As one of the top universities in the nation, Boston College has often been criticized for the lack of an ethnic studies department. Recently, this criticism has noticeably come from the student movement Obeying No Establishment (ONE).
The Academic Affairs Committee has been developed to bring students into the discussion of ethnic studies.
The committee includes a number of students, including Christina Corea, chief of academic affairs for the Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC) and A&S '06, and Charles Grandson, AHANA Leadership Council (ALC) president and A&S '05, who are working with others from the UGBC and the ALC.
Also working with the Academic Affairs Committee are Academic Vice President John Neuhauser and Associate Academic Vice President John Burns.
The group is developing a curriculum proposal to present to the A&S Educational Policy Committee. This committee is responsible for policy changes to the curriculum.
The proposal would put the Asian American, black, Irish, Hispanic, and Middle Eastern studies programs under one umbrella as the new ethnic studies department. Corea said the Ethnic Studies program is taking cues from the development of the International Studies Program.
The International Studies Program was started on a trial basis before being renewed, and possibly established as a permanent program due to its success and popularity.
"This type of program can not be rushed into, as it will require many meetings with faculty members to ensure that we can devise a successful and substantial major proposal," said Corea. Before submitting the proposal, the committee must work with faculty to develop a suitable curriculum.
Corea said the development of the program was "not only a question of resources." The Committee must also define what ethnic studies include.
Corea listed some possibilities as studying ethnicity in America, studying immigration to the United States or a number of other possibilities.
As of now the idea is to have an interdisciplinary program. On top of resources, Corea cited faculty assistance as one of the biggest aids in the development of the ethnic studies department.
Corea named UC Berkeley as a program worthy of emulation. Berkeley's program offers both a major and a minor within the ethnic studies department.
The four concentrations in their department are Asian American studies, Chicano studies, ethnic studies, and Native American studies.
Berkeley's ethnic studies department also has its own library and offers a graduate program.
The A&S Educational Policy Committee will meet on Oct. 14 to hear the Academic Affairs Committee's proposal.
Student opinion on the development of the department varied.
"I feel very strongly that the creation of an ethnic studies major is necessary on a campus like BC's that stresses the importance of diversity and development of the whole student; spiritually, academically and culturally," said Alex Bradshaw, A&S '07.
"Having these programs on campus provides all students with the tools to expand their sense of self within our society, as well as become the men and women for others that Jesuit beliefs teach us to be," she added.
"I think BC already does plenty to cultivate diversity and acceptability of different viewpoints," said Adam Bied, A&S '08. Bied also said that the department would be unnecessary and repetitive of actions already taken by the school.
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