Who am I?  How does society see me?  Where do I belong?

If you are asking questions like these, you might be interested in studying in Identity Studies. When we think about identity, we may focus on cultural markers (things like religious traditions and language) or seemingly biological and physiological markers (things like skin color, gender or sexuality), it’s also important to understand that our identities are comprised of shared ideas, ideologies, biases and ways of seeing the world around us. Our identities function to guide us, provide belonging, and give us social placement. However, they have also served to separate and dominate individuals and groups from each other. They have been created as well to resist and celebrate marginalized social positions. 

Study Key Concepts:

• Identity is a socially and historically constructed concept. We learn about our own identity and the identity of others through interactions with family, peers, organizations, institutions, media and other connections we make in our everyday life.
• Key facets of identity—like gender, social class, age, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, religion, age and disability—play significant roles in determining how we understand and experience the world, as well as shaping the types of opportunities and challenges we face.
• Social and cultural identity is inextricably linked to issues of power, value systems, and ideology.