Once again, Tufts has shown its lack of commitment to diversifying the curriculum. Last spring, a joint proposal between the history department and American studies program was submitted to the deans. However, after much waiting, this position was denied, the answer given shortly before school started without any explanation to the departments about the decision taken. The position, for a tenured-tracked Asian American historian specializing in immigration, was a collaborative effort between the department and program as a means of integrating Asian American history - one that is often marginalized and held invisible - into Tufts' curriculum. As a joint position, this proposal would help to meet an increasing demand for Asian American studies by student voices.
The fight for an Asian American curriculum has a long and troubled history. Two years ago, English and American studies joined together to propose a tenured-track Asian American English professor. Unfortunately, an agreement could not be established and the search failed. This left a void in the Tufts curriculum, which has yet to be filled. Currently, an adjunct professor is teaching the Asian American literature class, which still does not have a permanent location within the curriculum. One would assume that after the failed search, there would be an understanding of the need for a permanent Asian American specialist within the Tufts faculty - and therefore, our University would continue to search for the means of obtaining one.
Currently, Tufts has only a handful of classes that focus on Asian American issues, which are all taught by non-tenured professors. These classes include Asian America, Asian American literature and Asian Americans on stage and screen (which was finally put back into the curriculum after a significant gap of time). All of these courses are in current high demand, both by Asian American and non-Asian American students.
For the past five years, a group of concerned students joined together to push for an Asian American curriculum. They wanted to demonstrate to the Tufts faculty and administration that there was and continues to be a strong desire and need for even just a basic Asian American curriculum. With over 10 percent of the student body being of Asian descent, it should not be a struggle for the students. While Tufts prides itself, in word and speak, on the strong diversity of its students, the curriculum does not reflect this.
How does the University expect to show its support for students of color when there is so little academic diversity available to them? Even when they do show minimal support, they seem to create a contest in which the minorities must compete to gain the attention of Tufts.
The Latino curriculum transformation, a faculty-driven movement, accomplished its goals last year when it created a Latino studies minor. So, why has the Asian American curriculum not been able to obtain a tenured track position? Will there be an Asian American studies minor and possibly a major in the upcoming years? How long will students have to take the time to struggle for the classes that should be implemented by the administration? What more can the students do to make the administration realize how important this is?
Meetings have been held, petitions have been signed, yet the faculty and administration still do not support this movement.
Students, who started the movement, have come and gone; yet the struggle has not died down. This is not a phase, but a continuous fight for equality in the Tufts curriculum. If the faculty and administration do not agree with these statements, the reality is that this well-rounded education offered by Tufts is not a complete circle when both students of color and white students are being denied the opportunity to have a better understanding of our multiethnic, multicultural and multiracial society.
Lisa Wang is a junior majoring in American Studies and, Juliana Zapata is a senior majoring in International Relations
