So, some Asian-American students at Dartmouth are clamoring for Asian American Studies (AAS). The College already has several ethnic studies departments, but no AAS. Ergo, in the interests of diversity, AAS becomes necessary, and even more so because of the sizable Asian- American population here. The other ethnic groups have their own programs (or so it seems), so why not Asian-Americans?
I have my doubts about ethnic studies programs in general. Please note that I am not opposed to the idea of courses devoted to the study of ethnicity. But to have an entire major dedicated to exploring the issues and concerns of one ethnic group seems to me, well, parochial and antithetical to the idea of a university (or college). You take 10 or so courses dedicated to exploring the various facets of one particular culture. Chances are, you are of the same ethnicity as the one you are studying. I am not so sure whether this actually helps broaden one's intellectual horizons. By the way, there is nothing preventing the enterprising undergraduate from constructing his own AAS major.
I also question the value of "interdisciplinary study" that ethnic studies purports to offer. The practical difficulties involved in yoking together two separate disciplines tend to far outweigh the benefits that may accrue as a result of this effort: read some of the reviews of College Course classes on the Student Assembly's Course Guide webpage. And since when were existing "disciplines" watertight anyway? History classes bring together politics, economics, sociology, literature, art and film, among other things. No one studies literature without some knowledge of its socio-cultural context. Shirley Lin '02, one of the proponents of AAS, majored in Spanish "because of the parallels; it deals with race, gender and cross-cultural connections." Even science subjects aren't rigid categories. Biology, physics and chemistry come together to form biophysical chemistry (which a friend of mine is majoring in). You can't major in science without a basic knowledge of mathematics. But I am straying from my main argument.
I don't like the feeling I get from the headline, "Students Demand Asian Am. Studies." Now, I believe in democracy, but surely students shouldn't be allowed to get something just because they want it really bad. The creation of an entire new major is, as Assistant Dean of the Faculty Jane Carrol points out, by no means an easy task. And if Asian -Americans -- who, according to the CIA World Factbook, constitute only 3.3 percent of the United States population -- want an ethnic studies program of their own, then I want my own pet program too. In fact, we should have ethnic studies program corresponding to every single ethnicity here at Dartmouth. European-American Studies seems like a good idea, because so many Dartmouth students have Italian, French, German, Spanish, Czech and Polish backgrounds (apologies if I've omitted any countries). Let's not forget my international brethren -- let's have Singaporean Studies and Irish Studies and Pakistani Studies, etc.
After all, as Ms. Lin points out, "To come to Dartmouth and see that your history isn't represented is somewhat disconcerting from a personal perspective." This is an utterly ridiculous statement, for two reasons. First, it is directly contradicted by the previous sentence: "Currently, there are two courses dealing specifically with Asian-American issues in the history department and two in the English department." And second, her concept of history is extremely unhistorical. Her history is not exclusively Asian-American history. It is also Asian history, or in her case, Chinese history. There are, as I am sure she knows, a great wealth of courses on Chinese history and culture offered here at Dartmouth.
How representative is the body of students demanding AAS? One stereotype is that Asian-American means Korean/Japanese/Chinese-American. This of course is not true. But where are the other Asians in this task force -- the Indian/Pakistani-Americans, for instance? And more importantly, what does the Asian-American community as a whole think about AAS?
There is nothing wrong with promoting awareness about one's own culture. But does it really have to be through the long and tedious process of creating a new major? In fact, is that the most desirable way? Lectures (I am attending the Evelyn Hu-DeHart one), discussions, publications (Main Street is a decent read) and cultural events all "facilitate an awareness of Asian-American issues" without forcing the people involved to engage in rigorous academic study, as all programs of study should be.
