Mission Statement

The mission of the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies (CCS) is to serve SJSU students and diverse communities through an interdisciplinary Chicana/o Studies Program that is based on the principles of education for Social Justice. CCS prepares students to critically examine and address intellectual traditions and contemporary issues resulting from the lived intersections of race, ethnicity, class, and gender in Chicana/o, Latina/o, and other People of Color communities. The CCS department prepares students to understand and respond to conceptualizations of race and ethnicity, as they relate to and are challenged by Chicana/o communities. CCS students develop critical thinking skills and comparative analyses between Chicanx and other People of Color communities. Thus, CCS students integrate major sociopolitical issues, cultural experiences, and intellectual theories from their CCS courses that they then apply to their careers, lives, and other post-graduate work.

The CCS Mission is accomplished by:

• An academic major with three areas of specialization in Cultural and Creative Expression, Institutions and Community Engagement, and Transnationalism and Global Relations.
• An academic minor for SJSU undergraduate students, open to all academic majors.
• A graduate program with three areas of specialization in Policy Studies, Education, and Comparative Ethnic Studies.
• Serving as an academic resource for Chicanx-Latinx communities, locally and across the United States.