Journal of Asian American
Studies
Newsletters
Program Starter Kit
Part IV- Sample Documents
External Review Committee Report
An "External Committee Report" has been initiated when
students ask a Dean, Vice President, or other high ranking
official to commission senior faculty in Asian American
Studies from outside of the institution to write an
advisory report on what should be done about Asian American
Studies at that campus. This is usually a reasonable
request for students to make, especially when there are no
Asian American Studies faculty at the institution. This has
been done for a number of institutions.
The Committee, usually 3 or 4 senior faculty members, visit
the school for a full round of separate discussions whith
deans, administrators, faculty, department chairs,
students, and other concerned parties. The Committee then
writes a report to the Dean, Vice President of high ranking
official who commissioned the committee. The report surveys
the concerns of the various parties, then recommends steps
that can be taken to address the concerns of all parties.
These reports can be quite influential in providing expert
opinion from professors who have first-hand experience in
establishing and developing top curricula and programs in
Asian American Studies. At one institution, for example,
the report provided a major piece of advice determining the
university's decision to establish an Asian American
Studies Program.
If you are interested in this type of report being written
for your institution or would like to see a previous
report, please contact the East of California Network
Chair.
Example of Faculty Proposal for BA Degree
University of California, Santa Barbara Asian American
Studies Department
For complete proposal. send $4.50 to- Sucheng Chan, Asian
American Studies, University of California
(excerpted from)
Proposal for a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Asian American
Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara -
1993
Introduction
Asian Americans are now the fastest growing minority group
in the United States. The 1970 U.S. census of population
counted about 1.5 million of them, the 1980 census some 3.5
million, and the 1990 census roughly 7.3 million. In the
state of California, Asian Americans will become the second
largest minority group by the year 2,000.
Comprised of immigrants from dozens of Asian countries and
their Americanborn descendants, Asian Americans are a
complex people. There are striking similarities as well as
significant differences among the various ethnic groups now
subsumed under the umbrella term Asian Americans. The
similarities inhere mainly from their common experiences as
racial minorities in the United States --the fact that
American society historically has tended to treat all
Asians alike, regardless of which countries they came from,
what languages they spoke, or what their socioeconomic
status was--while the differences arise from their diverse
origins. Today there are divisions among people of
different national origins speaking different languages,
among people from the same country who speak different
dialects, among people of disparate socioeconomic classes,
religions, and rural versus urban upbringing.
Dissimilarities also exist between the immigrant and
American-born generations, men and women, the old and the
young.
The changes in the Asian American population have occurred
so quickly that scholars despair of keeping pace with the
changes taking place. Whereas university administrators and
faculty review committees used to look upon Asian American
Studies and other branches of Ethnic Studies as programs
providing compensatory education for minority students by
offering them courses that enhanced their self-esteem, this
view of the field is now outmoded. Today, there are
compelling pedagogical and intellectual reasons to support
the development of Asian American Studies.
What Is Asian American Studies?
Asian American Studies is an interdisciplinary field that
examines all the relevant aspects of the historical and
contemporary experiences of Asian Americans, including
their histories, communities, and cultures (the word
culture here refers to both patterned ways of behavior and
to artistic and literary expressions). The history courses
treat Asian American history as part of U.S. history, but
they also highlight selected aspects of Asian history in
order to show how homeland developments affected and
continue to affect the lives of Asian Americans. Asian
American communities are studied as examples of American
ethnic cultural, and psychological adaptation through which
Asian Americans construct identities and develop patterns
of interpersonal relationships within the context of
sociocultural interaction, and second, as artistic
expressions that reflect the development of Asian American
Literary voices and the emergence of Asian American
artistic sensibilities.
Why Should There be an Interdisciplinarv
Major?
