The History, Development, and Future of Ethnic Studies
The History, Development, and Future of Ethnic Studies Author(s): Evelyn Hu-DeHart Reviewed work(s): Source: The Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 75, No. 1 (Sep., 1993), pp. 50-54 Published by: Phi Delta Kappa International Stable URL: . Accessed: 31/03/2012 02:46 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@.
Phi Delta Kappa International is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Phi Delta Kappan.
MulticulturaElducation
The History,
Development,
and
Future
of Ethnic
Studies
Since their inception, ethnic studiesprograms have had to fight for academic legitimacy.
Now that they are winning it, Ms. Hu-DeHart wonders
whether theywill become
oblivious to the real-world
problems of people of color.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...........
BY EVELYNHU-DEHART
_
INSPIRED
by the civil rights move
ment and buoyed by the energy
of the antiwar movement, a gen
eration of American college stu dents invaded administrative of
fices 25 years ago, demanding fundamen
tal changes in higher education. The oc cupation of administrative offices by stu
dents of color and their white supporters
startled and terrified presidents, deans,
and professors. The faculty and adminis
tration were almost exclusively white and
predominantly male - and the student
body was predominantly white and pri marily male. The curriculum had been
fairly static since the first decades of the
century, and multiculturalism
evolved.
had not
Beginning in 1968 at San Francisco
State University and at the Berkeley and
Santa Barbara campuses of the Univer
sity of California, the movement spread
tomany onther schools throughout the na
tion. Studentsof color demandedbetter r
^
\
f H
EVELYNHU-DeHARTis aprofessor of his- A* _na
tory and director of the center for Studies of
_ ^A
as
I
Ethnicity and Race inAmerica at theUniver-Ca A
sity of Colorado, Boulder.
50
PHI
DELTA KAPPAN
Illustrationby Les Kanturek
access to higher education, changes in cific programs.
terns, theU.S. population is rapidlybe
thecurriculum,therecruitmenot fmore 3. The Departmentof American Eth coming "colored"and increasinglymore
professors of color, and the creationof nic Studies at the University of Wash diverse - in race, ethnicity, religion,
ethnicstudiesprograms.Theseprograms ington, Seattle, was created in 1985 by languagem, usic, art, literaturea, ndother
were thebeginningofmulticulturalcur bringing togetherprograms inAfrican culturalexpressions. In fact,with more
riculum reform in higher education. American,AsianAmerican, andChicano than half of its population already high
From theirorigins inCalifornia, eth studies.
ly diversified, California provides a
nic studies programs and departments 4. The Center forStudiesof Ethnicity glimpse of the nation's future. Itwill be
have survivedandproliferatedthrough and Race in America at the University anoxymoronic"majoritmy inority"state
out the United States. 1After serious cut of Colorado, Boulder, was created in by 2050. The relativelyhigh birthrateof
backs during thebudgetarycrises of the 1987by consolidatingexistingprograms minorityAmericans, aswell as theirlow
1970s and 1980s, they are back bigger in black studies and Chicano studies and er age distribution,will mean thatever
and stronger thanever. Ethnic studies adding new programs inAsian American increasingnumbersof people of color
programs have been revitalized, reor andAmerican Indianstudies.
will fill our classrooms and enter our
ganized, and reconceptualized.Indeed, Aside from theWest, Bowling Green work force.
they are increasinglybecoming institu State University in Ohio has one of the In order to bring about a truly pluralis
tionalizedT. he fieldof ethnicstudieshas oldest ethnic studiesdepartmentsw, hich tic democracy, our education system at
produced a prodigious amountof new was founded in 1979.
all levels not only must reflect the nation's
scholarshipm, uch of which is good and During the decades inwhich ethnic diversity in itsstudentbody, faculty,and
innovativeH. owever, as is trueinalldis studies programswere established and curriculum,butalsomust seek toachieve
ciplines, some of thework isweak. The grew strong,American society under comparableeducationaloutcomes for all
perspectivesof ethnic studiesare intend went dramatic changes that continue to groups in society.The educationreforms
ed not only to increaseour knowledge thisday.The civil rightms ovementmight known collectively as "multiculturalism"
base but eventually to transformthedis have removed the last vestiges of legal - one example of which is the integra
ciplines.Their influenceisbeingwidely apartheidin theUnited States.However, tionof ethnicstudiesintothecollege cur
felt and hotly debated.
