UC Riverside

This study highlights the importance of Ethnic Studies education with a specific focus on how particular assignments and curriculum positively impact students’ academic performance as well as peer and family relationships. I conducted an in-depth ethnographic study of an Ethnic Studies course over an academic year where I observed the classroom environment and interviewed 35 current and former students of the class. I argue that Ethnic Studies helps students develop a sense of what I call academic familismo through completing coursework common to this education framework. Students develop academic familismo through engaging with Ethnic Studies pedagogies that draw information and insights from Communities of Color and youths’ families and cultures while also providing learners opportunities to share their biographical information with peers. Education that draws from marginalized groups and students’ backgrounds helps learners develop consciousness of systemic oppression that Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) groups historically face and encourages youth academic engagement as their background becomes a central feature of the learning materials (Au 2009). I show how students form academic familismo through ethnographic analysis of three assignments students completed over an academic year. I specifically demonstrate how students were able to bond through working in the classroom and specific projects that helped them feel like “family.” Photos of and testimonies from students in the class further show how students build important academic and familial connections in the Ethnic Studies class that motivated their educational success. Findings from this project can help scholars and educators understand the nuanced impacts of Ethnic Studies.