The ethnic studies epartment here at COS uses “interdisciplinary methods to understand culture and race in the United States.” These courses allow students to better understand the people around them, people of various ethnic backgrounds. It also allows students to better understand the history of the United States through other perspectives. There are five Ethnic Studies faculty members: Jilin Elizondo, Maria Martin, Octavio Barajas, Trinity Gabato, and Fedrick De La Paz. The ethnic studies department offers a handful of classes, including Chicana & Chicano Studies, Asian American Studies, Black American Studies, and even an intro to Ethnic Studies and Social Justice class. The ethnic studies department works closely with clubs like MECHA, Social Justice Club, and Tule Valley Allies. All clubs focus on activism and political engagement, primarily focused on civil rights. Both clubs hold engaging events for the community, one being MECHA’S upcoming drag show, which promises a fun night of good vibes.

De La Paz has a lot of upcoming plans for all of his classes such as inviting Chicano elders who have been advocating for the Chicano community for years, whom he calls living libraries. He also wishes to visit the Wukchumni farm for his Native American studies class. The Wukchumni Tribe is a non-profit organization, whose purpose is to provide direct services and build tribe capacity. They strive to meet the needs of their community, preserving our land and traditional food systems. He mentioned more collaboration with other departments on campus, such as the Spanish and art departments.

If you were in the library around November 2025, you may have noticed a display near the entrance. This display was organized by Fedrick De La Paz, and it featured creations from his Chicano and Chicana studies class. He had his students create an Ofrenda, an altar built to welcome and guide the spirits of deceased loved ones during Día de los Muertos. It could be super detailed or simple, but the overall purpose was to participate in a talking circle where you would share your Ofrenda and who you chose to honor. The extra credit was displaying the Ofrenda in the library and attending a ceremony. They held the ceremony in October and even had the community come out to celebrate. Along with this, they also had a local poet come out and recite his Day of the Dead poem. He shared a living poem, one that evolves over time as he loses loved ones. Recently, his poem reached up to 20 minutes, 20 minutes of remembrance. De La Paz says he would love to do this project again for more of his classes and that he would also love to have more collaboration, mentioning the Spanish department and even screen printing. He states that doing things like this could help students feel more involved in their community and may even help them build themselves. “It’s not therapy, but it can be therapeutic …When you share a community, you tend to feel better”.

An ethnic’s course is a requirement for almost all students, so if you know you have to take one, you might as well go all in and learn everything you can. The ethnic studies faculty are passionate about teaching students different stories and views from around the world. It’s important to learn about the people around you, because everyone is different and everyone has a story to tell.