other ways have been invented to deny riculum - have as major goals the es
Today there are more than 700 eth equalopportunityto thehistoricallymar tablishmentof democraticpluralismand
nic studiesprogramsanddepartmentsin ginalized communities of color. In the 25 the achievementof educationalequity.
theUnited States.2They are represent years since the issuance of the Kerner
ed by fiveestablishedprofessionalassoci CommissionReport,which spokeof two
ations: the National Council of Black Americas - one rich, one poor; one THE NATURE OF ETHNIC STUDIES
Studies, theNationalAssociationof Chi white, one black - the gulf that divides What is ethnic studies?First, the field
cano Studies, theAsian American Studies the nation has grown wider than ever. is distinct from global or internation
Association, theAmerican IndianStudies Today 1% of the population of the U.S. al studies, particularly those programs
Association, and theNationalAssociation has "gained control" of more of the na known generally as "area studies," with
of Ethnic Studies. The Association of tion'swealth thanthebottom90%.This which ethnic studies is often compared
Puerto Rican Studies was formed in situation parallels the stark and painful and confused. Area studies programs
1992.
inequalityinmuch of theThirdWorld.3 arose out of American imperialism in the
A disproportionatenumberof ethnic Significantdemographicchangeshave Third World and bear names such as
studies programs are located in public also taken place in the United States in African studies, Asian studies, and Lat
colleges and universities because these the last 25 years. Since 1965, when U.S. in American studies. These programs
institutionsaremore susceptibletopub immigration laws eliminated the "national were designed to focus on U.S./Third
lic pressure than are private schools. origins" quotas that favored Europeans, World relations and to train specialists
There aremore ethnic studiesprograms immigrants from Asia, Latin America, to uphold U.S. hegemony in regions in
in theWest because of that region's fast and the Caribbean have for the first time which theU.S. had heavy economic and
growing and ethnically diverse popula outnumberewd hite Europeanimmigrants political investmentsA. rea studiesschol
tion. The biggest and most powerful pro to the U.S. The country's political and ars have become far more critical of
grams are found in fourpublic research military interventionssinceWorld War U.S./Third World relations since the
universities in theWest:
II have also boosted immigration from antiwar movement of the 1960s, and
1. The Department of Ethnic Studies Asia, Central America, and the Carib many have adopted Third World perspec
at theUniversityof California,Berkeley, bean. From 1965 to the 1990s, non-Eu tives. However, they are still predomi
has programs in Asian American, Chi ropeans have composed over 80% of all nantly white male scholars entrenched in
cano, and Native American studies and immigrants - almost nine million in a establisheddepartments,subscribing to
offers thenation'sonly Ph.D. in ethnic surge during the 1980s. This new wave and benefiting from traditional patterns
studies.
of immigration accounts for the doubling of distributing power and rewards in the
2. The Department of Ethnic Studies of Asian Americans in the U.S. popula academy.5
at the University of California, San Die
tion and the increase of Latinos by
Ethnic studies programs, which grew
go, was created in 1990. It takesa com
outof studentandcommunitygrassroots
parativeapproachandhasno ethnic-spe As a resultof these immigrationpat movements, challengetheprevailingaca
SEPTEMBER 1993
51
demic power structureand theEurocen triccurriculaof our colleges anduniver sities. These insurgentprogramshad a subversiveagendafrom theoutset;hence
they were suspect and regarded as illegiti
mate even as they were grudgingly al
lowed into the academy.Definitions of
ethnic studies vary from campus to cam
pus and change over time. What the pro grams have in common is a specific or
comparative focus on groups viewed as
"minorities"inAmerican society.Euro pean immigranths ave dominatedAmeri
sume or take for granted the inevita
bility and indefinitedurationof the
class and colonial oppression that has
marked Puerto Rico's history. All the
disciplinesthatwe aremost directly drawingupon- history,economics, sociology, anthropology,literature,
psychology, pedagogy - as they are
practiced in theUnited States are deep
ly implicated in the construction of that
vision of Puerto Ricans as an inferior,
submissivpeeople,trappeodn theun dersideof relationsfromwhich there is no foreseeable xit.8
establish alternativevalues and visions, institutionsand cultures.Ethnic studies scholarshiphas become a new discipline inandof itself. It is continuouslydefin
ing and clarifying its own unique meth
odology and epistemology.