Some reviewers will no doubt ask why an interdisciplinary
Asian American Studies major is needed. Why not simply ask
departments such as Anthropology, Art Studio, Dramatic Art,
Economics, English, Film Studies, Political Science,
Psychology, and Sociology to each offer one or more courses
on Asian Americans? To be sure, these traditional
departments can indeed do that. However, those departments
that do offer courses on various minority groups often tend
to treat them as marginal embellishments and not as the
central focus of the department's curriculum. Moreover, by
compartmentalizing knowledge about Asian Americans in
different departments, students may get a somewhat
disjointed view of the Asian American experience.
Interdisciplinary programs, on the other hand, offer the
intellectual equivalent of stereoscopic vision or
stereophonic sound -- a fuller, more richly textured, and
more finely nuanced understanding of the phenomenon (or, in
this case, population) under study. By using the insights
of one discipline to critique, interrogate, supplement, or
complement those offered by other disciplines, both faculty
and students will be forced to think more broadly, deeply,
and comparatively. The move towards interdisciplinary
studies has been one of the more notable trends in American
higher education in recent years. Efforts are being made
nationwide to create new programs that cross disciplinary
boundaries in order to escape the constraints imposed by
each discipline. It is not a coincidence that some of the
newest areas of academic endeavor -- Ethnic Studies,
Women's Studies, Environmental Studies, and Cultural
Studies -- are all interdisciplinary.
When they are in their nascent stage of development, many
interdisciplinary fields are in fact only multidisciplinary
-- that is, each discipline investigates one aspect of a
multifaceted topic, while students are required to take a
host of courses in different departments that do not
necessarily engage one another analytically. A truly
rigorous interdisciplinarity, in contrast, mandates a
fundamental reevaluation of the assumptions and
perspectives that underlie each discipline, its theoretical
constructs, and its methodologies. The latter kind of
interdisciplinary program is what the proposed BA degree in
Asian American Studies will attempt to develop. Our majors
will participate in this critical, interrogative,
intellectual exercise in the year-long junior seminar all
majors must take and in their senior projects. In the
process, they will become some of the most sophisticated
thinkers UCSB will produce in the 1990s and beyond.
Student Proposals for Asian American Studies
As Asian American Studies develops as a discrete field of
academic inquiry, it is making important educational and
intellectual contributions to American higher education,
both in terms of pedagogy and in terms of research.
I) EDUCATIONAL AND PEDAGOGICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
A) Enlarging the boundaries of the liberal arts:
Given the increasing visibility of Asian Americans in al1
walks of life in many areas of the United States, all
students -- and not just those of Asian ancestry --
graduating from a good liberal arts college or university
should know something about the history, communities, and
cultures of Asian Americans, who are an integral part of
American society. Students who take one or more Asian
American Studies courses will acquire knowledge about Asian
Americans that is usually not yet available in courses
offered in other departments. Just as importantly, they
will learn to see and think of Asian Americans as central,
rather than marginal, actors in society.
B) Developing a multiethnic/multicultural
pedagogy:
In addition to gaining information about Asian Americans,
students who take Asian American Studies courses will learn
to perceive themselves and their multiethnic peers from a
perspective that values equally people from diverse
backgrounds, with different ways of thinking and behaving.
Such courses enable students of Asian-ancestry to come to
terms with their ethnic identities and their relationship
to their communities and to society at large, on the one
hand, and open up new cognitive vistas to non-Asian
students who may not be fully aware of the multiethnic
complexities of American history and society, on the other
hand.
C) Providing mentorship and serving as role
models:
Since a vast majority of the faculty in Asian American and
other Ethnic Studies programs/departments (up to this
point) have been people of color, they serve as an
important source of mentorship not only to students of
color but also to Euro-American students interested in
pursuing certain subjects. Through conversations with
students and by example, they offer students glimpses of
the pressures, challenges, and rewards of academic Life.
