At an open meeting held by the newly formedTask Force on American Studieson Monday, students and administrators discussedpossible ways to expandthe Program in American Studies to include Asian American Studies, American Indian Studies and American Jewish Studies, among other disciplines.
The Task Force has been charged with preparing a report on how the University can best respond to opportunities and challenges in the field of American Studies and is seeking as much feedback from as many students as possible, according to Anne Cheng, professor of English and director of the Program in American Studies.
"Part of the mission of the Task Force in American Studies going forward is to think about American Studies as a home for a fuller range for race and ethnicity studies and to do so in a way that integrates those fields into the Princeton curriculum," said Cheng.
Cheng also said that that Task Force is meeting several times a month and is in the process of gathering information by speaking to graduate students, undergraduate students and other faculty to propose a plan for expanding the American Studies Program.
"Our goal is to really think about how to do that at Princeton in a way that is integrated into Princeton’s curriculum at large so it’s not an isolated, segregated field of knowledge," Cheng said regarding the Task Force's proposal for how to expand the American Studies Program.
The Task Force is still in the process of drafting a proposal, but their goal is to finish this document and submit it to University President Christopher Eisgruber '83 by the end of the semester, Cheng said.
The Task Force is being created to identify ways that Princeton can better respond to opportunities and challenges in the field of American Studies, according to a statement by Eisgruber on the University'sStrategic Planning website.
Hendrik Hartog, professor of history and co-director of the Program in American Studies, noted that the Task Force is part of the University’s Strategic Planning process. He added that there are no concrete plans yet and that everything is still up in the air.
Hartog deferred further comment to Cheng.
Cheng explained that plans are currently tentative. Regarding the program's trajectory, she said that an important consideration is how society has changed and how the University's approach to American Studies should change as a result.
Many discussed their ideas in expanding the American Studies Program, agreeing that a stronger program would be beneficial for students.
"It is important to expand the program to engage with more emerging fields of study and to cater to the interests of students," Evan Kratzer '16, who is currently pursuing a certificate in American Studies, said.
Kratzer said that there is a push to have a more structured program and to increase administrative support for students. He said that currently there are few professors dedicated to teaching American Studies classes. Students interested in the subject have to speak to professors and request that they teach certain courses.
He also noted that there is ongoing discussion to expand the current certificate program into a concentration.
A similar change was completed earlier last year when the program in African American Studies received approval to become a concentration.
Part of the goal of the meeting was for members of the Task Force to get an idea of how many students would be interested in concentrating in American Studies as an interdisciplinary major without a department,according to an emailsent to the Undergraduate student body from Hartog and Cheng.
Some questions that the Task Force hopes to answer are, "What relationship should American Studies have to current or potential certificate programs in fields such as Asian-American Studies, American Indian Studies, Latino Studies and Gender and Sexuality Studies?" and "How should Princeton understand the relationship between the fields of American Studies and of race and ethnicity studies?" according to the Task Forcewebsite.
Students can submit feedback on potential changes to the American Studies program through a form on the University’sStrategic Planning website.
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