CURRENT DEBATES
Ethnic studies isnot totallystabilized, institutionalizedh, armonious,ormono
lithic. It is in a state of transition struc
turally, intellectually,and ideologically.
ca and defined the national identity as white andWestern. Groups of color have
There is littleuniformityamong the ap Inshort, thefieldof ethnicstudiespro proximately700 ethnic-specificprograms
a shared history of having been viewed vides a "liberatingeducationalprocess"9 and departments in the United States. In
asdistinctfromtheEuropeanimmigrants that challenges Western imperialism and part, thediscussionswithin ethnicstudies
and their descendants. They are the "un Eurocentrism, along with their claims are no different from the ongoing de
meltable ethnics,"or ethnicswithout op to objectivity and universalism. Ethnic bates amongbiologists, anthropologists,
tions regardingwhether to invoke their studiesscholarsrecognizethe importance and historians as their fields grow and
ethnicity.6
of perspective, believing that"perspec change.While discussions amongethnic
A culturallynationalisticvantagepoint tives . . .are always partial and situated studiespractitionersare not usually vi
characterized almost all of the early eth in relationship to power."'1 Putting it tuperativeor destructive, theyare often
nic studiesprograms. This perspective concretely, "It is both practically and the heated and reflect the stateof develop
still has enormous resonance in theAfro oretically incorrecttouse theexperience ment of a young discipline. The follow
centrism of some black studies programs. of white ethnics as a guide to comprehend ing comments by no means exhaust the
Most ethnic studiesscholarstodayadopt those of nonwhite, or so-called 'racial' list of issues but should convey some
a relational and comparative approach, minorities. "11
sense of the concerns in the field. This
lookingatquestionsof power throughthe As an approach to knowledge, ethnic discussion shouldalso suggest thedirec
prisms of race, class, and gender. One studies is interdisciplinary - and it is tions that the field of ethnic studies will
definition of the academic purpose of eth more than just a grab bag of unrelated ap probably take as it moves into the 21st
nic studies can be found in the 1990 pro plications of separate discipline-based century.
posal to create a Department of Ethnic methodologies. Ethnic studies scholar The key organizational issue seems to
Studies at theUniversity of California, ship focuses on the central roles that race be the structureand locationof ethnic
San Diego:
and ethnicity play in the construction of studieswithin theacademy.Should eth American history, culture, and society. nic studies be an interdisciplinary pro
Focusing on immigration, slavery, and confinement, those three process es that combined to create in theUnit ed States a nation of nations, Ethnic Studies intensively examines the histo ries, languages and cultures of Ameri ca's racial and ethnic groups in and of themselves, their relationships to each other, and particularly, in structural contexts of power.7
Johnnella Butler, head of theDepartment of American Ethnic Studies at the Uni
versity ofWashington, Seattle, writes, "Its interdisciplinarynature and simul
taneous attention to race, ethnicity, gen der, and class should provide the scholar ship and teaching necessary to illuminate it as a specific field of study."'2 Butler is a strong proponent of the comparative ap
gram that follows the model of area
studies,drawingfacultyfromestablished disciplines?Or shouldethnicstudiespush
for autonomy and full departmental sta
tus in view of the fact that the field has
developed as a discipline?Shouldethnic studiesnow concentrateon establishing intellectual credentials and credibility, while looseningor severing ties, forged
proach to ethnic studies, and she urges in the early days, with minority student
To most scholars in the field, it is the the examination of connections between services?
role of ethnic studies to pose a fundamen tal challenge to the dominant paradigms
groups and experiences. She proposes a As a program relying on departments "matrix model," described as "looking at for facultymembers andcourses, ethnic
of academic disciplines. While he was the matrix of race, class, ethnicity, and studies has no control over faculty re
specifically addressing the goals of Puer gender . . .within the context of cultur sources and minimal influence on course
to Rican Studies, Frank Bonilla, founder and director of Hunter College's Centro
al, political, social, and economic expres sion."13
offerings. Thus it has little power to de
fine itself intellectuallyandacademical
de Estudios Puertorriqueflos,expressed Ethnic studies seeks to recover and ly. It becomes nearly impossible to build
guiding principles applicable to all eth reconstructthehistoriesof thoseAmeri a sound, coherent, and intellectually chal
nic studies:
cans whom history has neglected; to iden lenging program through a rather haphaz
We have set out to contest effective
ly thosevisionsof theworld thatas
tify and credit their contributions to the ard sampling of whatever courses may be
making of U.S. society and culture; to available througha numberof different chronicle protest and resistance;and to departments.
