Please have filled out a UCSD Student Petition Form (fillable form) and obtain/download a detailed syllabus with weekly academic readings and authors' names and weekly assignments in a PDF format. You can then upload both documents into the Department of Ethnic Studies via our ONLINE PETITION SUBMISSION WEBSITE. 

Please note that Student Petitions will not be reviewed during certain times of the year due to university holidays or breaks. Expect the following breaks:

 Special Note: June 20, 2026 will be the last day Student Petitions will be reviewed for this academic year. Any petitions submitted after June 20, will begin to be reviewed after Week 3 of Fall 2026.  

REQUEST:

To review and approve ETST 002 (title of course) from UC Riverside as a lower-division Ethnic Studies elective and to meet the DEI requirement. 

REASON for REQUEST:

To use ETST 002 as a lower-division elective for my Ethnic Studies minor and/or complete my DEI requirement. 

REQUEST:

To review and approve EDS 117 Language, Culture, and Education at UCSD as an upper-division Ethnic Studies elective.

REASON for REQUEST:

To use EDS 117 for the upper-division for my Ethnic Studies Double Major. 

DEI Courses and Petitioning DEI from other institutions

Although our ETHN courses are about diversity, equity and inclusion, not all of them are on the DEI list. Only the specific courses on the DEI list are applicable: dei-list-of-courses.pdf (ucsd.edu)

If you are taking an ETHN course that is not on the DEI list it cannot be added to the DEI list. The Academic Senate will not approve petitions for the UC San Diego courses that are not already on the DEI list.

If you took a course at another college or university, you can petition the course by providing a robust syllabus with the readings/authors and assignment and submit a Student Petition. Scroll up to the top of this webpage and carefully follow the instructions for submitting a Student Petition. 

Overlapping or sharing of courses 

Ethnic Studies allows students to overlap 2 upper-division courses between an Ethnic Studies major another major or a minor. The Ethnic Studies major must have 40 upper-division units exclusively dedicated to the major. 

The student is responsible for confirming if the other department or program accepts 1 or 2 overlaps. Our practices reflect the UCSD policys on the How Upper Division Courses may Overlap (Undergraduates) webpage. Regarding college GEs, this is a decision made by the college, but typically courses for an Ethnic Studies minor or a second major are permitted to meet those GE. It is important to confirm this with your college Advisor via VAC (Virtual Advising Center).  

Remote Courses Residency Regulations

Effective Fall 2025, campuswide graduation requirements state that students may not complete 51 percent or more of the total units earned at UC San Diego through courses that are designated as distance education (e.g., R-courses). 

• Maximum of 49% of UCSD units may be taken remotely (R courses) 

Graduation Goals

Your goal is to complete all the GEs from your college, all the requirements for your major with passing grades. To earn your degree you must complete a minimum of 180 units. An Ethnic Studies major has a goal of 52 units when combining lower-divison and upper-division core and elective courses. UCSD requires a inimum GPA of 2.0 and for you to take university required courses such as Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI), American History & Institutions (AHI), and Jane Teranes Climate Change Education Requirement (JTCCER). See Undergraduate Degree Requirements for course options for DEI, AHI and JTCCER university requirements. 

Pass/No Pass (P/NP) Grade Option for Spring 2020 Courses ONLY 

Typically, except for independent study course electives (ETHN 197, 198, or 199) which are always taken with a Pass/Not Pass grade option, undergraduate students majoring in Ethnic Studies have the option to take up to two courses as Pass/Not Pass. Ethnic Studies minors have the option to take one course as Pass/Not Pass.

For Spring Quarter 2020 Ethnic Studies is waiving this limit and any courses taken P/NP during this period will not count toward the above limits for majors or minors. In addition, UC San Diego has deemed that any course taken P/NP in Spring 2020 will not count towards the 25% cap on P/NP courses for the Bachelor’s degree. Students must still select the P/NP option via WebReg and may change their selection of P/NP or Letter Grade through the end of Week 10 (6/5/2020).

Official deadline dates are on this UC San Diego webpage: :https://blink.ucsd.edu/instructors/courses/enrollment/calendars/2019.html

Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) Grade Option for Spring 2020 Courses ONLY 

For Spring Quarter 2020 graduate students in the Ethnic Studies Ph.D. program may select to take their courses with the S/U grading option instead of the standard Letter Grade. 

Wait List Policy and Procedures

Automated Wait Lists

When courses are full and have reached capacity a student can opt to add themself to the waitlist. Waitlist does not guarantee enrollment. You are essentially waiting for a vacancy in the section or course.

Waitlists at UC San Diego are automated by WebReg. When a seat in a course becomes available because an enrolled student has decided to drop, the first eligible student on the waitlist will be automatically enrolled by WebReg. UCSD establishes an end date for the waitlist and it typically terminates automatically the Thursday of Week 2 of the quarter. Each person on the waitlist waits to see if a space becomes available in the course or section. You have decided if you are willing to wait for the opportunity to enroll. Electing to place yourself on the waitlist does not guarantee enrollment.

Ethnic Studies Interactions Expectations