richly informed persons. As the University’s statement on General Education notes, PLU offers an education not only in values, but in valuing, and asserts strongly that “life gains meaning when dedicated to a good larger than oneself.” Close study of the Holocaust and other examples of mass violence challenges us to push far beyond our comfort zones. Students who choose to earn a minor in Holocaust and Genocide Studies will join a scholarly community that believes that the Holocaust and other genocides must be studied, its victims must be remembered, human rights and dignity must be honored through our daily beliefs, and yet the search for “lessons” drawn from the Holocaust and genocide is a never-ending process.

Native American & Indigenous Studies

Native American and Indigenous Studies is an interdisciplinary program grounded in a partnership between students, faculty, staff and local communities, with a global Indigenous focus centered in local and regional contexts. We empower students to recognize, honor and value Indigenous ways of knowing, so that they can work in collaboration with Indigenous communities and all their relations.

Minors

Critical Race Studies
20 semester hours, including:

• GSRS 201: Introduction to Gender, Sexuality, and Race Studies (4)
  • Offered every semester
• GSRS 301: Theories of Gender, Sexuality, and Race (4)
  • Offered every Fall semester
• 12 additional semester hours
  • must be selected from GSRS special topics courses or from list of GSRS-approved elective courses
  • must include at least 8 hours in the Critical Race Studies (CR) distribution
  • must be selected from at least two departments or programs
  • must include at least 8 hours of upper-division (300- or 400-level) coursework
  • Courses that are not on the approved list, from any discipline, for which at least 60% of the assignments center on the critical study of race may also count for the Critical Race Studies minor. This allows the integration of Critical Race Studies perspectives into courses that are not explicitly or entirely structured around those perspectives. Students should consult the GSRS program director about this option before the course begins (when possible) and provide syllabi and assignments to the GSRS Executive Committee for approval upon completion of the course.

Gender and Sexuality Studies
20 semester hours, including:

• GSRS 201: Introduction to Gender, Sexuality, and Race Studies (4)
  • Offered every semester
• GSRS 301: Theories of Gender, Sexuality, and Race (4)
  • Offered every Fall semester
• 12 additional semester hours
  • must be selected from GSRS special topics courses or from list of GSRS-approved elective courses
  • must include at least 8 hours in the Gender and Sexuality (GS) distribution
  • must be selected from at least two departments or programs
  • must include at least 8 hours of upper-division (300- or 400-level) coursework
  • Courses that are not on the approved list, from any discipline, for which at least 60% of the assignments center on women, feminism, gender, and/or sexuality may also count for the Gender and Sexuality Studies minor. This allows the integration of Gender & Sexuality Studies perspectives into courses that are not explicitly or entirely structured around those perspectives. Students should consult the GSRS program director about this option before the course begins (when possible) and provide syllabi and assignments to the GSRS Executive Committee for approval upon completion of the course.

Because of their shared core courses, students may not double-minor in Gender & Sexuality Studies and Critical Race Studies. Majors in Gender, Sexuality, & Race Studies may not minor in either Gender & Sexuality Studies or Critical Race Studies for the same reason.

Holocaust & Genocide Studies
20 semester hours (a minimum of 12 semester hours of upper division) to include:

• HGST 200: Holocaust & Genocide (4)
• HIST 360: The Holocaust (4)
• Elective courses (12 semester hours, a minimum of 8 hours upper division)
• No more than 12 semester hours may be used from an individual department or IHON program.
• No more than 8 semester hours may be used to satisfy the HGST minor and any other minors or majors.
• A minimum of 12 semester hours must be earned in residence at PLU.

It is highly recommended that students complete HGST 200 before enrolling in HIST 360. Elective course hours may be earned in two ways.

1. Approved courses and elective options (listed below) may be selected and completed without consulting the HGST program director.
2. Other elective courses and options (described below) can only be counted toward the minor after consultation with the HGST program director and submission to the Office of the Registrar for inclusion in the student’s degree plan.

