Letters to the Editor | Ethnic studies needs jump start now

The Ethnic Studies Coalition (ESC) represents the urgency for Vassar College to live up to its ideals of a liberal arts tradition. Students can easily see the lack of courses in the areas of Asian-American, Latino/a, and Native American studies by simply picking up a copy of the Vassar course catalogue.

The few courses that are available are offered on an inconsistent basis and mostly taught by non-tenured professors who may not necessarily specialize in those particular areas of study. For example, the current “Constructions of Asian America” course is taught by post-doctoral professor Linta Varghese.

Offering post-doctoral and adjunct positions in areas of Asian American, Latino/a, Native American Studies is not the appropriate route to ensure the stability of a well-rounded liberal arts curriculum. It is essential to maintain ethnic studies faculty, such as Varghese, with tenure or tenure-track positions.

In addition, Vassar needs to recognize the value of providing current ethnic studies faculty with support by bringing other professors from the same field. A paucity of overall ethnic studies faculty leads to the inconsistency of course offerings when some professors take leaves of absence or have an overload of other classes to teach. For example, sociology courses “Latina/os in the Americas” and “Latino Identity Formation in the U.S.” are sporadically available for that very reason. The only other Latino/a course, “Introduction to U.S. Latino/a Literature,” was taught for the first time last semester and now the future of that class is uncertain.

We should not be fooled by the recent name change of the “Latin American Studies” program to “Latin American and Latino/a Studies” (LALS). It is a lousy and lackadaisical attempt to make the program appear much more expansive and diverse. LALS majors in the class of 2006 can graduate without ever taking a Latino/a studies course throughout their academic career at Vassar.

To add to disgrace, with the exception of the “Indians’ New World” class, consistent and established courses dedicated to Native Americans are virtually absent from the Vassar catalogue. At the same time, Native American studies should also include topics outside the colonial period.

Last week’s letter from the ESC (“Ethnic Studies lacking in curriculum”) raises an important issue surrounding ethnic studies and its role in breaking down the presence of white supremacy in college academia around the country. Vassar still upholds an Anglo-Saxon/Euro-centric curriculum.

Gradual change should no longer be an option after Vassar’s inability to implement these reforms throughout the past decades. Ethnic Studies needs to start now and it is my hope that Dean of the Faculty Ron Sharp can make a significant step forward in the upcoming weeks.

—Joel Arce ’08