Beginning with the 2022-23 catalog, all Portland State undergraduate students must fulfill the Race and Ethnic Studies requirement (RESR) to earn their bachelor's degrees. The new requirement, approved by Faculty Senate in Spring 2021, ensures students are equipped with an understanding of how historically rooted and ongoing racism affects institutions in Oregon, the U.S. and the world. Students who started college (at PSU or transfer institution) prior to Fall 2022 should check with their academic advisor to see if they are using an older catalog that does not include this requirement.
Students entering PSU with fewer than 90 college credits:
- Students will satisfy the requirement by completing two RESR designated courses (a minimum of 3 credits each) with a central focus on race, ethnicity and systemic oppression.
- One course must focus on the U.S. experience; the second course must center the experiences of groups under European and U.S. colonialism and imperialism beyond the United States.
- One of the courses taken must be taken within the School of Gender, Race and Nations or be cross-listed with one of the SGRN units: Black Studies (BSt), Chicano/Latino Studies (ChLa), Indigenous Nations Studies (NAS), or Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies (WS).
Students entering PSU with 90 or more college credits:
- Students will satisfy the requirement by completing one RESR designated course (a minimum of 3 credits each) with a central focus on race, ethnicity and systemic oppression.
- The course taken by transfer students does not need to be offered within SGRN or cross-listed within one of its units.
The courses taken to fulfill the requirement may also fulfill major, minor, University Studies, Honors and/or elective requirements. Visit the RESR website for lists of classes that overlap with these requirements.
PSU has also approved certain transfer courses from community colleges in the local area to automatically apply to the RESR. Check the list below. If you feel like you have a transfer course that seems applicable to the requirement, reach out to your advisor for options to petition.