Curriculum changes for Asian and Latin-American Studies proposed

Tufts' faculty body will vote next Wednesday on whether classes in Asian American and Latino American Studies may fulfill the second half of the language and culture requirement.

The proposal, which was drafted by the Curriculum Committee with input from members of the TCU Senate, is part of ongoing attempts for curricular reform at Tufts.

"We're going to lobby very hard to encourage faculty members to pass this resolution," said Senator and co-chair of Tufts' Culture, Ethnicity, and Community Affairs Committee Rafi Goldberg. "Should the measure pass, I believe it will go into effect immediately."

Part of that challenge will be addressed next Wednesday. "The proposal [about Latino and Asian American Studies] was put aside and ignored for three years," said TCU Latino representative Noris Chavarria. "Now we're finally having the initiative put to a vote. Students need to petition, to lobby towards the Academic Review Board to cause change."

"It's basically a matter of consistency," said Chavarria. "Now that we have these courses, they should count towards the requirement -- especially since Native American and African American Studies courses already do."

"It's pretty simple from a student perspective, a matter of equity and parity," agreed Asian American Curriculum Transformation (AACT) member Thomas Chen.

New Dean of Colleges James Glaser said that he has been "introduced to dozens of different curricular projects" in his first month on the job. "I don't have any plans to pursue [curriculum transformation] at this point, but it's not out of principal," Glaser said. "I just haven't studied the issues yet."

Curriculum change at Tufts can be proposed and initiated by any interest group involving students, faculty, or administrators. For example, an initiative a few years ago to create Women's Studies major had strong student input, including a TCU Senate resolution.

Similarly, the Latino and Asian American student groups plan to lobby to hire more positions in Latino and Asian American Studies programs, with a long-term goal of establishing actual minors and even majors in these fields at Tufts. "That would be ideal, but I don't know how soon it's going to happen," Chavarria said. "We do have enough courses [for it]."

Past attempts at curricular reform in Asian and Latino American Studies have been unsuccessful. In the spring of 2003, plans to hire an Asian American Literature professor failed due to differences between the involved parties, the English and American Studies departments.

"It will continue to be an uphill battle to have Asian American Studies, and other fields that challenge the racism inherent in American society and education, recognized at Tufts," AACT member Cecilia Chen wrote in a June editorial for the Asian American Movement e-zine. "However, we are ready for that challenge."

This year, the Asian American Literature class is being taught by an adjunct professor, and there are currently no plans to hire a full-time position. Tufts has only three courses in Asian American Studies, all of which are taught by untenured, part-time faculty.