Temporary change fair, but overhaul a must

With its recent vote to accept courses in Latino and Asian American Studies, the faculty has leveled the playing field with regard to classes that fulfill the foreign culture, world civilizations, and culture requirements, but should seriously evaluate whether any American minority course should qualify.

The move comes after years of student lobbying to change a perceived double standard. The requirements, which are designed to expose students to foreign cultures, also allowed courses in African and Native American Studies to count. For reasons of fairness, the recent change was necessary and sensible.

The changes are only temporary, however, and a facultystudent committee will be formed to permanently revise the wording of the culture requirement. There are encouraging signs that a healthy debate on the very nature of the requirement itself will occur as a result.

The argument for including Latino and Asian American courses would be deflated if Native and African American Studies were not included. The goals of the culture requirement are to expose students to foreign cultures and societies -- which should not include American cultures of any variation.

In many ways, it is almost insulting to American minorities to consider their culture foreign. It is as if they, by virtue of being a minority and perhaps practicing some of the traditions of their heritage, they are somehow not entirely American. The U.S. has hundreds of cultures and sub-cultures; it is hard to see how most rise to the level of foreign culture. America has never had one distinct culture, and it is wrong to characterize anything that varies from the mainstream as "foreign."

If the faculty does not follow this line of reasoning, then it would make sense to change the foreign language requirement too. Courses in Ebonics, southern drawl, and Texan could all potentially be included. The new wording of the temporary requirements attempts to sidestep this problem by saying that the "foreign cultures" must be of non-English origin. But in the end they allow the study of domestic groups to count as foreign study. It would make no sense to do so with respect to language, and it should not be allowed for culture either.

While the study of the various American minority groups is important, it is still in essence a domestic exercise. Considering Tufts' push to expose its students to the world outside the US, by standing firm on this issue the faculty will reaffirm its commitment to these ends.