D) Helping students to acquire usable skills and a
sense of social responsibility:
Since its founding, Asian American Studies has placed great
emphasis on training students to be of service to both
their ethnic communities and to the larger society. Asian
American Studies has always recognized and, wherever
resources permitted, tried to develop students' language
skills, both in English and in Asian languages. Being bi-
or multi-lingual will enable future-scholars to do better
research and future social service providers to offer more
culturally sensitive services. In some courses students
engage in community-based internships or learn to write
funding proposals. Students are encouraged to think
critically not only about the world around them but also
about how knowledge of that world is generated, validated,
or debunked. Asian American Studies faculty are very
concerned about doing research in a socially responsible
way. Faculty ask themselves and teach their students to ask
such questions as: For whom and for what purpose is this
research being done? Who will benefit, in what ways, from
the findings?
E) Preparing students for graduate study and professional
training:
Committed to increasing their own ranks, Asian American
Studies faculty encourage students to continue their
education beyond college. As faculty in an
interdisciplinary program, Asian American Studies
professors can provide insight into many disciplines and
professions. Students graduating with a BA degree in Asian
American Studies are prepared far graduate study in a
variety of humanities and social science disciplines --
particularly ethnic studies, history, literature,
psychology, and sociology. Asian American Studies majors
will also be able to prepare for professional training in
business administration and management, city and regional
planning, counseling, education, law, library and
informational science, public health, and social welfare.
(Those who wish to enter medical school must, of course,
have also taken the approoriate natural science courses.)
F) Preparing students for employment in a
multiethnic society:
The 1990 census showed that California is now the nation's
most racially diverse state. We have the largest percentage
of Asian Americans (9.6% of the total California
population) and Latino Americans (25.8%) in the country and
the second largest number of African Americans (2.2
million, second only to New York's 2.9 million) and Native
Americans (242,164, second only to Oklahoma's 252,420).
Almost 3 million persons of Asian ancestry, representing
about 40 percent of all such persons in the United States,
live in California today. Given this demographic reality,
students graduating with a interdisciplinary knowledge of
Asian Americans, as well as with knowledge about other
ethnic groups, will be well prepared for employment in many
occupations -- business and management, education, social
services, the health professions, law, high-tech
industries, and other lines of work that involve
interaction with coworkers and clients from diverse
origins.
Contributions of Asian American Studies to Higher Education
As Asian American Studies develops as a discrete field of
academic inquiry, it is making important educational and
intellectual contributions to American higher education,
both in terms of pedagogy and in terms of research.
I) EDUCATIONAL AND PEDAGOGICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
A) Enlarging the boundaries of the liberal arts:
Given the increasing visibility of Asian Americans in al1
walks of life in many areas of the United States, all
students -- and not just those of Asian ancestry --
graduating from a good liberal arts college or university
should know something about the history, communities, and
cultures of Asian Americans, who are an integral part of
American society. Students who take one or more Asian
American Studies courses will acquire knowledge about Asian
Americans that is usually not yet available in courses
offered in other departments. Just as importantly, they
will learn to see and think of Asian Americans as central,
rather than marginal, actors in society.
B) Developing a multiethnic/multicultural
pedagogy:
In addition to gaining information about Asian Americans,
students who take Asian American Studies courses will learn
to perceive themselves and their multiethnic peers from a
perspective that values equally people from diverse
backgrounds, with different ways of thinking and behaving.
Such courses enable students of Asian-ancestry to come to
terms with their ethnic identities and their relationship
to their communities and to society at large, on the one
hand, and open up new cognitive vistas to non-Asian
students who may not be fully aware of the multiethnic
complexities of American history and society, on the other
hand.
C) Providing mentorship and serving as role
models:
Since a vast majority of the faculty in Asian American and
other Ethnic Studies programs/departments (up to this
point) have been people of color, they serve as an
important source of mentorship not only to students of
color but also to Euro-American students interested in
pursuing certain subjects. Through conversations with
students and by example, they offer students glimpses of
the pressures, challenges, and rewards of academic Life.
