Report on Latino and Asian American studies finds room for change

The University should provide the American Studies program with the necessary faculty hiring capacity to sustain the development of programs in Latino Studies and Asian American Studies, an April 3 report by the Asian American Student Association and Princeton Latinos y Amigosargued.

The report highlighted the current state of ethnic studies at the University. Specifically, the document calls for merging the program in Latino Studies with the program in American Studies, as well as allowing students to declare a track in Asian American Studies or Latino Studies within the American Studies certificate program.

The report also seeks designation of Latino Studies and Asian American studies courses under two different headings in the course catalog. Right now, both are listed under LAO.

The report, delivered to the offices of University President Christopher Eisgruber '83, Provost David Lee GS '99, Dean of the Faculty Deborah Prentice, Dean of the College Valerie Smith, Deputy Dean of the College Clayton Marsh '85 and Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Katherine Rohrer, was sent in conjunction with a letter of support which received over 522 signatures from individuals across the University.

According to University spokesperson Martin Mbugua, who spoke on behalf of the administrators, Lee sent a response to the letter on Wednesday afternoon.

“Proposals for programmatic expansion or change typically originate from academic units and faculty members, not from the central administration,” Mbugua said.

He added that administrators in the Office of the Provost are gathering views on the proposal from faculty members with research and teaching interests in Latino and Asian American Studies. The Office of the Dean of the College is also reviewing the designations of Latino Studies and Asian American Studies courses to see if it is possible to make them more distinct from each other.

“Provost Lee is consulting with colleagues about ways to encourage faculty members and departments to increase course offerings in these areas while the University continues the process of recruiting additional permanent faculty members,” Mbugua said.

Current cross-listing of many Latino Studies courses with Latin American Studies hinders the Program in Latino Studies, according to the report.

“Latin American studies is a regional study, the history and culture of a region, while Latino studies is the study of a community within the United States,” Princeton Latinos y Amigos co-president Briana Christophers ’17 said.

Christophers said that this distinction is particularly important for Latino studies because the Latino community is the largest growing ethnic or racial group in the United States. Latino culture and identity overlap with various spheres including politics, medicine and social sciences, she added.

“The problem with having Latino Studies and Latin American Studies, while having all of these classes being largely cross-listed, creates less emphasis on developing each one as an individual field of study,” she said.

Christophers said AASA first approached PLA with the task of compiling the report, which not only commemorates the 1995 sit-in that advocated for the creation of these ethnic studies programs, but also reevaluates the state of ethnic studies in the past 20 years.

According to the report, a protest and sit-in occurred on April 20, 1995 near former University President Harold Shapiro GS ’64’s office in Nassau Hall. Seventeen students occupied the office while over 100 other protesters gathered outside. A petition for more Latino and Asian American studies professors garnered support from 548 individuals across the campus.

The following year, a significant gathering of students attended a rally to commemorate the event and to continue advocating for the creation of programs for ethnic studies.

Cailin Hong ’17, co-president of AASA, noted that it is important to talk about ethnic studies in general to give the broader University community the opportunity to analyze and understand the intricacies of a diverse cultural group.

She added that other universities including Columbia, Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania have well established ethnic studies programs while the University remains lacking.

Hong is a former design editor for The Daily Princetonian.

Christophers said the report was meant to spark conversation and push the University to re-evaluate the status of Latino Studies and what will hopefully become the program in Asian American Studies.

"While it’s wonderful to have a program in Latino studies, it’s not enough just to have one. You have to cultivate that area so that it becomes robust and something that Princeton is known for," she said. "Simply having [a program] doesn’t mean it will become a flourishing program here at Princeton. You have to put the resources in and encourage people to study, so that we develop that critical mass of faculty.”

Currently, the requirements for a Latino studies certificate include three elective courses and one required course, which is LAO 200: Latinos in the American Life and Culture.

Christophers noted that next semester there will only be three courses listed next semester, with two being cross-listed with Latin American Studies. With so few courses being offered and variation between semesters, there’s no guarantee that a student will be able to take a course in the future if it isn’t offered, she added.

By incorporating Latino and the potential Asian American Studies in American studies, students will be offered the flexibility to explore other areas of ethnic studies as well, Christophers explained. Students can study about other communities within the United States in order to see the country from different perspectives.

Latino Studies program director Marta Tienda declined to comment.

Members of the Executive Committee on Latino Studies, assistant professor of religionJessica Delgado and senior lecturer ofsociology Patricia Fernández-Kelly, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Rebecca Weng ’18, Asian American Studies chair for AASA, said that Asian American Studies faces a unique situation in that program currently exists at the University, despite several courses offered this semester.

“We feel that the narrative presented by Asian American Studies and Latino Studies makes for a more holistic picture of American history, because these ethnicities do play a major role in shaping our country,” she said.

The Asian American Students Association, which started the report on ethnic studies and distributed the letter of support, faces a different set of challenges when approaching the administration because no program in Asian American Studies currently exists.

English and African American Studies professor Anne Cheng ’85, an advocate for Asian American Studies who teaches courses related to Asian Americans, declined to comment.

History professor Beth Lew-Williams, who specializes in Asian American history, said she will be on leave next year and will not be teaching Asian American History.

“I’ve been happy to see a large amount of student interest in Asian American studies courses at Princeton,” she said, declining to comment further.

Outgoing AASA president Evan Kratzer ’16 said the University has not actually charged any department with the development of the program. He noted that one of the most important factors that contributes to the development of a program includes retention of faculty.

He recommended that the University empower the department in American Studies to hire faculty. With faculty, the program can flourish and allow for graduate studies and a wider variety of courses, he said.

Vice president, treasurer and former Asian American Studies chair of AASA Andrew Hahm ’17 said that it is imperative for the University to provide resources for developing Asian American Studies if the institution claims to support such a program.

“To say that you’re committed to a program and not give it any resources is actually more harmful than not committing at all, because then you’re saying that you’re committing to something that many people are invested in, but not taking many moves to fulfill that,” he said.