By studying the rich history of ethnic and racial diversity in the United States from the perspectives of peoples of color, the Ethnic Studies Department seeks to prepare Mills students for leadership and development in an increasingly multicultural, transnational, and globalized society. The department's curriculum is designed as an essential cornerstone of a liberal arts education. It promotes the development of writing, speaking, and critical and creative analysis through study of the history, culture, literature, and social, economic and environmental concerns of Alaska Natives/American Indians, African Americans, Latinas/os and Chicanas/os, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders. The department offers a carefully structured course of study of the relationship of these groups to questions of nationhood (past, present, and future) and an examination of their international and diasporic connections.

Ethnic Studies Department faculty enable students to become involved in research and activism in local communities of color, thus making exciting connections with the vibrant diversity of the Bay Area. Some student research interests include success for black teenage mothers, Latinas/os and California water policy, the construction of South Asian American queer identities, multiracial Filipinas/os, culture and sustainable development on the White Earth reservation, and girls of color in the juvenile justice system. Students also help organize a variety of activities, including Ethnic Studies-sponsored events that form part of the Heritage Months, such as Nuestras Voces (Our Voices): Latina/o Heritage Month; Native American Heritage Month and the Mills Pow Wow; Lifting As We Climb: Black History Month; South Asian, Middle Eastern and Pacific Islander Awareness Now! Ethnic Studies students and faculty have also sent delegations to conferences such as the World Social Forum in Mumbai, India, and Caracas, Venezuela, and the United Nations World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa.