UMass Amherst offers a plethora of academic departments, majors, and centers that explore various aspects of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Visit each program's website to learn more about their teaching philosophies and course offerings.
Afro-American Studies (W.E.B. Du Bois), Department of
The Department is an intellectual, professional, and social community that stands at the forefront of global education and research on people of African descent in the United States and the world.
Asian & American Studies Certificate Program
As U.S. society becomes more diverse, multicultural, and globalized, and in the context of the cultural and economic emergence of Asian countries such as China and India, the Asian & Asian American Studies Certificate gives students the opportunity to learn about the interconnections between two similar but unique sets of histories, cultures, and issues -- Asia and Asian America.
Asian Languages and Literatures
Asian Languages and Literatures became part of the established curriculum at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1969 with the founding of degree programs in Chinese and Japanese by the late Professor William E. Naff. After more than four decades of growth we still take very seriously our founding mission--to share knowledge and understanding of the rich cultures of Asia with the students of this land-grant university as an essential part of their preparation to participate in a global society.
Center for Latin American, Caribbean, & Latino Studies
The Center for Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies (CLACLS) of the University of Massachusetts Amherst promotes research, training, and public engagement on the histories, cultures, and politics of Latin American and Caribbean peoples across the Americas and throughout the world.
Communication Disorders, Department of
The Department of Communication Disorders at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is committed to the study of both normal and disordered communication. It has a rich history of preparing researchers to advance the knowledge base in the field of Communication Sciences and Disorders and clinicians to work with individuals with communications disorders from linguistically and culturally diverse populations across the age span.
English as a Second Language Program
The ESL Program offers courses in academic writing, speaking, grammar, and vocabulary. The goal of the Program is to help nonnative speakers of English master the formal conventions of academic English for both general education courses and courses in the academic disciplines. Students will then be able to meet the expectations of both their professors at the University and their employers in the professional workplace.
The Institute for Holocaust, Genocide, and Memory Studies
The Institute for Holocaust, Genocide, and Memory Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is a locus for research and teaching on the Holocaust, genocides, and events of mass violence as well as on the memory and representation of these historical occurrences.
International Scholars Program
The International Scholars Program combines academic learning with a period of study abroad in order to provide students with the global competencies they will need to become informed and effective citizens of our ever-expanding world. The program invites all honors students, regardless of major, to develop a concentration in international studies and cross-cultural communication as a supplement to their regular disciplinary work.
Judaic and Near Eastern Studies
The Department of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is committed to providing students with a solid foundation in the languages, cultures, and histories of the peoples of the Middle East and of the broader region, particularly those of the Jewish and Islamic traditions; in histories that have their roots in the ancient world and extend to the present; and through an array of courses that shed light on contemporary society, culture, politics, literature, and film.Two robust programs, one in Judaic Studies and the other in Middle Eastern Studies.
Labor Center
The UMass Amherst Labor Relations and Research Center, as it was originally named, was founded in 1964. AFL-CIO President George Meany visited the Amherst campus to give a commencement address and encouraged the university to start a Labor Studies program similar to those that existed at many other land-grant institutions. From the beginning, Labor Studies was designed as a multi-disciplinary program drawing on the strengths of faculty in many departments across campus. This new program was unique given its focus on on labor and workers’ rights.
Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, Department of
The Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures include programs in Chinese, Comparative Literature, French, German and Scandinavian Studies, Hispanic Linguistics, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, and Translation Studies. It provides a rich array of courses, including many taught in English, and a stimulating environment for scholarship, collaboration, and learning.
Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP)
The Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Scholars Program is part of an alliance of New England institutions that receive funding through the National Science Foundation (NSF) to strengthen the preparation, representation, and success of under-represented minority students majoring in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. In addition to UMass Amherst, the alliance includes Northeastern University, the University of Connecticut, the University of Rhode Island, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Military Leadership, Department of
The Department of Military Leadership offers a minor in Military Leadership available to all students wishing to complete at least 15 credit hours of military leadership instruction. Students do not incur any type of military obligation. The minor is designed to give students the leadership tools necessary to succeed in the military or any number of civilian professions that require leadership skills. The department is also home to UMass's ROTC program.
Native American Indian Studies Certificate Program
The Certificate Program in Native American Indian Studies (CPNAIS) offers students a structured understanding of historical and contemporary issues affecting the Western Hemisphere's First Nations. Students will learn how these issues are embedded in the long histories of Native peoples and their most recent interactions with Europeans and Africans. Those completing the requirements for the Certificate will gain a more sensitive understanding of the unique cultures rooted in this hemisphere.
Religious Studies Certificate Program
The Religious Studies Certificate Program offers undergraduates a framework within which to pursue the comparative and interdisciplinary study of religious phenomena in human societies across different cultures, places, and times. The Program draws on courses offered by many academic departments in the University and other colleges within the Five-College system.
Social Justice Education
Social Justice Education is an interdisciplinary program of study with a focus on social diversity and social justice education particularly as they apply to formal educational systems, kindergarten through higher education. The master’s program of study prepares reflexive practitioners in Social Justice Education who are capable of applying social justice education practices in a variety of educational settings. The doctoral program of study prepares educators, counselors and school leaders to study, interrogate, and further theorize conceptual, empirical and applied knowledge in Social Justice Education.
Social Thought and Political Economy
The Social Thought and Political Economy Program (STPEC) is an interdisciplinary undergraduate program in Social and Behavioral Sciences at UMass Amherst. The STPEC Program encourages students to engage in a critical examination of society and to develop their own capacities for critical reading, writing, and thinking.
Sociology, Department of
We are a generalist sociology department with a wide variety of research interests. Recent books and articles by faculty members have addressed the creation of global capitalist markets, democratization, the revival of the labor movement, workplace discrimination, grammars of death, white collar criminal conspiracies, comparative family policy, comparative racial inequality, the socialization of Chinese adopted children, Latin American social movements, women's workforce and men's household labor participation, and many other topics.
Study Abroad, International Programs Office
The International Programs Office (IPO) is the main resources for study abroad, international exchanges, and international student/faculty/researcher immigration questions.
W.E.B. Du Bois Center
The Du Bois Center’s mission is to make the writings of W.E.B. Du Bois and his contemporaries available and accessible to everyone throughout the world for application to the problems and issues of the 21st Century, and to create new knowledge and support scholarship emanating from the life and teachings of W.E.B. Du Bois. The Center connects students, educators, scholars, and the public through lectures, symposia, scholarships and collaborations, to share the vast intellectual resources associated with W.E.B. Du Bois.
Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies Department
Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst is both a discipline and an interdisciplinary program. The program offers a Bachelor of Arts, an undergraduate minor and a Graduate Certificate in Advanced Feminist Studies.
