As they near their 35th years of existence, two of the four
major ethnic studies centers are continually working to obtain
departmental status ““ a process some feel is overdue.
The two ethnic study programs currently moving to achieve
departmentalization are the Interdisciplinary Program for Asian
American Studies and the César E. Chávez Center for
Interdisciplinary Instruction in Chicana/o Studies.
The other centers ““ the American Indian Studies Center and
Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies ““ are not
currently working towards departmentalization.
For the past four years, the Asian American Studies Center has
looked to expand and legitimize its program.
“As an interdepartmental program, we are always in a state
of uncertainty. It’s very hard to have long-term planning,
and with the budget situation, we are always worried about getting
cut,” said Min Zhou, interdepartmental chairwoman for Asian
American studies.
Becoming a department would stabilize the program, help recruit
new faculty to strengthen the curriculum, and strengthen existing
research areas, Zhou also said.
The Asian American proposal was submitted in June of last
year.
Also, the César Chávez Center is looking to gain
departmental status, and create a graduate program in Chicana/o
studies. The center is currently revising its proposal for
submission to the faculty executive committee.
Jason Lewis, director of the American Indian Recruitment
project, said students would benefit from the departmentalization
of the centers.
Some professors in the programs currently split their time
between the centers and their home departments. As a department,
professors would be more readily available to students in that
field. Students also said this would benefit them.
“There are many associate professors, in a sense temporary
professors, many from another department so their full attention
and commitment is not in the Chicana/o studies major,” said
Cynthia Paredes, a fifth-year international development studies and
Chicana/o studies student.
The ethnic studies centers were established in 1969 as
individual Organized Research Units, to support and promote
research in a particular area ““ in this case a particular
ethnic group. With the support of the research centers,
Interdepartmental Degree Programs were created.
The programs allowed for the creation of majors and minors, as
well as some master’s programs in these fields.
When an academic program seeks departmentalization, a proposal
is submitted to the Academic Senate where it is reviewed and
revised by several committees. Revisions must be resubmitted to the
Faculty Executive Committee, which eventually submits it to the
executive vice chancellor for approval.
“It’s a tough process, but we try and make this
process as efficient as possible,” said Academic Senate Vice
Chairwoman Kathleen Komar.
Komar said the committees are useful for their assistance in
incorporating beneficial suggestions to the proposal, but admits
they are fairly time consuming.
Komar said the average time period it takes to grant
departmentalization varies on a case-by-case basis. Graduate degree
proposals may take much longer since they must be sent to the
University of California’s systemwide Academic Senate and go
through further extensive reviews.
Although supportive of the ethnic centers’ proposal, the
American Indian academic program and the Afro-American academic
program have their own reasons for not making the move to a
department.
“We, of course, aspire to departmentalization but only
when we are sure that we have adequate faculty, administration and
personnel strength, as well as a broad research agenda,” said
Hanay Geiogamah, director of the American Indian Studies
Center.
Geiogamah said the center is not fully ready to move to the
departmental level, given low numbers in faculty and student
enrollment.
Darnell Hunt, director of the African American Studies Center
and Afro-American studies believes remaining as an
interdepartmental program for now will allow students to continue
to have various approaches to the field of Afro-American
studies.
Other disciplines benefit from having faculty associated with
the program stationed across campus in different departments, Hunt
added.
Regardless of what the outcome will be for the Asian American
and Chicana/o Studies programs, the research centers will continue
to remain separate entities from the academic program, yet will
still maintain a close relationship with them.
“It’s a well-integrated sort of structural agreement
that we have,” said Don Nakanishi, director of the Asian
American Studies Center.