D) Helping students to acquire usable skills and a sense of
social responsibility:
Since its founding, Asian American Studies has placed great
emphasis on training students to be of service to both
their ethnic communities and to the larger society. Asian
American Studies has always recognized and, wherever
resources permitted, tried to develop students' language
skills, both in English and in Asian languages. Being bi-
or multi-lingual will enable future-scholars to do better
research and future social service providers to offer more
culturally sensitive services. In some courses students
engage in community-based internships or learn to write
funding proposals. Students are encouraged to think
critically not only about the world around them but also
about how knowledge of that world is generated, validated,
or debunked. Asian American Studies faculty are very
concerned about doing research in a socially responsible
way. Faculty ask themselves and teach their students to ask
such questions as: For whom and for what purpose is this
research being done? Who will benefit, in what ways, from
the findings?
E) Preparing students for graduate study and professional
training:
Committed to increasing their own ranks, Asian American
Studies faculty encourage students to continue their
education beyond college. As faculty in an
interdisciplinary program, Asian American Studies
professors can provide insight into many disciplines and
professions. Students graduating with a BA degree in Asian
American Studies are prepared far graduate study in a
variety of humanities and social science disciplines --
particularly ethnic studies, history, literature,
psychology, and sociology. Asian American Studies majors
will also be able to prepare for professional training in
business administration and management, city and regional
planning, counseling, education, law, library and
informational science, public health, and social welfare.
(Those who wish to enter medical school must, of course,
have also taken the approoriate natural science courses.)
F) Preparing students for employment in a multiethnic
society:
II. SUBSTANTIVE AND ANALYTICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
A) Contrioucions to the study of U.S. history:
Researching and teaching Asian American history can expand
the boundaries and revise the conceptualization of U.S.
history. Acquiring an understanding of how Asian immigrants
and their descendants have been treated in American history
and how they have responded to such treatment highlight.
many aspects of American society -- what some scholars have
called the "underside" of American history -- not normally
covered in U.S. history courses. The contribution that
Asian American history can make to U.S. history is not just
additive -- in the sense of including bits and pieces of
information about Asian Americans to regular U.S. history
courses -- but potentially revisionist and transformative.
In other words, the way in which certain aspects of U.S.
history are understood may be modified by the analytical
insights gained fron the study of Asians in America and how
their presence revealed important cleavages in the social
fabric of the nation.
B) Contributions to the social sciences:
Asian American Studies can also make important intellectual
contributions to the social sciences, both in terms of new
empirical findings and in terms of theory-building. Asian
American social science scholarship is beginning to make an
impact on the study of such subjects as: 1) the
restructuring of the world economy, 2) contemporary
immigration into the United States, 3) changing patterns of
race and ethnic relations, 4) the impact of demographic
changes on American politics at the local, state, and
national Levels, 5) the influence of family dynamics,
cultural values, and social support systems on personality
and identity development, and 6) the interplay of micro and
macro cultural developments within historical,
institutional, and symbolic arenas.
1) The world economy is undergoing a process of
globalization and restructuring, made possible by the
fluidity of capital, labor, and entrepreneurial talent.
Trade and other transactions between the United States and
countries on the other side of the Pacific Rim have become
salient features of American life. From its early days,
Asian American Studies has tried to place the study of
Asians in America in the broader context of the
international linkages between various Asian countries and
the United States.
2) Contemporary Asian immigration is both an independent
and a dependent variable in this process of global and
trans-Pacific restructuring. Immigration from Asia is
affecting how the restructuring is being done, while the
process of restructuring itself is affecting the
demographic composition of the Asian immigrant stream.
Moreover, though the forces promoting contemporary Asian
immigration into the United States resemble in some ways
the circumstances surrounding Asian immigration in the
nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth
century, in other ways they differ significantly. Scholars
have only recently begun to study the relationship between
restructuring and immigration. Researchers in Asian
American Studies are ideally situated, by their training
and research interests, to provide intellectual leadership
in these emerging areas of scholarship.
