The Race and Ethnicity Working Group this semester is constructing a proposal for an Asian American studies minor. The proposal is part of the group's goal of expanding the Tufts curriculum to include more academic perspectives on race and identity.
The American Studies Program will serve as the academic sponsor for the minor, according to Professor of Biology Frances Chew, who serves as co?chair of the working group. The minor will initially consist of current Tufts courses, but more courses, taught by members of the recent cluster hire of faculty members, may be added to support the proposed program on race and ethnicity, Chew said.
The group will work on the proposal for the remainder of the semester until it is ready to present to a curricular committee and then to the School of Arts and Sciences faculty for approval, according to Chew.
"There is a proposal but it is not yet in shape to send to the committee," Chew said. "We're still in ... big?timediscussion."
"I'm hoping it's going to be on the committee's doorstep by the end of the semester," she added.
The addition of an Asian American studies program would be an important step for Tufts and has been requested for decades, according to Chew.
"This has been on the list of things that people at Tufts have been trying to do since the mid?1980s," she said. "It's been a long time coming."
Many top schools, such as the University of California Los Angeles, already have extensive Asian American studies programs. Chew said she believes that Tufts is lagging behind.
"When you're missing major pieces of the curriculum that other universities have ... then you are missing the opportunity," she said. "For us not to have this is ... a sign that we're far behind our peer schools."
Tufts Asian American Alliance (AAA) President Terence Tran said that after participating in Asian American youth programs in high school, he was disappointed that Tufts did not have related academic programs.
"In a world where you're trying to grow and learn ... it's really important to know yourself," Tran, a senior, said. "That's a really empowering experience."
However, Tran emphasized that the program would be valuable for any Tufts student, regardless of background. He counted Asian American studies alongside Africana and Latino studies as important areas often not thoroughly covered in a high school education.
"I think it's important for others to know about the Asian American experience," he said. "There are very important narratives that are left out."
Tran explained that AAA has been promoting the program with a series of events this semester, including a teach?in last month.
"It's in our mission to support initiatives like this," he said. "What AAA is trying to do is to raise awareness of the effort."
Marcy Regalado, one of four student representatives to the working group, said attending the teach?in was helpful in understanding why an Asian American studies minor would be valuable to Tufts students.
"The rest of the community is slowly being educated about [Asian American studies]," Regalado, a freshman, said. "I think it's extremely important."
However, completing the proposal and getting it approved will take time, according to Chew.
"That in and of itself is a huge amount of work," she said.
Chew also said that even with AAA's efforts to explain the program, there will still be members of the community who will not understand the need for an Asian American studies program, perhaps believing that the Asian Studies program covers the same material.
"You want to anticipate where there might be questions," she said.
Regalado hopes that the program will get the university's support, emphasizing Tufts' status as an internationally minded institution.
"Tufts is really for a global community," she said. "This is definitely a step."
