Cal State LA has been selected to receive a $100,000 grant to expand connections between Ethnic Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.  

The grant is funded through a California State University-wide initiative committed to advancing the study of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality.  

The Cal State LA project will develop dual B.A. degree pathways for students to pursue double majors in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and an Ethnic Studies discipline, such as Asian and Asian American Studies, Chicana(o) and Latina(o) Studies, or Pan African Studies.  

The grant’s co-investigators at Cal State LA are May Fu, chair of the Department of Asian and Asian American Studies, and Alejandra Marchevsky, chair of the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.  

“This landmark grant exemplifies Cal State LA’s commitment to advancing the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and the College of Ethnic Studies, ensuring their continued growth and impact for generations of students to come,” said Fu. 

Designed by faculty across the Ethnic Studies departments and the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies department in the College of Arts and Letters, the interdisciplinary program will highlight critical career pathways in areas such as education, community health, public policy and law, community organizing and advocacy, and social justice arts.  

“One of our primary objectives is to show students that pursuing a major in a social justice field—such as Ethnic Studies or Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies—not only opens the door to diverse career opportunities but also empowers them to bolster and uplift their communities,” Marchevsky said.  

In addition, the grant program will build partnerships with key community colleges to strengthen the transfer student pipeline into Ethnic Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and increase the number of Cal State LA students graduating with interdisciplinary social justice degrees. 

The awards were made possible through a faculty-led committee comprised of Ethnic Studies disciplinary experts who reviewed more than 25 proposals from across the CSU system. Cal State LA is among 11 CSU universities to be awarded the grant.  

Established in the fall of 2020, the College of Ethnic Studies at Cal State LA is one of two such colleges in the nation. The college centers the histories, cultures, experiences, struggles, and accomplishments of diasporic communities of color, making connections between the local and transnational. It is home to the Departments of Asian and Asian American Studies, Chicana(o) and Latina(o) Studies, and Pan African Studies. 

The Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, housed in the College of Arts and Letters, was founded in 2022 through decades of student, faculty, and community activism. The department centers intersectional, anti-racist, and decolonial frameworks to study the histories and experiences of women and LGBTQ+ people, challenge systemic injustice, and imagine liberatory futures.  

Together, the College of Ethnic Studies and the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies provide students with robust interdisciplinary curricula, community-relevant research opportunities, and undergraduate and graduate degrees, minors, and post-baccalaureate certificates. 

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California State University, Los Angeles is the premier comprehensive public university in the heart of Los Angeles. Cal State LA is ranked number one in the United States for the upward mobility of its students. Cal State LA is dedicated to engagement, service, and the public good, offering nationally recognized programs in science, the arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education, and the humanities. Founded in 1947, the University serves more than 24,000 students and has more than 250,000 distinguished alumni.