3) The modes of incorporation of Asian immigrants into
American society today also differ from patterns set in the
past. In years gone by, scholars specializing in race and
ethnic relations tended to examine only the binary or
bipolar relation between two groups: the Euro-American
majority and a nonwhite minority -- in most instances,
African Americans. Today, multipolar relationships among
several minorities are becoming increasingly important -- a
fact that became very obvious during the 1992 Los Angeles
civil unrest. Asian American Studies faculty are at the
forefront of efforts to document and analyze this
phenomenon.
4) While many studies have been done on the socioeconomic
incorporation of Asian immigrants and their American-born
descendants, research on how Asian Americans are affecting
American politics is only beginning. Not only are Asian
American activists engaged in voter registration drives,
but researchers are monitoring, documenting, and analyzing
the patterns shown by Asian Americans in electoral politics
at the local, state, and national levels. Scholars in Asian
American Studies, however, have pointed out that the
in-depth study of Asian American political activities must
be broadened to include research on politics within the
ethnic communities, the involvement of Asian immigrants in
the politics of their homelands, and the protest politics
of the 1960s, during which a pan-Asian ethnic consciousness
emerged.
5) Research on the psychology of Asian Americans is leading
to new insights about a variety of topics, including the
process of acculturation, ethnic identity development, and
the cultura1 construction of the self; the impact of
tokenism, the model minority stereotype, and symbolic
racism on personality; ethnic differences in help-seeking
behavior and coping styles; factors affecting the outcome
of therapy; what "culturally-responsive" treatment
involves, and a host of other issues relevant to the
understanding of the relationship between individuals and
society. Until recently, the study of African Americans has
provided most of the conclusions psychologists have reached
about the psyches of individuals of minority background,
but given the rapid proliferation of other nonwhite groups,
research needs to be greatly expanded to cover the
non-black groups. Scholars have started to compare the
various minority groups to one another, as well as to
Euro-Americans.
6) The rapidly developing field of cultural studies has
produced a great deal of theoretical work in social and
cultural analysis, much of it stimulated by European
theories associated with new developments in
poststructuralism, discourse analysis, and postmodernism.
The new modes of theorizing question the epistemological
presuppositions of any single discipline and argue for
interdisciplinary models that span the micro and macro
dimensions of cultural practices. Asian Americanists are
beginning to tap this kind of theorizing that bridges the
humanities and social sciences to help make sense of the
burgeoning Asian American cultural productions in
literature, film, and theater. Asian American Studies not
only can benefit from such theoretical innovations but can
also contribute to new insights, especially on the
complicated relationship between race/ethnicity and
cultural production.
C) Contributions to 1iterary studies and the
arts:
While the new field of cultural studies embraces both the
social sciences and the humanities, the more traditional
approaches to the humanities can also gain from bringing
Asian American Studies into their fold. The critical
acclaim that writers such as Maxine Hong Kingston, Amy Tan,
David Henry Hwang, Philip Kan Gotanda, and Jessica Hagedorn
have received has helped to foster the idea that there is
indeed such a thing as Asian American literature --
writings worthy of serious study. The humanities component
of Asian American Studies has, until recently, been rather
underdeveloped. The first book-length work of literary
criticism on Asian American writings was published only in
1982; to date, only three additional books on Asian
American literary studies have appeared, though two more
are in press. The critical study of Asian American films
and other visual arts has barely begun. But this situation
will soon change, because Asian American cultural
production is now one of the most dynamic aspects of Asian
American communities. Once there is available a corpus of
works to be explicated, the critics will quickly appear.
Asian American literature and the expressive arts, as well
as the scholarly study of them, will in time strengthen the
movement to expand and diversify the literary, cinematic,
theatrical, and other artistic canons.
Student Proposals for Asian American Studies
If you would like to review student proposals for Asian
American Studies from schools such as Columbia University,
University of Maryland, or Princeton University, please
contact the East of California Network Chair.
MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (Columbia
University)
"What is Ethnic Studies"
A good comprehensive overview of this legitimate scholarly
discipline that constructs, dlssemmates, and imparts
knowledge in a distinctive way is provided in our handout
entitled "What is Ethnic Studies?" Thisquestion, however,
is generally asked because of one's confusion over the term
"ethnic." Generally, we must understand that names are
coined at particular historical moments and that language
changes. For example. "Orientals" had currency until the
1960s when people of Asian ancestry named themselves "Asian
Americans." Consequently, though the name of this field is
"Ethnic Studies," this field recognizes distinctions among
race, ethnicity, and culture. Racially defined groups in
the U.S. have a social trajectory and outcome quite
distinct from white or European ethnic, religious or
cultural standards, such as Irish Americans, Jewish
Americans, ltalian Americans, and Polish Americans. Ethnic
Studies scholars understand that race is not just another
type of ethnicity, and that the social phenomenon of
institutionalixzed racism maintains a sharp divide between
"whites" and "peoples of color" in the U.S. A related and
crucial emphasis of the field concerns the rights to
national sovereignty and self-determination of America's
indigenous peoples. Ethnic Studies scholars also understand
the intersection of class and gender with race, in that
racial distinctions are reinforced by class divisions. and
that racial definitions are also gendered. Therefore,
employing the experiences of white ethnics as a guide to
comprehend the experiences of racial minorities is both
practically and theoretically incorrect. Ethnic Scudies
exposes and interrogates the formation and relationships
among central core disciplinary concepts of race,
ethnicity, and institutionalized racism, the intersections
of race, class, and gender; and internal colonialism.
"Is this a 1egitimate field of study?"
Does one ever ask "why is anthropology a legitimate field
ot study?" Does one believe that "Urban Studies and
Planning" existed in the academy prior to the urbanization
of the United States? Ethnic Studies emerged from a
particular socio-political moment in history and currently
there are over 700 Ethnic Studies programs and departments
nationwide. And, perhaps more than any other academic
field, Ethnic Studies scholarship is increasingly published
and disseminated.
"What is the difference between American Studies
and Ethnic Studies?"
On a semantic level, one could argue that these terms are
synonyms. Historically, however, American Studies in its
conception replicates the hierarchies and biases of
Eurocentrism in its centralization of white Americans and
marginalization of people of color. Thus, American Studies
sustains white hegemony. Ethnic Studies counters white
hegemony, not only in content but in form and epistemology.
It avoids the trap of identity politics which seeks to
"add-on" Asian American and Latino Studies courses to
traditional disciplines whose curricula, no matter how
apparently diverse, is fundamentally framed with a
Eurocentric lens. In other words, the Eurocentric -- and
invariably racist -- intellectual foundations of
traditional disciplines such as History, Sociology,
Literature, and Anthropology, preclude the centering
(re-centering) of non-whites. Such centering is crucial if
we are to counter the dominant historical and cultural
narratives in the academy.
"Is a Department of Ethnic Studies only for
students of color?"
Ethnic Studies is neither an entitlement nor a "minority"
program. It is not a curriculum for members of minority
groups only. It is a vital discipline of study, essential
to every liberal arts curriculum as it develops critical
theories and methodolgies enabling students to make
important links between academia and the world in which we
live.
"What is the difference between "Latino and Latin
American Studies" and "Asian American and Asian Studies"?"
[Fields] such as Asian Studies, Latin American Studies,
African Studies, and Middle Eastern Studies [are] "area"
studies which designate a geographical region outside of
Europe, and which are themselves a product of the earlier
"Oriental Studies." 1 For ideological and political reasons
too complex to address adequately here, these fields have
long been able to exist alongside traditional disciplines.
