The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate's fall student survey asked questions regarding the proposed creation of an Africana studies department or major. Among respondents, 42.7 percent agree or strongly agree that a department is necessary, while 31.6 percent of those responding said they would likely take classes in an Africana studies department. In short, a substantial number of students on campus favor the creation of a separate department in order to major, minor or take classes in Africana studies.
The TCU Senate passed a resolution 20-4 in November supporting the creation of an Africana studies department. Though the Daily recognizes that Africana studies is an important academic field that currently does not have enough representation at Tufts, an entirely new department need not be established.
As the Daily stated in its Nov. 10 editorial, an Africana studies program — similar to the program offered for International Relations — would be the most prudent way to satisfy students without taking away from the diversity of other departments. Such a program would offer an interdisciplinary major that could provide courses from a variety of academic subjects. Creating a separate department would have unnecessary overhead costs that could stall or even impede its creation, including the cost of hiring new professors and securing additional space. A department would also be unnecessary to capture the interdisciplinary nature of Africana studies. This, in fact, is something a program could more effectively accomplish. The International Relations program — which hosts one of Tufts' most popular majors — proves the potential for a program like this to thrive.
A similar problem is being faced by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., as the long-overdue National Museum of African-American History and Culture — established in 2003 by an act of Congress — prepares to open in 2015. The New York Times reported over the weekend that the National Museum of American History will not be transferring to the new museum a piece of the Greensboro, Ala., Woolworth's counter, where in 1961 four black students staged a sit-in, energizing civil rights protests across the American South. A spokeswoman for the Smithsonian said that removing African-American objects and art from the Museum of American History could make it into the "white museum," setting a dangerous precedent.
The Daily fears that if an Africana studies department is created, this very issue could arise on the Hill. If a distinct Africana studies department were created, would the history department still offer African-American History Since 1865? Would the English department still offer 20th-Century African-American Literature? A new Africana studies department likely would co-opt such courses for its own students, thus rendering those departments less diverse.
In lieu of an autonomous department, an interdisciplinary program could take advantage of existing courses and professors without stealing them away from other departments. This would prevent a "whitewashing" of departments that already offer courses that cover African-American issues and would satisfy students' desires for African-American curricula, while eliminating much of the cost, in dollars and diversity, of creating a new department.
