Introduction to Comparative Ethnic Studies

This is the quintessential global core class. It speaks directly to the white-thought-heavy core curriculum that Columbia forces students to take, making you wonder if the education you receive here is actually racially/ethnically skewed. Still, it provides wonderful balance to the white authors/playwrights/philosophers we study in the core that have frequently been touted as the height of civilization.

Prof. Okihiro is clearly an intelligent man, and an eminent scholar in the field. Although his ramblings make it hard to follow him at times, his passion for the subject is evident, and he gets his point across 9 times out of 10. He's funny, and drops heavy hints as to what will appear on the midterm/final, so be sure to attend lectures.

The lecture is huge (about 100-200 people), so this might make it intimidating to share your opinion in class, but a lot of people still do, and it is refreshing to hear what some people have to say on the topic at hand. Okihiro welcomes students' participation, and it is actually one of the things you'll be graded upon, so you should speak up both in lectures and in discussion sections. Your TA will be the one grading you on attendance/participation—I think he/she grades your midterm/final as well—so be sure to attend recitations. It's not hard to get a grade in the A range if you faithfully attend lectures/recitations, do the readings, and participate occasionally in class.

Professor Okihiro is my favorite teacher at Columbia by far. He is the reason why I switched from being a Political Science major to a Comparative Ethnic Studies major. Albeit, he can be a little disorganized he is one of the few professors who truly cares about his students and gets them passionate about the subject matter. Sometimes he will go off on a tangent, but he always comes right back. There is no way you can not love him. I feel it is the most intellectually stimulating class I have taken at Columbia. His readings are absolutely eye opening and fantastic. The discussions that we had in the class were really engaging and really made me question everything around me for the first time. He is always open to meet with students, we even had an extra session at night this semester to just sit around and talk about "anything we wanted". He even came with snacks.

If you're looking for something groundbreaking and awesome, you've found it. Intro to Comparative Ethnic Studies is a fantastic course, covering the manifestations and articulations of power and power structures. In the U.S., such power structures historically have been based around some form of ethnicity (race, gender, class, sexuality, citizenship status, etc.), and this course covers them all.

The first half of the semester deals with important historical terms, definitions, and movements (colonization, miscegenation, Black Power, etc.). The VERY EASY midterm (Prof. Okihiro gives you the short list of terms you'll need to know) makes sure you understand these. The second half of the semester focuses on specific articulations and manifestations of these terms, as well as on pedagogical movements in ethnic studies (feminism, experience, Latino/a Studies, Critical White Studies, etc.). We were supposed to have a final similar to the midterm, but instead we had a (somewhat creative) final paper that most students found fun and rewarding.

Prof. Okihiro is a really cool person--the epitome of a wise, liberal intellectual who loves to challenge his students to think in new ways. That being said, he really wants everyone to do well, and the class is pretty easy as a result.

I don't normally review TAs, but Alvan may be the best one ever. He has a Bachelor's from Stanford in human biology, a doctorate in medicine from Harvard, a master's thesis from Oxford on the history of malaria control in colonial Kenya--and now he's a Columbia English & Comparative Literature PhD candidate, as well as a kick-ass TA. He quickly learned everyone's name, took an interest in each student's response papers, and was a very fair (if not lenient) grader.

In short, take this class, no matter what major you are. It's not difficult at all, fulfills the Global Core requirement, and is one of the most eye-opening courses you'll ever come across.