The core of the U.S. educational system was understood to
concern Europe and European culture, so that literary
studies, for example, traditionally meant the study of the
literature of Europe. Accordingly, the study of Asian
literature would be carried out not within the discipline
of literature, but rather within the discipline of Asian
Studies, a structural arrangement still in place today
which manifests the ideological position that the study of
Asian literature should naturally be lumped together with
the study of Asian economy, Asian history, and Asian
societies. The main point here is that these "area
studies," though interdisciplinary, do not structurally or
intellectually challenge the traditiona1 disciplines. ln
other words, Asian and Latin American (area) Studies are
consolidated as another example of Eurocentric hegemony,
not progressive, informative, post-disciplinarity which
challenges the epistemology that created traditional
disciplines. Asian Amencan and Latino Studies are
emphatically rooted within the Arnerican experience. Yet,
Asian American and Latino Studies also depends upon the
insights provided by Asian and Latin American Studies,
including the histories, cultures, and dispersions of Asian
and Latin American peoples. Accordingly, Asian American and
Latino Studies sit at a fascinating and moveable juncture
of disciplinary borders and area studies. However, we must
be mindful that as Ethnic Studies continues to expand
within the academy, diaspora and global perspectives are
being phased in whereby those subjects of area studies are
being studied by its members rather than being studied as
objects by outsiders.
"What is the administration currently doing about
Latino and Asian American Studies?"
The Committee on Instruction has recently approved the
curriculum for a Latino Studies major and concentration. We
expect that the administration will soon announce at least
one faculty line for this program of study. A search
committee has recently been constituted to hire a senior
faculty member in Asian American Studies and the Asian
American Studies program will be given one junior faculty
line to fill. The administration plans on housing both
programs under an American Studies program. The current
committee on American Studies is composed of existing
Arnericanists who lack expertise in or understanding of
Asian American, Latino, and Native American Studies. The
existence of Ethnic Studies includes a fundarnental and
explicit challenge to dominant paradigms and assumptions of
academic practices, specifically texts produced by
mainstream scholarship grounded in traditional Eurocentric
history and assumptions. The claims of such scholarship to
universalism and detachment from the object of study --
thus a monopoly on truth -- are in fact reflections of
dominant race, class, and gender positions. By contrast,
Ethnic Studies scholars maintain that objectivity should be
founded not on transcendent universalisms, but in the
recognition of the importance of perspectives, perspectives
that are always partial and situated in relationship to
power. Thus, the conceptualization and creation of
"American Studies" is being constructed from an already
anti-Ethnic Studies blueprint. In fact, the chair of the
committee. Professor Andrew Delbanco has already stated
that American Studies "is not interested in absorbing"
Asian American and Latino Studies. At first, this sounds as
if the integrity of these Ethnic Studies will be protected.
However, upon closer analysis this position indicates a
structural marginalization of these fields and the implicit
strengthening of "American Studies" devoid of comparative
race studies as a central component. That is, students of
American Studies will be able to fulfill and enrich their
degree requirements by taking courses -- at whim -- in the
Asian American and Latino Studies programs, and the
adminstration will continue to develop or underdevelop
these individual Ethnic Studies programs based on the
curricular interests and needs of the American Studies. As
such, Asian American Studies and Latino Studies will not be
privileged as critical race studies which shape and inform
the dominant racial discourse in the United States.
Instead, their critical positioning as race studies will be
weakened and diluted by abstract "cultural" theories and
epistemolgical tendencies which dominate American Studies.
"What is the difference between a class that is
offered through an existing department and one that is
offered through a Department of Ethnic Studies?"
As with the majority of courses offered, a particular
course is often cross-listed with other departments and/or
programs. For example, an African American history course
will be listed under African American Studies and History.
But a scholar of a Latino history will teach a different
American history course from a scholar of American history
who has no background in Latino history. Scholars of the
history of people of color must have a specific
understanding of American history. Because Eurocentric
theories and methods of scholarship have traditionally
sustained and affirmed the position of the U.S. academy,
scholars of American history do not hold the histories of
non-white peoples in the U.S. central to the study of
American history.
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