The Department of Ethnic Studies is central to the university's commitment ''to educational excellence for a diverse society.'' It offers a major, minors, and courses that are interdisciplinary in nature and provide a holistic approach to the study of the United States' multiracial, multicultural, and multigender immigrant society. The department's faculty provide areas of study that integrate social science and literary theory, as well as anthropological and sociological concepts within a historical and humanistic perspective. The underlying goal of Ethnic Studies is to provide a better understanding of diversity in American culture and thought. The Ethnic Studies major consists of a core of Ethnic Studies courses, support courses in other departments in the university, and Options in Ethnic Studies, African American Studies Option, B.A., Ethnic Studies, Asian American Studies Option, B.A., Ethnic Studies, Genders and Sexualities in Communities of Color Option, B.A., Ethnic Studies, Latino/a and Latin American Studies Option, B.A., and Ethnic Studies, American Indian Studies Option, B.A. The curriculum ismultidisciplinary as well as interdisciplinary. The major helps the student qualify for graduate work in social sciences, law, and humanities, and for work in municipal, state, and federal government. Of equal importance are the advantages the major provides to work in community serviceorganizations concerned with opportunities and problems of various ethnic and racial groups.