HGST Approved Elective Courses

• ARTD 383: Studies in Art History: Art and Memory
• HGST 287/288/289: Special Topics in Holocaust and Genocide Studies
• HGST 387/388/389: Special Topics in Holocaust and Genocide Studies
• HGST 291/491: Independent Studies in Holocaust and Genocide Studies
• HGST 495: Internship in Holocaust and Genocide Studies
• HIST 329: Europe and the World Wars: 1914-1945
• HIST 362: Christians in Nazi Germany
• HIST 387/388/389: Special Topics in European History: Holocaust Memories in Berlin, Prague, and Poland
• RELI 230: Religion and Culture: Judaism in America
• RELI 237: Judaism

Other Electives that Require Consultation and Approval

• Special topic courses that pertain to HGST will be identified each semester/term as “approved” for elective credit in the program. Consult with the director of the HGST program for a list of such courses.
• Courses from any discipline for which at least 60% of the assignments center on themes or content that pertains to the study of the Holocaust, genocide, and/or examples of mass violence and oppression may be approved for elective credit. Consent of the instructor is required. Students should consult the director of the Holocaust and Genocide Studies program about this option before the course begins (when possible). To complete the process, students must also submit a syllabus, assignments, and other relevant materials to the HGST coordinating committee after completing the course.
• Selected semester-long study away programs may be used to meet up to 8 semester hours; consult the director of the HGST program for more information.

Native American & Indigenous Studies
22 semester hours

Core courses
6 semester hours

Students must take the following core courses that introduce the field of Native American and Indigenous Studies and explore key approaches and issues within it.

• NAIS 111: Interconnections (1)
• NAIS 112: Interconnections (1)
• NAIS 250: Introduction to Native American and Indigenous Studies (4)

Northwest Language and Worldview
8 semester hours

Students will take 8 semester hours that explore Indigenous language and worldviews of the Pacific Northwest. Equivalent coursework or demonstrated fluency to an equivalent level in another Indigenous language may be substituted for SOLU 101 and SOLU 102.

• SOLU 101: Southern Lushootseed: Introduction to Oral Language (4)

And one of these three courses exploring Northwest Indigenous language and worldviews.

• NAIS 495: Internship (1-4)
• RELI 397: Indigenous Religions and Cultures of the Pacific Northwest (4)
• SOLU 102: Southern Lushootseed: Oral Language Dialogue (4)

Electives
8 semester hours

Students select 8 semester hours from the following courses that study Indigenous topics and perspectives.

• ENGL 213: Topics in Literature (4)
  (when the topic is ‘Literature of the PNW’)
• ENGL 288: Special Topics in English (4)
  (when the topic is ‘Indigenous Literature of North America’)
• HISP 322: Latin American Cultural Studies (4)
• HIST 333: Colonization and Genocide in Native North America (4)
• HIST 348: Lewis and Clark: History and Memory (4)
• HIST 351: History of Western and Pacific Northwestern U.S. (4)
• NAIS 230: Indigenous Creation Narratives of the Americas (4)
• NAIS 321: Visual Sovereignty and Indigenous Film (4)
• NAIS 244: Environmental Justice and Indigenous Peoples (4)
• NAIS 286: Sámi Film and the Indigenous North (4)
• NAIS 363: Race and Indigeneity (4)
• NURS 404: Healthcare Diversity (4)
• RELI 227: Introduction to Christian Theologies (4)
  (when the topic is ‘Native American Theologies’)
• RELI 236: Native American Religious Traditions (4)
• RELI 397: Indigenous Religions and Culture of the Pacific Northwest (4)
  (if not used to satisfy the Northwest Language and Worldview requirement above)
• SOLU 101: Southern Lushootseed: Introduction to Oral Language (4)
  (if not used to satisfy the Northwest Language and Worldview requirement above)
• SOLU 102: Southern Lushootseed: Oral Language Dialogue (4)
  (if not used to satisfy the Northwest Language and Worldview requirement above)
• Approved Study Away courses (4-8)
  • Up to 8 study away semester hours may be applied toward the minor upon completion of PLU’s semester-long Gateway program in Oaxaca, when accompanied by an internship experience with an Indigenous-led organization. Students may also petition the NAIS program director to count up to 8 study away semester hours applied toward the minor from our Gateway program in Namibia or from our Featured programs in Australia and New Zealand.