52
PHIDELTAKAPPAN
The unfortunate result of such efforts, grams sufferdisproportionatelybecause sight bodies. This is a long, drawn-out
well-intentioned though they may be, is they are the weaker member of the part process that can become contentious. A
that they fuel the argument of skeptics nership. During periods of financial con program is still themost common model
and critics that ethnic studies programs straints, ethnic studies programs can eas for ethnic studies because it is the easi
lack rigor and legitimacy. Hence in prac ily be cut back or disbanded. This hap est and least costly way to accommodate
tice such programs at best function as pened to many of them in the 1970s.
a new discipline. Tight budgets and pro
mere coordinatingbodies, organizing a Departments, on the other hand, con gram retrenchment are likely to increase
set of loosely related courses around an trol budgets, hire their own faculty mem
in the mid-1990s because of the limited
ethnic-specific or comparative theme. bers, and, most important, determine the resources thatmost colleges and univer
They must rely on the good will, sym course of study. Hence they define the sities will have.
pathy toward their mission, and posi field, setting standards for pedagogy, re
On those campuses where adminis
tive attitude of traditional departments.
search, and publication. In short, they trators have yielded to the department
Most often, the relationship between eth have status and, at least structurally, en model, ethnic studies departments usually
nic studies programs and departments is joy equality with other disciplines. De have few faculty members, and most of
tenuous and uneasy, if not outrightly hos partments can also readily create and them are untenured, which reduces them
tile.
sponsor graduate programs. Not surpris to amarginal status within the academy.
The relationshipbetweenethnicstudies ingly, there is little dispute within ethnic Nevertheless, seeing it as an easy way to
programs and traditional academic de studies about the theoretical desirability make a positive statement of their com
partments becomes unmanageable be of establishing departments rather than mitment to diversity, administrators are
cause it raises issues of turf protection, programs.
often eager to establish some kind of eth
competition for scarce resources, and ra
But political expediency and practical nic studies presence on their campuses.
cism on the part of traditional scholars. financial matters often dictate the less They also know that, if they can go the
Traditional scholars find it difficult to ideal course of action. In public institu extra mile and create an ethnic studies
shake off their preconceptions about the tions, a program can be created by ad department with its own faculty lines, it
illegitimacy and inferiority of ethnic ministrative fiat, whereas the creation of will be the fastest route to diversifying
studies programs and, by extension, eth a new department requires extensive re the faculty. Ethnic studies scholars and
nic studies scholars. Ethnic studies pro view by the faculty and by other over supporters, having been stranded on the
margins for so long, see any movement
toward the inside as acceptable - hence
their tendency to settle for less.
Undeniably, the field of ethnic studies
is being institutionalized. In addition to
the creation of ethnic studies programs
or departments, there is a general push
toward multiculturalism on the nation's
college campuses. Curriculum reform
(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~m~o~ve~me~nt~s ~~are~s~tr~ivi~ng~~to~in~teg~ra~te~e~th~~~~~~~~~~ nic studies perspectives and scholarship
into themainstream curriculum. This goal
entails more than hiring ethnic studies
scholars in traditional departments such
as history, sociology, psychology, polit
ical science, and literature. Ethnic studies
scholars must be encouraged to integrate
their discipline's scholarship and perspec
tives into other university courses. A cur
rent debate among students and faculty
members on many campuses concerns the
desirability of requiring an ethnic studies
course as part of the core or general un
dergraduate education program.
-The
r f
About five years ago campuses began offering faculty members voluntary in
service training workshops typically de
scribed as "curriculum integration proj
ects." Now that organizations such as the
Ford Foundation have added their sup
'Ais gives neve meaning
to the vWord flunk . . . and to 24 other wordr. t
port to these endeavors, the workshops have become more ambitious and were
SEPTEM19B9E3R 53
................
................
In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.
To fulfill the demand for quickly locating and searching documents.
It is intelligent file search solution for home and business.
Related download
- small lung nodules what you need to know
- evaluation of patients with leukocytosis
- the history development and future of ethnic studies
- toradol oral ketorolac tromethamine tablets rx
- black history month facts and accomplishments
- case 12 cystic fibrosis university of washington
- egg market news report
- nhsn patient safety component data entry
- interpreting the cbc texas children s hospital
Related searches
- development and types of development
- studies in history and philosophy of scien
- studies in history and philosophy of science
- history of social studies education
- future of the finance industry
- what s the future of technology
- the future of higher education in america
- the future of nursing practice
- the future of college education
- future of the us navy
- the future of nursing leading change
- the future of college sports