Faculty and students in the Ethnic Studies Department examine race and ethnicity in the United States with a primary focus on people of African, Asian, Latina/o, and Native American descent. The first Committee on Ethnic Studies at the University of Oregon was formed in 1969 and completed a proposal for an Ethnic Studies Program in 1972. This resulted in the creation of the Program in Folklore and Ethnic Studies. Ethnic Studies and Folklore separated in 1994, and, in 1997, a major in Ethnic Studies was added to the minor that was already offered. Ethnic Studies gained full departmental status in 2008.In addition to the eight faculty positions appointed or jointly appointed in the Department, Ethnic Studies also has at any one time outside faculty members with “core” appointments who dedicate a portion of their university service to departmental governance. We also have a faculty Advisory Board and around 30 affiliated faculty members from across the University, including the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Education, and the School of Law. Our junior faculty include three recipients of outstanding teaching awards and two recipients of the Ralph Henry Gabriel Dissertation Prize for best doctoral dissertation from the American Studies Association.

The Department and its related Center for Race, Ethnicity, and Sexuality Studies (CRESS) serve as focal points for a sizable and congenial community of scholars interested in race, gender, and sexuality across the university. We also have close relationships to other research centers on campus, including the Center for the Study of Women in Society (CSWS), the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics, the Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies (CLLAS), and the Center on Diversity and Community (CoDaC).