Tufts University is well-regarded as an elite liberal arts institution, priding itself on providing students with a full and balanced course of study in addition to classes within majors and minors. Unfortunately, Tufts small population and limited endowment curbs the amount of courses available to Jumbos, especially those interested in studying less popular topics. A good example of this problem on the Hill can be found in the area of Native American Studies, a topic on which there are currently only four courses offered.
Tufts has hard choices to make when it comes to offering courses that cater to areas of study that have traditionally been underrepresented. As a prominent liberal arts school, however, the university has an obligation to provide a curriculum that adequately represents all minorities, especially those groups that have long been neglected in academia.
It is here that more Native American Studies courses hang in the balance. The University has a decidedly small Native American student contingent and, as a result, is hesitant to provide more options. Unfortunately, this risks becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy, since the current, limited NAS options do little to spur student interest in the field.
Here is where more options help not only to expand interest in NAS but also to diversify the course offerings of departments throughout the university. More courses could fit not only within a possible NAS major or minor, but also within various existing programs throughout the university. Thus, political science majors could study Native American politics as part of a PoliSci concentration while the course remains available to those seeking to use it for a NAS program.
What is essential, though, is that we think not just in terms of incorporating different ethnic studies courses within their own departments but also within existing departments throughout the University. This will encourage interdisciplinary cooperation and discourage all students from compartmentalizing ethnic studies apart from other courses of study. After all, most fields of study can be examined from an ethnic perspective.
A good example of how a new NAS course might fit into this model would be a course that deals with the study of environmental sustainability within Native American cultures. After all, such lessons are not solely to be learned by those interested in NAS, but by everybody looking towards solutions for a sustainable future.
Native American nations throughout this country have long been alternately brutalized and neglected by the dominant society. Here on the Hill we have the responsibility to end this neglect and think creatively about how we can integrate Native American and other ethnic studies throughout our curriculum.
