Critical Race and Ethnic Studies offers a variety of programs to prepare students to be agents of change in the world.
Critical Race and Ethnic Studies Major
Welcome to the fastest growing major in the Humanities!
The Critical Race & Ethnic Studies major is a broadly multi-disciplinary undergraduate degree program, building upon the strengths of UC Santa Cruz faculty who have contributed significantly to conversations in critical race and ethnic studies for decades, with nationally renowned faculty across campus. The program provides you with the opportunity to study race as a major ideological framework through which practices of power and domination as well as struggles for liberation and self-determination have been articulated and enacted throughout modern history and in the contemporary moment. The CRES major will expose you to an array of conceptual and theoretical frameworks that draw on different scales of analysis (transnational, national, local), comparative approaches, the insights of gender and sexuality studies, and anti-racist practices.
Black Studies Minor
The Black Studies minor offers students grounding in the intellectual histories, political movements, cultural expressions, and critical theories of the black diaspora, all while engaging a range of methodologies from across disciplines. Attention to the significance of social justice is a hallmark of the minor. Supported by faculty expertise in Africa, the Caribbean, the Americas, Europe, and the Pacific, students can explore the globally multi-sited nature of black freedom struggles, both past and present, and examine blackness through a comparative lens.
Through careful advising, students can pursue a set of electives, tailored to their interests, enabling broad or deep exploration of specific histories, geographic regions, and thematic concerns.
Highlights of Our Program
Flexible requirements encourage double-majoring and study abroad.
Conduct independent research projects under the mentorship of nationally renowned faculty.
“CRES is one of the biggest reasons why I decided to attend UC Santa Cruz. For students of color, the time spent at a university is often a period of deep self-discovery—learning more about their own identities and becoming more aware of the systems of oppression that impact them.”
Kash Mejia CRES and Global & Community Health double major
Study Abroad
CRES major Chailen August speaks about studying abroad
Funding Opportunities
Judy Yung Memorial Scholarship
This scholarship is open to current UCSC students and seeks to honor the spirit of Yung’s socially committed scholarship by supporting students who work in the community archives and/or work to preserve the oral histories of Asians, Asian American, Asian diasporic, Pacific Islander, Pacific Islander American, and Pacific Islander diasporic populations. Learn more about the Judy Yung Memorial Scholarship here..
Research/Travel Grants
The CRES department provides grants up to $500 to students conducting CRES-related research or traveling to conferences and presenting CRES-related work. Calls are announced annually.
The 4+1 pathway into the M.A./Credential Master’s program is an option that allows CRES majors to receive their CRES Bachelor’s degree, Education Master’s degree, and teaching certificate in just 5 years. The contiguous pathway also provides CRES majors a streamlined application process to apply for the Education Master’s program. In just 5 years, graduates of the 4+1 pathway will be qualified to enter the job market as K-12 educators.
Admissions Requirements
CRES is a non-screening major. Students planning to apply to this major are not required to complete specific major preparation courses before they come to UC Santa Cruz.
Find more information about getting started in the major as a frosh or transfer student via the university catalog.
